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Fantasy Cosmical Glitch ( ellarose & starboob. )

'Who are you and what have you done with the homicidal, face-punching pirate I know?' Lettie is tempted to raise her fists and demand this of Juno when she gives her that thoughtful expression and shakes her head 'no'. No? What does she mean, no!? She's more anger than faerie in this moment, her small body somehow unable to contain the enormity of it. Red, indignant heat radiates off of her small form in waves. Or maybe that's the humming insect swarm hovering around her like a rosy sunset sky, taking whatever rage doesn't fit inside of her, as well as her desire to demand payback for the outfit she'd spent the day working so hard on. The frustration builds to the point where she could honestly cry with it. How often does she get to enjoy the fruits of her labor? Working, working, working and sending every amount she earns off to stave off her endless debts. (This is more than the outfit, she realizes as she nearly trembles, nearly falls to pieces. It goes deeper because she's not actually that shallow, no matter how she fronts it. The line she treads is so thin, it's been like a tightrope ever since--) The faerie is surprised that the pirate isn't reduced to ashes when she touches her. The gentleness of her fingers through her hair cools her, like a balm to a screaming hot wound. Every icky, sticky piece of food removed from her hair cools her degree by degree until the crease in her brow vanishes. It doesn't return, even when her cheeks are pressed between Juno's hands. Suddenly, the anger that'd grabbed hold of her releases its grip and in the aftermath, she's jellied and doesn't possess the strength to bat Juno's hands away from her face. She just stares up at her stupidly buff, stupidly gentle pirate. This unexpected reaction demands her attention, the pirate's softness has her at Juno's mercy. Her anger rarely ever compelled her to stop and listen... but like this, the faerie's helpless to do anything but hear whatever it is that she has to say.

I'll always fight for you. Lettie holds her gaze, knowing that she means it. There's an earnestness to Juno in this moment, to the way she tries to put whatever it is she's thinking into words. An effort that goes beyond saying 'fuck it' and punching whatever stands in her way in the face. She'd made that vow and kept it, even when the layers of her magic and conventional beauty were all stripped down to the nightmare-white gaze that hides beneath. (Went as far as to say that she likes it on her. Whenever she thinks of that admission, she's not sure whether she wants to insult the pirate for having bad taste or hug her for it. Whether she wants to laugh or cry.) Rather than jumping at the chance to fight, she's taking a step back to consider how they can improve at the cubes suggestion. I don't like fighting. Juno's admission from the night before echoes as she watches her approach the pasta abomination.

Juno is planning to reason with a pasta yeti in a fur bikini. (As ridiculous as that sentence is, she stands still, her heart full and heavy with the weight of Juno's resolve to try something new.) When did we trade places? Tonight, Lettie wants to fight. She feels like she deserves it, with all the expectations she dreamt up. They've earned a full day off, haven't they? She's been fighting for as long as she can remember and Juno's had to fight her whole life just to have gotten as far as she has now. They're still alive. They've survived all of it.

While her eyes watched her reflection in the mirror and her mind listed all of the sassy quips she might throw at the cube in retaliation for its horrendously bad take, her heart ventured miles ahead by setting itself on the simple luxury of enjoying a peaceful dinner with Juno. Like their diner night, on the candy-currency world she claimed was her favorite for that exact reason. Not a dinner where she rests on the edge of falling apart as a Duchess stares at her like she's on the dessert menu or one that unfolds into a sprawling world of nightmares. She wants a night to feel like the best version of herself, smelling like a flower and shimmering like a star, without those gnawing doubts that she reeks of blood, stinky fish or ghoulish freak. 'I'm hungry, too.' Lettie thinks, silently agreeing with Juno. 'I just wanted to eat dinner with you.'

Lettie's only vaugely aware of the fact that this attempt at negotiation is unraveling into its usual brand of chaos as the pasta monster shoots penne noodles at Juno and Juno proceeds to explode it with a laugh. The faerie bites her lip but her smile ultimately breaks free of it. 'Yep, there it is.' Doesn't change the fact that she tried, though. She thinks the pirate deserves a gold star for that and not in a sarcastic, condescending way. When the cubes chime in with their critiques of Juno's performance, the faerie's lips twist with annoyance.

"Hey! That lesson was total bullshit. I've been talking my way out of trouble my whole life and--" Lettie can only articulate the rest of the sentence with an incoherent noise of frustration. "That is not what fishing for compliments looks like!" She would know. And they should know, too. They've undoubtedly got footage of her twirling around in her cutest swimsuit to try and pry Juno's attention away from those bloodthirsty fish bitches! Ugh. They're cubes. What the fuck do they know about anything? Instead they start pulling up footage of their first 'meeting', which she technically wasn't conscious for. She can't help but stare for a second when she sees her limp body being dragged towards the railing and quickly averts her gaze before the image can imprint itself in her head. Startling as it is to see it like this, it's not news to her. That's where they stood at the beginning. But they're not at the beginning anymore. What could've been doesn't matter, because that's not how it is now. They pull up a reel of her harmless pranks, explaining why they're harmless, and maybe a past version of herself would've been delighted to have someone on her side in this argument.

"Give her some fucking credit! At least she tr--" Lettie trails off when she hears the 'thump, thump' of approaching footsteps and squeaks when she notices the rice monster dashing towards her. She shoots skyward like a rocket, the thing's fingertips grazing her ankles. She hovers just out of the monster's reach, crossing her arms while a bored expression crosses her features. The rice monster swings for her frantically to no avail. It grunts at her and she waves her hand, as if inviting it to speak to her with words she can understand. She rolls her eyes when this (predictably) doesn't happen and proceeds to mock the second cube in a pinched, snotty voice. "The point of this exercise is to practice your thinking." She scoffs. "These 'training exercises' can't even talk. Our real battle's with you, isn't it cubey? You and your baby." That's got to be it! They're the only ones who can talk. They're the ones challenging them mentally.

"I am not the maestro's honey bear." Cubey 2.0 sighs. "Our relationship is none of your business." Lettie raises an eyebrow. That's not what she... "But if you really want to know..." ("I really don't." For once, she doesn't. care about the latest gossip. She really, truly just wants to have dinner with her pirate.) "The status has changed to 'it's complicated'. Kind of a sensitive subject."

"Wow." Lettie exhales, massaging her aching temples. She hardly has time to wrap her mind around the implications of that before she realizes the rice monstrosity is sculpting rice from their own body to throw giant clumps at her. She dodges the first rice ball at the last second, swerving in zigzags to avoid the onslaught. "Wow. I did not need to know that."

"Your battle's with us? Elaborate." The OG cube demands, changing the subject to address the faerie's earlier claim. (Is it just her or does it flash pink for the briefest of seconds? Uh.)

"You want us to prove that we're going to survive and all... but haven't we already done that by surviving as long as we have?" Lettie shrugs. The last couple of times they haven't needed to rely on the cube. Well, not really? Okay, she's not sure if the ocean crashing over their heads would have killed them back there or not if the cube hadn't been there to back them up. But they didn't have any control over that part! "All those clips-- we were basically at each other's throats back then! That's obviously not an issue anymore, sooo..."

"So you're saying your relationship status has moved out of the 'it's complicated' territory..." Cubey 2.0 starts, turning to face the first cubey. First cubey tilts as if to nod. "And into...?"

Into...? Lettie realizes she's not going to come up with an answer to that question when the island block that Juno is standing on starts to shake and glow, as if it's about to drop her into the lava waiting below. Fuck! "Juno!" She speeds towards her like a shooting star, pushing the pirate off the island with as much force as she can muster She glitches them forward the second their bodies collide, springing them to safety. This ends with them in an all too familiar position, with Lettie lying on top of Juno. (...Or maybe her action answers that question for her.)

"Olette... is Juno your honey bear?" The mer-cube taunts. There's a whir as the cube's printers work and several photos rain down over their heads like confetti. "Don't be shy! Tell us everything."

Lettie turns bright red, lifting one of the pictures that fell into Juno's face and fans herself with it before flipping it around to see what it says on the other side. (The faerie doesn't push herself off of the pirate. She's, uh, too dazed to move! Because she landed on Juno's abs and... well, she'll leave the abs part out if she's asked about it. But the landing has her dazed and dizzy and she just needs a sec. She's flushed because of their proximity to the flaming hot lava. It's not because Juno is her honey bear. Ha. What? Seriously, what the fuck are the cubes thinking!?) "...Wanted for committing crimes against seashells? What the fuck?" Her brow furrows as she stares at the headline and grainy picture of them on a beach together. Alarmingly, she has no memory of this. She grabs another one, a wanted poster from the volcano world, and grins with recognition. (If she could update her profile pic from here, she'd totally change it to this one.) "Oooh! I look like a badass in this one."

"Maybe the real treasure was the enemies you made along the way." The cube says, effectively ruining the moment. "You may not be enemies anymore, but you still have many, many enemies to contend with. Use your brains and don't say we didn't warn you." Then, as if that wasn't ominous, the entire world shudders around them and the dinner setup changes to one that's a lot classier, set up on a patio with twinkling lights strung up in the trees. (So romantic) Curiously, there are two present boxes sitting propped up by the table as well. "...Your dinner. Bone apple teeth, dumpster fire saviors."
 
Has anyone ever defended Juno? (Yes, but it was so long ago that the Juno now is not the Juno then; so, in a way, it’s almost as if no one has ever defended Juno even if she knows that is not true. More than that, the way that Olette defends her is different than the other ways she’s had to be defended. There are no fists or spirits protecting her, only her words against the verbal attacks criticizing her earlier performance with the pasta abomination. No one’s stood up for her like this and that is true for all versions of Juno. It’s nice in a different way.) The pirate blinks, thankful that the heat from the lava could explain her pinking cheeks.

But the lava becomes worrisome again as she is forced to watch the rice beast rush towards her faerie and she can’t even lob a bomb or do anything to protect her, stuck on her island. Not that she needs to worry, because the faerie has wings and dodges the attack before she can be tackled to the ground. (Juno should know she’s all the safety she needs on her own, but that knowledge doesn’t make those moments before she remembers any easier to watch.) And, in true Olette fashion, she continues right where she left off, because most things are only a nuisance for a powerful little faerie like herself. Juno breathes out a sigh of relief while the second piece of shit laments over a complicated relationship with the first piece of shit. Juno doesn’t even want to waste the brainspace on figuring out how that even works. (She knew cubes couldn’t appreciate Olette, though, and this pretty much proves it. The only thing Juno had been wrong about is the fact that they find other cubes attractive and not necessarily spheres.)

The next thing the pirate knows, the platform she’s on starts to glow and shake, reminding her of those floating rocks she once used to chase the faerie, and a knowing look of horror widens her eyes. There’s no way for her to jump to a point safety and while she hadn’t thought the fucking cubes would really kill her, now she’s not so sure because she can feel the platform giving away beneath her feet and––

“Oof,” she grunts out, not sure what has hit her but recognizing she’s no longer on that falling surface and that Olette is on top of her. As she comes to, she vaguely recalls seeing a beam of light in her last moments and puts together that that must have been the faerie, her faerie, coming to save her. (She hadn’t really considered that as a possibility given her towering size over her, but she supposes that she really shouldn’t question Olette’s abilities. She’s pure magic and a genius. Of course she saved her, she can do anything.) The pirate isn’t able to utter out a thanks, however, because she notices that they’re skin to skin. Okay, not really, but her arms must have automatically wrapped around her savior and now her hands are touching the parts of the faerie’s waist that are bare from those diamond cuts in her dress. ‘Girl…’

The pirate stares blankly at the steel skies, not daring to look down and probably not even capable. ‘Girl, girl, girl…’ (She’s warm.) She blinks, not really registering the question about their relationship status or the paper that’s landed on her face until her eyelashes brush against it. Even as the paper is removed, she remains mystified and unsure of what’s happening. It's not until she hears the faerie's, “What the fuck?” that she reorients herself, reminding herself that there’s a great view if she looks down.

She peaks at the current page in Olette's hand, the one she seems enthusiastic about, lifts a brow, and recognizes it as a wanted poster. ‘That wasn’t my favorite look.’ (Although it’s entirely possible Juno’s memories of that day are jaded, because she had been forced to wear pink armor. Totally undignified and not badass just like those weird rat bandages.) Another poster lands next to her and she grabs it, her eyes immediately warming with the ghost smile on her lips. This one must have been from their early days traveling together, because it looks like Olette has a black eye from when the skeletons dropped her after Juno ordered them not to toss her overboard. Her hair is pink and she has a dazed look in her eyes, so they’re probably on that aquatic sky world. ‘She looks so cute… and tough.’ She folds this one into quarters and tucks it into the waistline of her pants for safe keeping.

Whatever nonsensical bull the cube is spewing is ignored and becomes less important when the smell of food hits her, reminding her of her hunger. Her stomach gurgles eagerly and she taps on the faerie’s shoulder, a silent ask for her to get up, and patiently waits before she goes over to the spread––not even noticing the gifts leaning against the table. (To be honest, she doesn’t really know what to make of them.) Unlike the first would-have-been dinner, this one is entirely breakfast foods–– Juno puts this together when she spots those circular soft squishy things Olette had eaten at the diner on the candy planet. There are also yellow looking clouds (scrambled eggs), crispy bread, bread with pockets (waffles), a thick cream with edible rocks and fruits (parfait), crispy meat (bacon), potatoes in various forms, lumpy stuff (oatmeal), and an orange juice (orange juice). In lieu of coffee, they are served coffee milkshakes with high hills made of clouds (whipped cream). The pirate’s mouth begins to water just looking at everything.

Though their chairs are set across from each other, that doesn’t last. In a wordless agreement, deciding that even that small distance isn’t acceptable, they scoot them to one side of the table so that they are sitting next to each other. Once settled, the pirate makes sure to grab a flat squishy circle and watches how Olette prepares hers so that she knows the correct way to eat them. She decides that they're pretty good, but she still likes crispy bread more. Surprisingly, and unlike the other times that new foods have been presented to her, she generally makes sure to try a little bit of everything and each time she grabs something that Olette has, she watches how she prepares the foods and copies. Either out of kindness or perhaps noticing she has a spy, Olette eventually suggests multiple ways to eat the different foods; this is how Juno learns that smashed tomatoes can go on the crispy shreds (hash browns) and eggs. (She doesn’t know if she’ll fully commit to being a smashed tomatoes person, but these combinations are not awful.) She takes careful notes on what seem to be Olette’s favorite dishes and while unsure of how to make them, she imagines a day when she will be able to cook her favorites and maybe elicit those hums from her with her cooking. (And maybe also… No. She’s not going there!)

Between seconds and thirds, Olette points out the presents and explains to the pirate that sometimes gifts are wrapped. The pirate doesn’t get it, believing that there isn’t a point, but not even she can deny the rush of ripping apart the pretty paper or the satisfaction of unveiling the surprise––a monstrous switch axe sword in her case; it’s smaller than the faerie (without heels) but not by much. Lightning sparks in her stormy eyes and she immediately gets up to swing it around a few times before asking Olette what she got. Along with their gifts, there’s also a note from the mer-cube saying that they’ll find more durable and fashionable clothes in their wardrobes. Juno assures the faerie that the second piece of shit doesn’t know how to appreciate her, that she always looks good, and that a cube doesn’t know how to style her.

They eat more, talk more, and share more pieces of themselves with each other. They both get to see each other smile (though, in Juno's case, it’s not as wide or dimpled as it was the previous night, a certain shyness preventing the pirate from showing herself like that). They ask questions. They apologize with their eyes for the ones that are too painful to answer and move on to different subjects. Juno opens up some about James, the happier memories, and talks about their dreams of change––hoping one day they would storm the Skyward Palace and bring the riches to the rest of Desdemonia. She thinks about telling her how she came by Lady, but decides to instead share about how she kicked Clay’s ass during sparring matches and how he tried to make her life Hell after that. (She leaves out how she revenge dated his sister, feeling weird about bringing up her love life with Olette.) She even shares a few stories about facing off against Clay as a pirate and getting away every single time, because, “He was always a hotheaded dumbass,” and that’s, “a lethal fucking combination. Only smart hotheads make it, like you ‘n me.” She admits to thieving from elites and occasionally sharing her spoils with the tin villages, but never enough to earn a reputation as a benevolent bandit. It’s nice. It’s calm. Juno doesn’t mind being known by Olette.

With the dinner finished, neither of them able to cram anymore food into themselves, they walk back towards the ship with their bug army following behind Olette and lighting the way for them. Neither wants to separate and neither wants to say it either, so they end up in the safety of the study to review the wanted posters the cubes printed out for them and brainstorm strategies for how to deal with their enemies and atone for bizarre crimes like ones against seashells or "being too pink;" there are more normal crimes intermixed, but they laugh over the weird ones. They don’t actually end up strategizing too much and catch themselves just chatting until they can’t keep their eyes open, collapsing on top of each other on Olette’s aggressively pink couch.

Juno doesn’t dream. She sleeps peacefully with the faerie on her back.

When they wake up, they’re woken to the sound of Lady’s hull rattling, followed by the entire ship quaking in violent tremors, throwing them both off of the couch and onto the floor, Juno lying on her back on top of Olette. The pirate doesn’t immediately know what’s happened, still groggy from sleep, and momentarily alarmed she can’t see the faerie (but she can feel her). “Olette?” she mumbles out, her voice still deep and thick with sleep. She rolls onto her side and looks at her, barely able to keep her eyes open. “Tell the cube… five more minutes.”

The ship shakes again and the sound of rapid clinking and tapping echoes from above––more alarming is the sound of buzzing, like the flap of millions of little insect wings, followed by a screech that shreds through the air. The temperature inside of the ship also starts to rise at an alarming rate and when the pirate forces an eye to crack open, looking out the window, she discovers that it’s because they’re surrounded by mountains with rivers of magma cutting into them. A geyser of lava shoots up past the window reminding Juno of that one––

“Where is that homo pirate!?”

“Fuck.” Juno’s immediately awake after hearing that cry, remembering that angry weirdo from the volcano planet that they must be back on. (Was yesterday’s “training session” foreshadowing? If so, she hates those cubes even more for being so cryptic.) She springs up not a moment later, reaching over for her newest weapon, and honestly excited to give it a try. But, uh, purely to defend herself as she remembers that other part of that stupid as fuck food fight lesson from yesterday. They need to fight smarter, not harder.

“Hand over my bug of a feather and surrender your captain!” the creature shouts from above, stomping and rattling the ship some more. “I am going to eat her head.”

The chorus of fucks continues in Juno’s head and only gets louder as she feels her crew getting swatted apart, some getting tossed overboard into the magma sea. Meanwhile, the sound of insects (not theirs) gets louder and louder through the hallways and she recalls that the insectoid freak was capable of barfing up swarms of her own. (At least they only pissed off one fucker on this planet. …Juno’s totally forgotten about the clay village she squished and the ashy guardian that Olette dissed.)

Her eyes flit back over to the window and half an idea begins to form, observing that the geysers are pushing up platforms as they had before. “Olette, we can surprise her if we escape out the window. Maybe you can explain that I’m not a homo anymore––I mean… I’m not homicidal anymore? I’m definitely still––” she stops herself before she can finish that sentence, heat moving across her cheeks. She clamps her jaw shut, deciding this is just the effects of grogginess, drops the subject, figuring Olette knows what she's getting at, and turns to open the window.
 
No doubt drawing inspiration from the evening they spent together, Lettie dreams of Juno wielding her swanky new axe-sword. The wind whips her hair back as they sail through the skies, dodging canon fire from a rival ship as they make their getaway. They fought long and hard and now they're stealing away with mountains of gleaming treasure on deck (Inez pops two sapphires into her eye sockets and the others pretend to get drunk, guzzling wine that spills down through their ribcages-- it's a real party) they're going to settle her debts on Avangeline and then they're going to share whatever they don't need with those on Desdemonia who need it to honor the visions that Juno and James dreamt up as children. They're going to live out their lives this way, with the butterflies in her chest aflutter with exhilaration. Blue strands fall in her face and she rakes her fingers back through them to improve her view, watching with eyes that sparkle more than the gems in Inez's eye sockets as Juno takes out another zombie. She's too busy ogling admiring the way her muscles work as she fights that she doesn't notice she's dumbly standing in the line of another blast. "Dumbass!" Juno lunges for her and--

Oof. Lettie smacks against the deck with an ungraceful thwack, separating her dream from the reality she's living and jolting her awake. The weight of another body falls over her and sandwiches her between the floor and what she recognizes as Juno. Still recovering as her head throbs and mourning the romanticized life they had in her dream, she wheezes out a helpless little breath from underneath her. When Juno rolls off of her, Lettie struggles to open her own sleepy eyes to look back at her. "The cube...?" What a rude awakening! Just like the cube. If she were more awake, she'd totally yell at cubey for disturbing Juno's sleep. All the stars in the sky know she needs it. What's that rattling noise, though? And is it getting hot in there or is she setting herself on fire with her fantasies? "What's happening?"

That question answers itself with the familiar voice that bellows down, as well as Juno's reaction to it. Lettie gulps when she notices Juno reaching for her new weapon, wondering if her dreams of watching the pirate fight with it are about to become a reality and at the same time feeling torn, because they had very nearly died the last time they were on this world. There's no time to process, no time to think--

"Juju..." Lettie starts to sit up, squeaking and hugging onto the leg of her couch to hold herself steady as the ship shakes again. Shit. How did that centipede woman break through Lady's defenses, anyway? Part of her wants to check the engine room and run maintenance on everything. That's her purpose as a crew member on the ship, so when she fucks up, it means it's her fault that--

When the woman demands that her 'bug of a feather' be handed over, however, Lettie realizes she can't do that. Not yet. Especially not when she claims that she intends to eat Juno's head. Yikes. The pirate suggests that she clear up the misunderstanding and the faerie would have breathed out a sigh of relief at her decision to try negotiating if the memory of attempting to reason with the centipede woman didn't make her want to scream out with frustration. Recalling their conversation makes her stop in her tracks. Eat her head? Wait a sec!

"...Her mother ate her father's head and she thought it was very romantic. Is she trying to flirt with you or something?" Lettie steams over this, puckering her lips. (While she was concerned about the mermaids, she has a feeling she doesn't have to worry about the centipede woman the same way. Well, she does-- because she also wants to kill her-- but not in the sense where she's competition for a certain homo pirate's affections. Wait, what?) "Fine, fine. I'll try and talk to her. But I can't make any promises. She's..." She shakes her head as the terminology eludes her. All she can do to encapsulate the centipede woman is vaugely wave her hands around her head while making a 'whoosh' sound effect. There is a possibility that she's going to misinterpret everything she says and needs to preface whatever is about to happen with this information.

The faerie pulls her blue hair back into a high ponytail and assesses her outfit. She's still wearing her dress from the night before and it's a good thing she went strapless-- because it's hot as hell now. (Unfortunately she's not feeling hot as hell this time around, but tweaks to her look will have to wait as the ship continues to rock violently. Unlike last time she has her priorities in reasonable order.) Her wings hum softly as they flutter behind her and she glides with ease out the window. Lettie glances back at Juno with the desire to say something more while not knowing exactly what to say.

"Don't go falling into the lava while I'm gone, homo pirate." Lettie teases in lieu of saying what she truly means to say, which is more along the lines of 'be careful' and 'don't die'. The faerie remembers Juno jumping with the ease she lacked from rock to rock the first time and knows she's got this. Still... She playfully pokes her bicep, confirming for herself that the pirate is still as buff and strong as ever, and then remembers something else. "If you see cubey, try and convince them to make us some candy and party hats. That might help calm her down." With that, the faerie flies skyward. Sweat rolls down her neck as she moves in spirals to dodge the geysers that shoot up at random. At least she doesn't have to scale her way up rock by rock anymore...

"Hey-- you..." Lettie starts to call out as she reaches the deck, finding the centipede woman has sprawled herself out across the deck and is using her various arms to swat the skeleton crew around. They really did leave her in rough shape, but she seems to have regenerated some of the arms she'd lost since they last saw each other. (What was her name? She never really introduced herself, did she?) Ugh, fine. There's no other way, is there? "Ah, there's my bug of a feather. Look, I'm right here! Why don't we have a chat?" She clicks her tongue disapprovingly as she assesses the mess of bones on deck. "There's no need for all this fighting, is there? The skellie crew has done nothing wrong!"

The centipede woman gasps, her ruby eyes widening to ovals. Her oversized arm, which was about to swat Phillip away, stills before rerouting and shooting out towards Lettie instead. There is no way she can swerve to avoid those long fingers, which lock around her torso and bring her close like some kind of lost possession. She tries her best to keep her pleasant smile intact while this happens. (The chill that slips down her spine is mostly ineffective in making her shiver, if only because it's scorching hot.) "My zoraptera friend. Is it really you?" Her eyes narrow to slits as she examines her from up close and scrutinizingly strokes a finger through her ponytail. "My bug of a feather had dark hair and a broken wing. But your face. It does look very much like hers. Like the bug in the photo." Bug in the photo? Sure enough, nothing the centipede woman says makes any sense.

"Oh, I change my hair all the time! Like this." Lettie changes her hair to a darker shade of blue with a few flicks of her finger. (Still Juno's favorite color.) "See? And as for my wing..." This is her chance to explain that she and Juno are on good terms now, that they should stop this pointless fighting and--

"Woah. So your father was a chameleon?" The centipede woman tilts her, as if to examine her at a different angle, causing the faerie to squeak. She shakes her once, evoking another squeak and causing her cheeks to blush bright red. (Is she doing this on purpose?)

"A ch-- no, no, no." Lettie shakes her head. Ugh, figures this would happen! "That's not how it is. I'm a faerie, so..." She sighs. It doesn't matter, does it? "There's no time to explain this right now. The point is, I can change my hair and I am your bug of a feather! And you need to stop attacking the ship!"

"No." The centipede woman hisses, as if insulted by the idea. "I must eat the homo pirate's head for what she did to you and to my home. My precious shinies!"

"But what about live, laugh, love?" Lettie tries in an act of desperation, referencing those tacky pillows as she remembers how the woman had used the phrase when they met.

"We will live, laugh, and love after I have rescued you from the homo pirate." The centipede woman whistles and holds Lettie high in the air above her head. Albert swoops down and whisks her up similarly to how he took the cube from Juno's hand the first time they met.

"Hey... Wait! She told me she's, uh, planning a party!" Lettie calls down, struggling to free herself from Albert's grip. Freaking lizard bird. She's totally improvising here. The remaining skeleton crew on deck look up at her-- some of them pumping their fists in the air to give their silent cheers of approval at this development. (They really do love to party.) "To say she's sorry! There'll be party hats and everything. Won't you at least hear her out first?" Oh stars. She can only hope that this works.
 
Juno’s face floods with a bright and embarrassing shade of red, masked only by the orange glow of lava, when Olette not only calls her a “homo pirate” but then proceeds to poke her bicep, therefore touching her. Her. Juno. Juno the homo pirate who Olette the pretty faerie has just touched. There’s a strangled noise that tries to escape her throat (it would have perfectly matched the helpless look in her stormy eyes), but the pirate manages to do one thing right by swallowing it down as she watches Olette fly to the deck to start negotiates with a monster who doesn’t even rank in the top ten weirdest atrocities they’ve been forced to face. (With the implication they’re supposed to go back to all these worlds where they’ve caused trouble, she severely hopes they don’t have to go back to ice world and face that candy shack furry elephant who sniffs out mommy issues––mommy issues that don’t exist for Juno, by the way, because she never had a proper mom. Checkmate, motherfucker! Oh, she also hopes that they don’t have to face the world where they toppled a civilization. That, um, would really blow.)

Being as flustered as she is by the teasing and also the way Olette got defensive over the centipede freak wanting to eat her head (totally missing the jealousy and taking it only as her want to have Juno’s back), she has to take a full minute to gather herself and get her head back in the game. Once recovered she sticks her head out the window and searches for the nearest floating platform. She takes another minute to watch the geysers, trying to spot a pattern to help her pick the spots to leap towards. While they go off at random, she begins to spot the tells in the lava river that indicate when the next geyser will go off; it seems to start with a rage of bubbles followed by a suspicious and sudden calm. Then the lava sucks downwards for a second before it spits back up, pushing up anything in its path. Confident that this is a reliable pattern, she hastily maps out a few paths in her head to follow, looking at the floating platforms both above and below. (She needs to be quick. She doesn’t want to leave Olette alone up there for too long; even if she can handle herself, they’re a team now and they’re relying on each other.)

With a few pathways selected, Juno readies herself for launch by clipping her new weapon to her back and unclipping her whip to place it between her teeth; then she takes a deep breath, crouches on the windowsill, and launches herself towards a platform with boiling bubbles underneath it. Her timing is off enough that the second after she lands the platform shoots up into the air, not giving the pirate a moment to flip herself around. ‘Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die.’

(The stakes are high. She promised to live. (Her life is Olette’s.) She promised to protect her. She can’t do that if she’s one with the lava planet. Dying just isn’t an option.)

Her mind goes blank of thoughts, feeling the stone platform reach its peak before it drops. In a fluid motion, she flips herself onto her feet, grabs her whip, and hurls herself off of the falling platform towards one of the other rocks she’s mapped out in her mind. Her arm snaps out, extending the whip so that it wraps around her target, and catches her before she can fall to a fiery, melty death. ‘Good. Now Olette won’t have to kill me for dying.’ More importantly, she won’t have to endure Olette’s searing look of disappointment if she were to die––that might be a fate worse than death. (Wait… Why is she suddenly so worried about worrying the faerie?)

She hangs from the rock for a few seconds, taking a moment to collect herself before she looks below, assessing whether or not she can drop safely from this distance or if she should jump to a lower spot. She also takes a moment to check on her companion and spots her in the centipede woman’s grasp, her hair a darker shade of blue (not that she should be paying attention to that, all things considered); she also catches something about live, laugh, love. ‘What the fuck?’ Now those weird gestures Olette had been making earlier in reference to the bug woman make sense. She’s as fucking brainless as her boneheaded crew.

“A party? Hmm,” the centipede’s woman’s multiple arms cross while the top set are propped so she can tap at her chin thoughtfully. “Will she have rhombuses in the gift bags? I do enjoy a good rhombus, such a delightful shape…”

Juno shakes her head in disbelief, wondering what she’s even going on about, but the next time she glances down, just as she’s about to swing herself to another rock, she sees that that bird freak has her faerie. With a fire hot in her eyes, she changes course mid-swing, charging towards the mutant pigeon, and sticking her foot out to knock the bird down. “Olette! Duck!”

“Albert isn’t a duck, he is a veloci-gator––hey!” The centipede woman begins, but upon noticing what’s going on she starts to foam at the mouth, sharp pincers elongating and tearing out from her face. (Nasty.)

Albert squawks as he’s hit, releasing the faerie from his grasp, and crashes into the deck of the ship in a heap. Though Juno knows Olette has her wings, instinct has her looping an arm around her waist, pulling her into the safety of her chest. She uses the rest of her gathered momentum to land them on another rock, just out of the weirdo’s reach. She holds onto the faerie a few seconds too long, her heart too unsettled to let go, but when she’s assured they’re safe (or as safe as they can be), she sets Olette down. Her eyes immediately scan her for injury. “Are you okay?”

“Hand over my bug of a feather, homo fiend! She does not want traitors!”

“Shit,” Juno mutters, peaking over the edge of the rock to look at the raging centipede. The pirate now recalls that she was supposed to gather candy and party hats and that Olette had been trying to salvage this negotiation with a surprise party; but between getting herself above deck to avoid the swarm searching for her below deck and trying not to fall to a fiery death, she never fucking ran into the cube. (She doesn’t even know where that fucker is.) Plus, the sight of her Olette getting whisked away took over all her mental faculties until all she could think to do was make sure her faerie was safe. Unfortunately, that tunnel vision might have landed them in more trouble. Ugh. Fuck her stupid instincts, really. “Fuck.” She gives the faerie an apologetic look. “Homo tendencies die hard, I guess?”

Even if she might have screwed up by kicking that mutant bird fucker in the face, she can’t give up, she can’t just give into violence or her apparent homicidal tendencies just yet. That has to be a last resort. Once again she peeks over the edge of the rock that they’re floating on, raising her hands in surrender, and says, “Fuck, uh, there’s been a misunderstanding––”

“Miss. Under. Standing.” The centipede woman is once again perplexed by this word, once more tasting it on her tongue and deciding whether or not she likes it or if she understands what it means. She taps on her chin contemplatively as her eyes shift from ruby to gold. They narrow as she looks at the pirate, squinting as she scrutinizes her. Then her golden eyes widen in apparent recognition. ”Oh! You are Miss. Under. Standing! My bug of a feather mentioned you earlier! You are not that nasty pink homo pirate, blegh,” she sticks out her tongue. “She must still be planning my party. I do hope she remembers the rhombuses. Those are the most apologetic shapes, mhm. But you, Miss. Under. Standing. Are you a homo twin? And why have you kicked Albert?”

The pirate is entirely befuddled. When she looks over her shoulder at Olette, her lip is half curled in confusion. She guesses this works in her favor but, seriously, what the fuck? She turns back to the centipede woman. “Uh… I thought that Albus was trying to steal my princess, you see. I’m a knight.” (“A homo knight?”) “Sure, whatever––my evil homo pirate twin was trying to steal my princess. It’s just been a real fuckin’ mess. I’m sorry about your pigeon,” (“Veloci-gator.”) “Right, that thing… I’ve just got my honor and oaths and shit. Look, we’d love to stay for my twin’s rager, but we really gotta get back to the castle––”

“Palace Dominia?”

“Er, sure?” Why does that sound familiar?

“I know a shortcut! For two rhombuses––no! Three rhombuses,” she holds up five fingers, “I can get you there in one hand turn.” Albert squawks miserably in protest, trying to gather himself back to his feet. “And you must give Albert a pedicure. For the kick. It’s only pale.”

“I…” Juno really doesn’t know what to say to any of this. She sure as Hell doesn’t want to go with this bug brain, but she also doesn’t know how to get rid of her either. ‘Maybe violence was the answer…’ She looks to Olette. “Princess, um, don’t we… aren’t we supposed to go alone? Because we've got that alone thing to do? A thing that only a knight and princess can do?”
 
Lettie feels nothing but the fervid hammering of her heart when Juno kicks Albert and secures her arms around her, tucking her safely against her chest. (There's no safer place she knows than the embrace of Juno's stupidly buff arms.) She's got me. In her relief to be free of the lizard bird and close to the pirate, she also forgets that she can fly and doesn't fully register that her party plans are now disappearing like water down the drain. An electric thrill rushes over her body and she clings tighter as Juno swings them over pits of scorching lava and onto one of the floating rocks. Like turning a switch, it's only after she's set back down that her brain begins processing thoughts beyond just 'muscles, hot'. Wait one flipping second! "Juju!" She huffs, her cheek-puff appearing for only a second before it deflates. She can't help but soften when Juno's eyes scan over her and she asks if she's okay. (Like she means it. And that's the thing. She really means it, doesn't she?) "I'm... yeah, I'm..." She's back to malfunctioning apparently, looking down at her heels as if they're going to feed her the response she needs to give like cue cards on a television set. "I'm good."

The centipede woman's outraged cry reduces to nothing more than a hum of white noise in the back of Lettie's mind. She only has eyes for Juno as she peeks over the rock. Fuck. It's only when the pirate reacts to what she's saying that she's drawn back into the present. Ah, snap. (Is it wrong for her to think it's cute? Juno looks sort of like a puppy who just got caught tearing up her favorite shoes.) "We'll be okay." The faerie assures, straightening her posture and confidently flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder. She's not entirely sure if she believes that. The probability is high that this will end in flames and that probability skyrockets when she considers the fact that the are surrounded by an ocean of magma. Still!There's no denying that they've been in worse situations before. They nearly died the last time they were on this world, that's true, but they were basically sworn enemies back then. Juno didn't even know her name yet. She still called her names like Oleander and Ollie. (Ollie was sort of a cute one, though.) Point is-- things are different now. She joins the pirate to peek over the rock, tracing Albert's crash to the deck and then the centipede woman herself with her foaming mouth and pincers. (Yeesh!) But it could be worse. It could always be worse and this is still salvageable. "We can still turn this around."

Her bug of a feather is an odd enough duck (that also isn't a duck) that she thinks tossing the correct weird responses back at her until one sticks is what they'll have to do here. (It's always a gamble, though, because the correct weird responses could just as easily be the wrong weird responses that could send them plummeting down towards a fiery death. She's got wings (when she remembers they exist) but Juno doesn't. And she is just one tiny faerie who does not have the muscle to properly catch her with. Although she could always try and find ways to alter her course... her breathing becomes shallow the more she considers the worst case scenarios. She can't just watch her fall. She can't lose her, like she lost--) We're a team now. We'll be okay. We got this.

Lettie's lost in such a reverie that she doesn't squeeze in the chance to coach Juno on the centipede woman, on how to go about replying to her as not to escalate the situation. The pirate dives headfirst into her attempt to try and negotiate herself. (The faerie anxiously bites her thumbnail as she watches. She keeps herself from commenting (or breathing for that matter) because her homo pirate is trying and she wants to see how it goes. Not to watch her crash and burn and laugh at the chaos like she might have in the past, but to take notes so she can give constructive advice later. She may make mistakes along the way-- mistakes are kind of inevitable-- but she can learn from them so long as they live through this.) When Juno says the word 'misunderstanding', Lettie's fingers automatically flutter to her temples to massage the headache she knows is coming. Miss. Under. Standing. Yep, there it is.

The faerie squints and tilts her head confusedly when the woman's ruby eyes turn gold. (What does that mean?) It doesn't seem to be a matter of preference, like her glamours. Either way, they don't seem to be in any apparent danger because of it, so she lets it slide. Lettie's eyes widen when she goes on to call Juno 'Miss. Under. Standing.' and proceeds to invent an entire backstory including a twin homo pirate. She seems convinced, too. Huh. All she can do is shrug with a mirrored expression of incredulity when Juno turns to look at her. She offers her a reluctant thumbs up of encouragement. (Yay? Apparently the woman doesn't think that Juno is the Juno who attacked her and destroyed her trash cave (home), so they've got that going for them at least.) Of course, this Juno still has to answer for kicking Albert, and...

I thought that Albus was trying to steal my princess. (My princess. My princess. Making her Juno's princess. Hers, hers, hers.) The pirate has called her 'princess' before, she'd called her that same name the night they met and it'd properly heated her. This time Lettie's cheeks heat up instead, with a bright pink that blossoms into her wings like cherry blossoms in spring. (Noticing this, she glamours her hair to a soft pink to make this change appear deliberate.) She reaches for the ponytail she flipped over her shoulder earlier, running her fingers through it as she tries to cope with her racing heart. Before it'd been condescending, an assumption that she was just a spoiled, prissy little faerie with no idea how cruel the world could be. Now the title sounds flattering, respectfully regal. (And, uh, tempting. The concept of being hers. It's...) Juno continues to go along with the storyline, calling her her princess again, and Lettie is convinced at that point that the butterflies fluttering in her heart are going to explode like the bombs they are.

Let's just say Lettie's gay panic is the main reason why she doesn't catch the name 'Palace Dominia' or why it sounds familiar, either.

Lettie only catches the bit about the rhombuses and pedicure. These are two things that she specifically can manage. (Maybe they won't have to fight after all! Maybe this won't end in flames!) She swallows hard and blushes again at the implication that they need to go off to do things that only a homo knight and homo princess can do (the 'homos' weren't there, but her mind supplies them just like they supply fantasies of sneaking away into a royal bedroom to...) ahem, ahem. Ahem! Focus! She smacks her cheeks twice, shakes her head, and then reaches over to give Juno's hand a reassuring squeeze. It's my time to shine.

"My bug of a feather is offering her help, Ju-- Miss Understanding. And we do owe her an apology for what happened to dear Albert." Wanting to experiment (and play the part that Juno has cast her in) Lettie summons their bug swarm and pleads with them to play along with the artistic vision she has in mind. Their bodies form a pink, buzzing staircase that descends from the rock she and Juno are on down to Lady's deck. (This will ensure that Juno can make it down safely as well.) As she (carefully) treads over the demonic insect staircase, she glamours her outfit into a regally white dress with golden accents-- making a show of creating it with sparkly glitz and glamour. Mother always said the acting experience would come in handy one day. (She really tried to make her a star, she tried even sooner than Lettie could walk or talk or fly. Separation anxiety got her fired from more gigs than she knows. She could not stop crying. When she'd been old enough to understand what was happening, the crushing guilt she'd felt seeing her mother's expressions of disappointment when failed to perform was unbearable... but she'd been a baby back then. It shouldn't have been on her.) Then she found other means to...

Lettie's heels click when they hit the deck. Never mind all that. It's showtime! "Your rhombuses." Lettie curtsies (she is a princess, after all) and uses what Juno would call her 'raver magic' to draw five shiny rhombuses (five just for the heck of it, just in case if 'three' means 'five' based on the centipede woman's gesture) and sends them twirling through the air towards her bug of a feather. The centipede woman's eyes change to become the colors of the different rhombuses and she leans forward to investigate them, Lady Vengeance groaning in protest as her weight shifts.

"Ooooh. Shiny, shiny." The centipede woman hums, considering them. She taps one experimentally and squints as it flickers like a hologram. "...So many one-sided rhombuses. Such a pulchritudinous shape."

Well, that ought to keep her entertained until the rhombuses fade. (They'll worry about that later.) The faerie purses her lips as she considers the next part of the deal. She really doesn't want to use her personal nail polish on Albert, but there's really no other option. (Hopefully the cube will be able to replenish it eventually. That and her perfume and the rest of her make up as it runs low. Her emergency kits are running low and she has to use it as sparingly as she can manage these days. If that bastard can score her a pink velvet couch, surely it can do that for her? That and maybe some treasure to settle all of her debts--? Ah, a faerie can dream.) "Now..." She draws her 'magic circle' and reaches for her bottle of nail polish, dangling it between her fingers for everyone to see before she hands it over to Juno. "My knight will give Albert a pedicure to honor your terms." She nods sagely. "And in return, you will...?"

Admittedly, Lettie hadn't been paying attention to all of the terms. She's not even sure what she's negotiating for anymore.

"We will escort the homo knight and princess to the Palace of Dominia." The centipede woman says smoothly, delightedly twirling one of the rhombuses around her finger. "You never told me you were a royal zoraptera. Like me, you must possess a whole trove of treasures." The woman's eyes gleam like golden coins.

"I wish." Lettie scoffs under her breath. She kneels down in front of Albert, holding her hands over Juno's to help guide her through the process of painting the tips of his claws. Then she whispers to herself, considering the rest of the woman's sentence. "Palace of Dominia... Dominia... huh. Doesn't that sound kind of familiar?"

"Very well. It seems that the terms have been met! Live, laugh, love." The centipede woman says after leaning over to check on their progress with Albert's pedicure. (The bird gives a hesitant squawk. Friggin ungrateful bird...) The woman's mouth opens wide to unleash another swarm of insects. Rather than attack, they sweep down beneath Lady and begin pushing the ship higher and higher into the sky. They rush skyward at such a breakneck speed that the bottle of nail polish gets knocked over, shattering and spilling the shimmery blue polish all over the deck.

"Boo! That was my last bottle." Lettie frowns-- but her pout quickly morphs into a high-pitched scream as Albert unleashes a forceful cry that propels them even faster through the smoky skies. She fumbles around after falling flat on her face, reaching for anything solid she can grab onto, and incidentally ends up latching herself onto Juno to keep herself from sliding off the deck when Lady tilts slightly upward. Shit, shit, shit! What have they gotten themselves into now!?

The smoky clouds gather together in the sky, sculpting what looks like a very angry man with thousands of glowing, neon eyes. "You!" He roars with frustration, lifting a fist in the air and summoning a rain of lightning bolts to fall all around them. "You shall not pass into Dominia! Perish!" A bolt just nearly pierces them both before Lettie glitches and phases both of their bodies down below deck.

They land in a heap, stacked on top of each other as they have so many times before. Lady groans and swerves, though, throwing Lettie off of Juno right away and knocking her against the wall. "Oof..." That was close. Way too close. She groans softly and beats her wings to glide back up to her feet. "What the fuck? I really thought we had that for a sec..." The faerie rubs the bruise developing on the side of her face and then offers a hand to Juno to help her up. "Forgot about the fucking trash deity. Just our luck."

"It should've-- Lady's security should've been tighter than that. I thought I perfected our force fields... but I must've fucked up somewhere." Lettie holds the side of her head and paces as the guilt smashes into her again, pausing only when the ship shakes and she hears explosions above deck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "Do you want me to go back up there with you? Or should I-- should I try and repair it?" She gives a panicked little salute. "I'm ready to follow your orders, captain. Just tell me what to do."
 
Juno is still getting used to working as part of a team. Where one could argue that being a pirate captain with a crew she ought to already be used to the concept of teamwork, they should be smartly reminded that captain Juno fashioned her crew from bones. They listen to her will and her will alone (despite having such strong wills of their own, much to Juno’s annoyance); it’s not exactly a team so much as it is a skeletal army at her command. Having to actually consider Olette, listen to her, and trust her is taking getting used to, but at this point she can accept that the faerie is safe. She isn’t trying to hurt her. She wants to protect her just as much as Juno wants to do the same for her. So when Olette gives her the assurance that it’ll be okay, despite Juno very nearly ruining the negotiations, she feels a flood of relief and a rush of confidence. ‘We’ve got this.’

With her newly pink hair (Olette’s favorite color, duh) and dazzling gown (not to mention her ever sparkly face), it’s not hard to believe that she really is a princess. Juno can only grin with amusement as she follows her down a demon bug staircase, not at all surprised she’s figured out how to control her subjects so easily. Once safely back on the deck, Juno opts to keep her lips sealed, because this is the faerie’s time to shine and the pirate’s not really all that great with her words. She’s just fucking lucky this bug woman has a bug brain to match, because with anyone else she probably would have gotten them killed with her words. (She’s still shocked she managed to communicate successfully with that mer-goddess’s vengeful clerics.)

Though the pirate has no idea what a “pedicure” is (it honestly sounds like a disease), when Olette produces that familiar bottle from her magic circle, she knows that it must have something to do with nails as she has crystal clear memories of finding the faerie lounging all over the ship with that same bottle, painting her nails. ‘Can’t be that fucking hard.’ Like, Juno’s no artist but, really, how hard can it be?

…Very hard, as it would turn out. Had Olette not stepped in to guide her hands (so, so soft), the lizard thing would have ended up with more polish on his digits than his claws. “I dunno––I think that’s just the name of this world,” she mutters back to Olette, not concerned too much by the familiar sounding name. It’s probably nothing. It has to be nothing. They weren’t on this planet for that long and she’s pretty sure they only pissed off this weirdo. They’re fine. It’s fi––

Juno isn’t even given a moment to prepare as they’re skyrocketed into the air with such force that all the pirate can do is keep herself flat against the deck. (She doesn’t remember falling flat on her back, but she must have as a dull ache throbs against the back of her skull.) So much is happening at once that all she can really do is hold onto Olette when she feels her pressed against her side and take comfort in knowing that, no matter how weird or shitty things get, she’s always got her faerie. And her faerie’s got her too.

As the ashy, smoke guardian materializes above them, Juno has a flash of a memory and she remembers why Dominia sounded so fucking familiar and she remembers, too, that they were fucking banned from entering because the bastard wanted a flesh sacrifice. (At the time, both herself and Olette tried to pass off that responsibility onto each other. Now she knows that won’t even be an option. Besides, with how they left things she doubts that a simple sacri––)

“Urgh,” she gasps out when they’re phased through the deck and into the storage room below, narrowly missing those lightning strikes. The pirate immediately turns on her side when the faerie promptly rolls off of her, taking a moment to collect herself. (She’s still not used to phasing and she doesn’t think she ever will be.) With one hand rubbing her forehead, the other accepts Olette’s to help her up. (…Has she ever offered this to her before? She doesn’t think so and the realization makes her blush. Thank the goddess it’s too dark down here for it to be noticeable.)

She opens her mouth to speak and then closes it when Olette mentions the defense system. Honestly, Juno’s so unused to Lady being so souped up and she’s also so unfamiliar with the technology that must be somewhat normal to Olette, that it never occurred to her to be concerned with how the centipede woman made it onto her ship. Or even the pummeling they’re so obviously taking from above. (She’s not sure if all of the explosions are from that trash deity or Inez getting enthusiastic with cannons.) Though she can’t see her clearly in this light, she can sense the faerie’s worry and when it becomes clear she’s taking the blame for all this, Juno closes the distance between them. She sets her hands on Olette’s shoulders and shakes her head. “Don’t go all getting in your head on me, princess. I need you here. I need you here with me and you can’t be here if you’re beating yourself up over the defense system––which is fucking badass, by the way.

“There’s no point in fretting over it now. It must’ve shut off or something while we were back at the cube’s hideout–– Hell, Marjorie probably shut it down to conserve energy. Or, fuck, Abigail might have been playing Olette in the engine room again and flipped the switch. You know how much she likes pretending she’s you. Point is, I’m sure it wasn’t you, so get out of your head and come back to me, alright? We have a trash deity to appease and if we think quickly, maybe we can avoid a fuckin’ scuffle.” While it can’t be seen in this lighting, Juno offers a reassuring grin and flips her finger under Olette’s chin to keep her head up. She'd offer more reassurance but, from the corner of her eye, she catches something moving. She tenses, on alert, as she looks past Olette where she swore she saw something shifting between supply crates. Without the light on it's hard to make anything out so she listens closely for any indication that someone else is in the room with them. When she’s only met with silence, she nudges Olette’s shoulder and leads them towards the exit not at all noticing a shadow watching them in the darkest corner of the room.

“C’mon, we need to think strategy before we turn into barbeque.” As they head back towards the deck, Juno waves her wrist over some of the scattered bouncing bones, helping them form back into skeletons in a matter of seconds. She sends a group off to specifically look for Abigail and, by extension, the cube who she figures they’ll need, assuming that the cube brought them here for a reason. “So we pissed off god,” she says cavalierly, running her hands through her hair. (When she does this, she notices the bandana tied around her wrist and notices that it’s still blue. Her shirt is too and while this isn’t a bad thing, it is her favorite color, she just finds herself missing her coordinated look with Olette. It kind of made her feel like she… belonged. Or like she was part of something. Made her really feel like a team, to be quite honest. But that really isn’t what she should be focusing on.) She shoves her fists into her pockets then continues, “Because we weren’t willing sacrifices. I doubt the centipede woman wants to be our sacrifice and, to be honest, it’d be weird to sell her out.” The pirate obviously hasn’t always had these moral qualms about using others––she was quite willing and serious when she threatened to sell Olette to the Duchess––and while the bug woman isn’t a friend, she isn’t exactly a foe. She hasn’t done anything wrong, either. She’s just fucking weird and ultimately had only been attacking them, because Juno attacked first all those lifetimes ago it feels like. “Plus, I’m not even sure a make-up sacrifice would undo our offense––gods are fucking weird about their grudges.

“We are here to do it a solid though. Like, we are supposed to be healing the worlds ‘n shit. Not that this one seems as fucked as some of the others we’ve seen, but this planet probably has something wrong with it––aside from weird fucking bug women.” By this point, they’re standing at the entrance to the deck and it’s clear the god is still attacking Lady and the centipede woman is trying to defend the homo knight and princess. (“That is my bug of a feather and her homo knight! She is of zoraptera royalty. You are making a huge mistake, Dominic––the mayor will be hearing about this.” “The mayor! The mayor! Are you hearing yourself at all, Centi??”) Juno gives Olette a look that silently asks her if she thinks this is even worth it, but she knows that the choice isn’t theirs and hasn’t been since they met.

The pirate sighs and pushes the door open, revealing a smattering of bug guts from the bug woman’s swarm, exploded skeleton bits, fires all over her ship (her home) along with holes in the hull––it takes everything in Juno to not blow up over all of this damage. 'Remember, you're not here to fucking fight. You're here for peaceful fucking reasons.' For now, there also seems to be a temporary ceasefire while the dark cloud and the centipede woman argue about the mayor. This, at least, gives them the cover they need to duck and hide behind some toppled crates to assess the situation. Once again, the homo pirate (or homo knight?) is trying to change her homo ways. (Well…)

“The mayor sacrificed himself to stop the spread and you think he will just come back because you believe you are dealing with royalty? Do you not see that you have been tricked? There is no royalty in Dominia––there is no palace! I––EYE––am the sole proprietor of Dominia now. You should know this, Centi. You were there when the monarchy was eaten. YOU ate them!”

“Yes, that I did,” the bug woman agrees, though not seeming to follow the rest of what the god has said. “They gave me indigestion for weeks. Too rich. Blegh. That is why I cannot eat the homo knight or the homo princess.”

“I didn’t––” The ash god groans in frustration and Juno cannot help her amusement that the centipede woman’s antics work on gods. “Nevermind. For six hundred rhombuses, will you just look away while I smite the heretics?”

“I am no fool,” she crosses her arms and looks away, indignant. “I already have three rhombuses,” she gestures to the five floating rhombuses. “Three is a better number than six hundred. No one can even count that high.”

At this point, Juno takes her attention off the squabble to ask Olette, “Do you think the mayor is this world’s cube?” If so, then they just need to convince this ash god that they should not be smited and that they can bring back this world's cube. (This one better not have a fucking attitude like the mer-bitch-cube who insulted her faerie.) Little does Juno notice that the ash god and all thousand pairs of his neon eyes are now floating directly above them. The god seems even more pissed off than earlier (probably thanks to the bug woman being her normal bug woman self, to be honest).

“Hiding from fate, are we? You two, of house homo, will be smote for trying to enter into Dominia without a sacrifice––”

“Woah!” Juno gets up, hands raised to show she means no harm. “We’re not trying to fucking fight or offend––duty, honor, all that crap is shit I take very seriously.” The god looks skeptical at that claim, but doesn’t interrupt, so she keeps going. “And I’ve got two oaths I’m keepin’ right now. One is to a shitty little cube that forced me and my princess to save sorry little worlds like your flaming shithole and the other is to the princess herself. By my goddess I’ve sworn to fucking protect her, so don’t make me commit sins of sacrilege against you, Dominoes. Just show us your shitty corruption and we’ll be out of your hair. Or ash.” She looks at Olette, beaming with pride. She really fucking nailed that negotiation, she thinks. She only used variants of "fuck" twice!
 
'I need you here. I need you here with me.' Lettie repeats Juno's words in her mind like a mantra as they make their way back up to the fight. She brushes her fingers under her chin, recalling the way she touched her while speaking those reassurances. 'I’m sure it wasn’t you, so get out of your head and come back to me.' (Gentleness in her touch, gentleness in her voice. It leaves her wonderstruck she's been associating that word most often with the pirate she once deemed 'mean' and 'homicidal' these days.) The Lady Vengeance shakes as the battle above rages on and jostles her out of her thoughts again. Juno says she needs her there, so she needs to be there. Be present. Whether they're negotiating or fighting, she's got to pull her own weight. (It's a terrifying thing to be needed. This is why she would lounge like a lazy sack of bones around on the ship, why she never showed her full potential. She doesn't want to get anyone's hopes up only to let them down. But it's also a beautiful thing to be needed again by someone who doesn't expect perfection.) And if she did make a mistake on Lady's defense force fields, this is her chance to make up for it. She can't let herself become a burden. Onus, onus, onus. The faerie narrows her eyes, squashing the chill that word gives her before it can slide down her spine, and puts her game-face on. (As well as her cutest armor, which is a pearly white with pink floral patterns embellished at the edges. It has to have a little pink-- it's her favorite color and it matches her hair. She'll perform better if she feels pretty and that's a fact. That and the dress she glamoured for herself earlier would no doubt get in the way if they do fight.) Hm... oh, wait! At the last second, she also fashions herself a belt that she can carry her brand new butterfly daggers in.

'I'm here.' Lettie thinks, silently answering Juno's request as she assesses her outfit and nods determinedly to herself. She tightens her ponytail and then steels herself with a deep breath as they prepare to face the ensuing chaos on the top deck. Juno has a good point, after all, that they are trying to save the worlds and that their mission ought to give them some leverage with their opponents. Whether the god is bad or good or falls some indiscriminate place in between the two, she figures that anyone would want to keep their world from falling to the nightmares.

A charred taste hits the back of her throat as they make their way back up. Lettie has to bite down on her lip to stop herself from losing her shit over the damage that Lady has endured since they’ve been gone. (The ship is her home now and she will not take any of this disrespect!) The sight of bug guts and smashed skeletons only adds to her outrage. The worst part is that if the force fields worked the way they were supposed to, then this wouldn’t have happened. They wouldn't be-- 'I need you here with me and you can’t be here if you’re beating yourself up over the defense system.' Right. Right. (She brings herself back, her gaze flicking back and forth confusedly as she tries to follow the centipede woman's conversation with the god. It seems that she manages to perplex everyone she talks to and it's not just them.) Juno speaks up and fortunately gives her something new (and far more productive) to pay attention to.

“You think the mayor is a cube?” Lettie whispers back incredulously, tilting her head and glancing at Juno to see whether or not she’s serious about this. Seems like it. Then again… their cube has all the skeletons calling it the ‘maestro’ and she’s pretty sure she’s heard them refer to the new one as the ‘magistrate’. That fits in with their ongoing theme of ‘m’ names, anyway, and she can commend the pirate for picking up on that fact so quickly. “…A cube would totally be pretentious enough to go by ‘the mayor’. I bet you're right, Juju.”

Juno seems so determined to try her hand at negotiating again when the deity turns to face them. Lettie stands by, shifting her weight from foot to foot, concerned. It's not because she doesn't believe in the pirate or anything like that-- but she can't help but worry when she considers just how shitty this situation is. One wrong word and they might get blasted where they stand with a strike of lightning. The faerie blushes as Juno announces her vow to protect her yet again, wavering between panic and awe when she beams at her like that. (Ah, she's so cute. She's so cute and yet Lettie is terrified. She can only hope that the god isn’t offended by profanity— which she fears they might be, based on their old-fashioned values about the ‘sacrifices’ a woman must be willing to make.) Otherwise, she thinks that the pirate did a pretty good job of making their case. They have sworn to protect the worlds-- that is true-- and they will no doubt be more useful to this place (and others) alive than they would be dead.

The sky rumbles above them. Lettie can't tell whether the god is making a sound with their throat or if it's the sound of distant thunder. Without thinking, she reaches to take Juno's hand in her own. Whether they rise or fall, they're in this together. That won't change. That's her constant through all of this mess.

“You said you intended to sell the faerie, captain cupcake.” The deity hums, their wide eyes lighting up like detonating bombs in the ashy sky. (Lettie breathes in the smoke from the nearby fires and wonders if this is what her future smells like. How do they even fight a foe like this? If reasoning with this god doesn't work, then what the hell are they going to do?) “Was it not you who informed me that faerie flesh is sought after? Or have you changed your narrative in order to keep her for yourself? The skies have since told me about the faeries, how they—“ Oh, stars. Not this. Anything but this.

“Oh, oh!” The centipede woman (Centi?) speaks up and in Lettie’s mind, the heavens open up behind her and cast her in a golden light. She interrupts the god before they can finish that thought. They sigh with aggravation at the same time that the faerie releases the breath she’s been holding onto, silently thanking her bug of a feather for being her bug of a feather. “You are referring to the homo pirate twin. That traitor is busy planning a party. That is Miss. Under. Standing. She is a homo knight who has sworn to protect me and my bug of a feather. All of the bugs, in fact, are under her protection.” (Um. Who decided that? And when!?) “If you’re going to behave like this, you will not be receiving a party hat.”

“You know I cannot wear a party hat, Centi.” The ashy (trashy) deity sighs and steeples their fingers. (They are a collection of ash clouds, after all, and a party hat would simply fall right through them.) “…All that matters to me is whether or not I get a slice of pizza.” (Seriously? Who decided that?) By that logic, though, the god probably shouldn’t be able to consume pizza either. (Or flesh for that matter. Then again, this god hasn’t made it apparent why they need a flesh sacrifice in the first place. Could it be that they have some sort of hungry creature to appease? Like the…)

“Listen, smoky." ("My name is Dominic.") "Dominoes. It’s like she said. We can bring your mayor back. We can heal your world.” Lettie says confidently, knowing she can't falter now that they're making promises. She's got to stay present to back Juno up on this. (Needs to cut in before the deity can circle back around to whatever it was they were going to say about faeries.) Hm. She wonders what the centipede woman thinks of circles. Ah, that’s not important! Geez. How many times has she found herself in situations like this, anyway? Far too many for her liking, that's for sure. If this does end with a fight at least it'll give her the opportunity to blow off some steam. “We've done it before and we can do it again. You'll see. We're humbly asking that you give us a chance before you try to kill us.” She bows her head, the way she knows the elders on Avangeline prefer, remembering that she still needs to play her princess role convincingly. (She almost forgot her manners there, emulating Juno's habit with names.)

"Humbly." The sky deity snorts skeptically at them. Lightning flashes in the clouds behind their eyes. "And exactly how many of times have you done this before?"

"...Once." Lettie exchanges a glance with Juno for confirmation on this. (...She's not entirely sure if that candy world counts.) "I think."

"Well, that inspires confidence." The god scoffs with sarcasm that would put a teenager to shame. "Very well. The two of you possess an air of promise that you sorely lacked before." (...Hey! What does that even mean?) "We shall see how you fare." The eyes in the sky begin to close one by one. "We shall see how long you last before you throw each other to the wolves."

With that ominous warning, dark clouds begin to gather all around them. They leave only the small portion of Lady's deck they're standing on visible. The centipede woman, the god, the skeletons and bugs... everything except for Lettie and Juno disappears. Monstrous shapes begin to appear in the sky, their edges sharpening whenever lightning strikes. Eventually, an oversized beak sticks out.

"How many lives have you sacrificed with your mistakes...?" The beak whispers tauntingly, its voice reminding Lettie of the teeth-rattling noise Ripir made with how chilling it is. "Will you be smart enough this time? Will you be fast enough this time?"

There's one click, then another, and then a spear shoots towards them through the darkness.

"Juju, watch out!" Lettie shoves her a step to the side to ensure she doesn't get hit and the spear grazes her wing, drawing blood. It flickers a whole rainbow of colors in response and she bites her tongue as not to hiss with pain. (She doesn't regret it. Because she said she'd fight to protect Juno, too.) She reaches for one of her daggers and squints at the sea of clouds swirling around them. There's another 'click, click' and she notices the points of several spears pointing towards them this time, coming from every conceivable direction. Normally she could simply fly to avoid them, but her wing is... and Juno is... fuck, fuck, fuck.
 
For a moment all that exists is Olette’s hand in hers. She almost doesn’t believe it, but she’s been staring at it for the last handful of minutes that it’s undeniable that they are holding hands. They are holding hands and Juno didn’t initiate it. (It feels nice to be wanted, if that’s what this is. She’s been so scared of being disappointed or hurt by another person that she forgot how nice it feels to belong with another person; that the reason the disappointment hurts is because of the hope poured into another. In this hope, there is comfort. The comfort is terrifying, admittedly, like the electric air that precedes a storm, but if she just focuses on Olette, then she can quiet those worries and just enjoy the calm for what it is.) Her hand is much smaller than Juno’s, softer too. But she also knows the faerie’s hands are capable of so much––from repairing and upgrading her ship, to slinging bomberflies, to throwing a mean uppercut (ow), to fixing her injuries… she’s more than just a pretty little faerie. She is the fucking faerie and Juno might actually…

Aaand Juno really should not be staring so dumbly at their joined hands when there is a wildcard bug woman vouching for them and an angry ash cloud deity threatening to smite them. When Olette looks back at her for support, she nods her head, though she isn’t actually sure what she’s agreeing to––not until she realizes that she’s trying to convince the god to let them fix “the mayor,” a possible cube. (She half hopes it’s not a cube. She fucking hates cubes so fucking much.) Juno isn’t quick enough to point out that they’ve healed one cube and outright destroyed two hearts, so technically they’re on a win streak (she's pretty sure). It doesn’t matter that each time they've escaped by the skin of their teeth, they fucking made it without hardly knowing anything because cubes are shitty mentors who still haven’t told them shit beyond, “Quit face-punching everything you see, pirate.” (Basically. That’s basically what they’ve said. And, look, neither of them fucking asked for this and it pisses her off that all these cubes and deities think they can now judge the two people who were forced into this undertaking. Everyone involved in this mess is a fucking beggar and if they don’t all shut the fuck up with their feedback, she’ll fucking face punch them when Olette isn’t looking.)

She needs to calm down before her judgment gets too clouded and she forgets her resolve to choose peace over violence. But somewhere she recognizes that part of her anger is connected to her fear. As the clouds circle around them and show a sky full of shadow monsters, each equipped with terrifying means to tear them apart, she recognizes that her pulse is hiked because of the very real possibility that she might lose Olette. At any second, she could watch her faerie turn to dust. Despite the resolve to talk her way out of trouble, it’s clear that they’re in for a fight this time around and she needs to defend her faerie. She reaches for her new weapon, clipped to a strap behind her back, but before she can even free it, the faerie shoves her out of the way and she watches as a spear pierces the air where her heart had once been.

‘I could have fucking died. That’s fucking twice she’s saved me.’

She swallows hard and looks at Olette, eyes flitting over to her psychedelic wing, dripping with blood from where the spear must have skimmed her. ‘Fuck.’ There’s no time for her to beat herself up for not paying attention, for being the reason that her faerie is hurt. There’s only forward. More spears start to poke through the ash clouds around them and the monsters in the sky seem to turn their heads towards the center of the action. It’s like being surrounded in the coliseum where the audience cheers not for anyone’s survival but for blood and violence. (She knows this feeling all too well.) Their cheers sound like rain pelting concrete, forceful enough that it sends vibrations straight through the pirate’s heart. It’s almost enough for her heart to start matching the tune of the applause, but Juno sucks in a breath and stamps it out.

‘Get it together.’ She grimaces as her eyes scan the rows and rows of spears aimed at them; her eyes shift up at the ash cloud monsters and then back to the spears. The necromancer pulls out some bones from her pouch and rolls them around in hands to get a feel for their energy, slowly working it like clay. With one palmful, she tosses them up into the air and rather than clatter to the ground, the shards form a loose dome around the duo, floating and orbiting around them. The floating pieces stretch and then break into sharp dense bone spikes. She then reaches for her new weapon and pulls it out, taking a wide fighting stance. The captain looks over the posed spears, waiting for some kind of opening to appear or some tell that will reveal how this world plans to defend itself against interlopers.

“Olette…” she whispers, muscles tensing as she prepares. “You cover our left and back. We need to charge forward.” That’s all she’s able to manage before a spear whizzes towards them. One of Juno’s shards shakes, activated by the threat, and speeds forward to collide with the weapon, splitting it straight down its middle to stop the spear mid flight. The two pieces fall to the ground, then turn to smoke. Though never one to bask in the success of her plans, the triumph lasts only a fraction of a second as more spears start launching towards them, more than her shield can defend, more than she can dodge or bat way. More, more, more––where gaps should be forming in their assailant’s offense, the spears just keep materializing. She can feel a mixture of blood and sweat soaking her skin; it's a miracle she hasn't actually been impaled, but she isn't confident she'll remain lucky.

This is fine. This is totally fucking fine, because the pirate never intended to stay in the middle of the ring like a sitting duck. There’s no point in even trying to track all the spears, she just has to keep herself and Olette alive. With her second palmful of bones, she tosses those out and creates a massive barricade made of thick stakes in front of them, easily splintering through one part of the spear onslaught. She taps the faerie’s shoulder, checking on her just briefly, and nods towards the stake barricade that also serves as a ramp towards their audience. “Let’s go make sure those assholes get an up close look of the show, eh?”

The monsters, backlit by lightning, yawn, apparently not entertained by the show the pirate is referencing. They don’t even seem alarmed by the attempt to reach them, and they have no reason to be as the yawn creates a powerful reverberation through the air that forces the duo backwards, pinning them in place by some unknown force.

The beak pokes out from the dark clouds around them once more and tuts its disapproval. The great monsters from above whisper and chuckle amongst themselves, causing the beak to stretch into an approximation of a smile. (It is a beak, after all, and therefore cannot smile.) “How pedestrian. I am not even certain that you two want to live and I can say with conviction that you’re certainly not interested in the wellbeing of this world.” The giant audience murmurs an agreement. “What a shame. We thought you might be ready this time.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Juno grunts, rolling her eyes at their judge, losing the patience she had been holding onto earlier. (It’s just… this setting has her on edge.) “You set up a boring fucking arena so if you’re not entertained, it’s your fucking fault. C’mon, endless spears?” The pirate manages to lift her head to look at the beak in the… beak (it doesn’t have eyes) and her head is quickly forced back down.

“You ought to learn some manners,” the beak declares, with unanimous agreement from the ash pantheon above. The beak sucks in a breath and then blows the pirate with a stream of air, pushing her through what was formerly the deck of her ship until she’s swallowed by darkness. The beak then turns its focus on Olette, as do all the eyes of the ash monsters. They lean in close, making their enormity all the more apparent in comparison to the little faerie. “And what might you need to learn, little faerie? Perhaps, your place?”

Without waiting for her to reply, the crowd erupts into a roar of laughter, cracking the ground beneath the faerie until she’s also sent plummeting downward towards an unknown somewhere. It must be hours that she’s left falling or it’s just a trick from the darkness that surrounds her and the impossibility of knowing when she’ll stop. But everything has to end at some point and eventually a light opens up beneath her and, a few minutes later, she’s conveniently dumped onto a pile of plush feathery robes that sink under the her weight and force of impact. The pile then quickly springs back to its original shape, bouncing the faerie up as if she were on a spring mattress.

She appears to be back in the centipede woman’s treasure trove, but it’s still intact, as if it never met the chaotic faerie and pirate pair. Just outside the cave it appears to be raining droplets of acid that sizzle when they hit the ground. The pitter-patter sounds, oddly enough, like a heartbeat.

Centi and Albert appear nowhere to be seen but at least Juno’s there? Well, at least someone Juno-shaped is there. She appears to be busy tilting her head up to look at the stalactite covered ceiling. She’s not dressed in her outfit from the day before, the one Olette specifically styled for her, she just appears to be in one of her three usual black outfits. (It’s probably nothing. The cube has been known to change their outfits at its own discretion.) When her head turns to look over at Olette, her pale gray eyes show a flash of red, but it’s so quick that it’s easy to miss.

“Oh, hey," she breathes out, sounding surprised or maybe unsure. She clears her throat and looks away from the faerie, gesturing towards all the trash (treasure). "What the fuck is this all about? Thought this place got blown up?"
 
Juno! Her name would have left Lettie's throat in a violent scream, raw and terrified, but the pressure pressing down on her is harshest at her throat. (Like a heavy golden collar.) All she can do is choke out a pitiful gasp and flail arms that don't obey to reach out for her. Her heart drops with the pirate and just like that, she's gone. She's gone, she's gone. Falling just beyond her reach, there's nothing she can do now. The monsters tower over her, they're enormous, but she glares back at the lot of them like she's twice their size. Seeing as she can't move or speak, her eyes are all she has control over anymore. Her poise is all she's got left, her only means of hitting them with a big 'fuck you' before they flippantly dispose of her the same way they disposed of Juno. In the short space between her throat being freed and her fall, she manages to say one last thing.

"Seems to me like you're too scared to fight us, you fucking cowards!" Lettie sticks out her tongue and flips the monsters two birds just before the darkness closes in over her. And then she's falling.

Lettie's grown accustomed to falling over the course of this journey, but not like this. The darkness swallows her in an endless drop that dredges her thoughts down to places (to monsters) that she's been trying to outrun for years and years. It brings her back to that tiny, windowless room. Where only the sound of her uneven breathing exists, the mournful sobs echoing off the walls, the chains rattling on the floors. (To Lina. To Lina and her eyes drained of their usual spirit, staring unfeelingly through her as she was dragged to the edge of the ring.) "Do you see now? (Fuck you.) This is what could happen to you. (Fuck you.) If you do not learn your place. (Fuck you.) It doesn't have to be this way, Olette." And then he gave her that flower, that fucking flower...

That fucking flower.

Fuck. Whether the faerie closes her eyes or opens them, it makes no difference. She told Ravan she decorated her apartment with all of those twinkling pink and white lights because it was part of her 'aesthetic'. In actuality it was her adult excuse to have a nightlight in every room of her home. She can't stand the dark. Her imagination taunts her by harboring all of the monsters there. The reaper. The reaper might be waiting just below her with an open, ready mouth. It might be falling right alongside her, smiling that sickle sharp smile. You're safe, Letts. You're not on Avangeline. You're fine.

Lettie craves the familiarity of landing on top of Juno. To make this stop, she'll even accept the reverse scenario where Juno lands on top of her and gladly so. 'I need you here. I need you here with me.' She tries to recreate her voice in her mind exactly as she heard it before, hugging herself so tightly her nails cut half-moons into her forearms. She's not sure how much Juno actually needs her, to be honest-- because she's captain fucking Juno. But she certainly needs Juno. "...Juno?" She's well beyond the point of caring whether or not she'd be embarrassed, calling out for the pirate in the dark like a lost puppy. (Juno could just as easily be right beside her, right? Stars, the probability of that is higher than the reaper being there. Hell yeah! She's so fucking smart, Juno is probably... probably...) "Are you here?"

There's no response. Just the air whistling in Lettie's ears as she plummets towards an uncertain fate.

An uncertain fate which turns out to be a pile of springy rugs. Lettie kicks all of the unwanted tension inside of her out with an audible exhale, her body melting flat against them when she finally stills. Once she expels everything the darkness wrought, all she can feel is the vague throbbing of the cut in her wing. (Being an external wound, her magic is already beginning to heal it.) Then she pops upright, remembering Juno. Did Juno fall here, too?

"Juju!" Lettie clambers up to her feet, nearly tripping over some creepy dolls as she rushes over to her pirate to make sure that she's not hurt. (She stands there, stupidly buff as ever... but somehow, Juno's casual reaction to her presence gives her a sinking feeling in her chest. Is this disappointment?) What did she expect, though? For her concern to be reciprocated? To hope that she might rush towards her as well and meet her halfway? Pfft. That's, uh, silly. This is chill. Juno is just being chill about all of this and everything is fine. Oh, hey. "Hey. It, uh, doesn't look like you're hurt. That's good." (That's good. Ah, she could punch herself.) She coughs awkwardly behind her hand, because she's totally the weird one in this scenario as Juno proceeds to talk about their surroundings. Get a grip, Letts.

"Dunno." Lettie admits her mutual confusion with a shrug. (At least they have that in common, right?) She tilts her gaze up to study the stalactites she saw Juno observing earlier. When she doesn't see anything particularly strange, she turns her attention back on the pirate. "Maybe she's got a backup place." Her bug of a feather is enthralled with everything enough to call it 'treasure' so she would not put it past her to live in more than one trash cave. For now, it's easier than considering an alternative like 'they traveled back in time' or 'traveled to an alternate universe' or something batshit like that. Their surroundings are still less interesting to her than Juno herself, who she continues sneaking glances at as she pretends to study the cave. (Something seems off, though she can't put her finger on why.) "...Are you okay? Didn't fall into a pile of rhombuses, did you?"

"Uh, no." 'Juno' gives a halfhearted reply, apparently awkward about accepting any concern from her. "C'mon. We should find a way out of Centi's cave."

"Gotta wait out the acid rain first. I don't want to get caught in that." Lettie puffs her cheeks as she listens to it sizzling. Then she tilts her head and grins conspiratorially. "And don't you mean Cindy's cave?" It's unusual for Juno to get names right on the first try. (She was so sure Juno's first attempt on this one would be Cindy, too.) And, well, maybe it's selfish-- but the fact that she now remembers hers singles her out as someone worth remembering.

"Her name's Centi, dumbass." 'Juno' scoffs, as if more confident in the word 'dumbass' than any word she's spoken to her thus far. Then she smirks at her. "You got a bug brain to match your bug... everything?" (That insult could have used some work, the faerie will admit, but it still manages to hit her where it hurts.)

"Hey!" Lettie reaches for a cube (not their cube) sitting by her foot and lobs it at Juno's head. It strikes her square in the forehead. "What gives? There's no need to be such an asshole about it!" She crosses her arms over her chest. "If I gave you shit every time you misremembered a name, then..." The faerie blinks. Juno's eyes have turned entirely red. "Then... oh. You're not Juno." That makes a hell of a lot of sense. Ultimately, her expression furrows into one of annoyance instead of one of fear. "What the fuck did you do with Juno, you imposter!?"

'Juno' tilts her head back and laughs. (That is not Juno's laugh.) She gets swallowed up by her all-black clothes, turning into a shadowy silhouette with red eyes. This silhouette proceeds to grow a few extra limbs, like gnarled limbs off a scraggly tree in the dead of winter.

***​

There's a far-off explosion that sounds off in the distance as Juno ends her endless fall in yet another replica of Centi's treasure (trash) cave. The pirate lands in the pile of 'live, laugh, love' pillows that have accumulated. (It's so massive that it's almost like a pit.) They suck her downward in a way where it will take some effort on her part to free herself of them. An acid rain hisses outside and the stalactites above rattle from the force of the explosion above. (One towards the back even falls and rattles to the ground.) The 'faerie', as usual, lands further away in the pile of rugs.

"Geez. That, like, totally hurt." Lettie complains with a pout, sitting up and rubbing the side of her head. Instead of her armor, she's currently wearing her black workout clothes and her hair is violet now. (Since she's always changing her outfit, though, that's not too unusual... right?) Her avian features seem just a touch sharper than usual, but that could just be a trick of the light. Just like the red flickering in her eyes... but it's also normal for the faerie's eyes to change color, too. "Wonder what that explosion was?" She glides out of the rugs and hovers towards the entrance of the cave. "...Probably nothing. C'mon, Juju. We should find the rel-- the cube and get out of this place. Do you remember where you saw it last?"
 
Is this dying? (Juno doesn’t know. She’s never died before.)

All that surrounds her is black, is darkness. (Has her vision been stolen?) Something darker than her clothes, the night skies, the pits. It’s a shadow around her, falling endlessly through those ribbons. Or maybe that is just the feeling of her clothes and hair rippling against her? She can’t be too sure.

She is sure, however, that she hopes she isn’t dying. If she’s dying, that means she’s leaving Olette and her promise behind and there’s no way the goddess will consider her oath fulfilled with how she left, flagrantly pissing off the guardians or gods of some volcanic world she should have no stake in. She can’t be dying.

She can’t.

It’s not an option, even if it isn’t technically her choice. She owes it to Olette to live. She owes it to the wolf mother. She fucking owes it to her fucking self.

She chokes on the air around her, arms moving wildly as if she might find something to grasp onto so that she might be able to pull herself back up from this abyss and fight her way to the surface. She’s a fighter. She’s not giving up. She won’t.

‘C’mon, goddess––don’t let this be the end.’ Tears sting her eyes, and she’ll blame it on the wind whipping around her if asked, as she prays to a goddess she already knows is dead. (But who else is she to pray to? Hers is the only goddess she knows and while not particularly devout, she refuses to pray to the assholes upstairs.) Frustration bursts from her throat in the form of undecipherable shouts and bargaining; and maybe the dead goddess is listening, because a light opens below her and her body sinks through a pile of cushions.

After being in the dark for so long, her eyes snap shut and once she’s adjusted to the burning orange on the back of her eyelids, she slowly opens them, hands feeling around her body to make sure she’s all there. To make sure that she’s all alive. (She supposes she has no way of knowing for sure if she’s still here or not, but she decides to believe that she is still alive.) Convinced that she hasn’t perished, she turns her head to her side. Her brow pinches. “Live… laugh… What the fuck?” She picks up one of the pillows and tosses it over her head. Another falls on her face to replace it. She picks this one up and reads it. It has the same message, albeit in a different style of stitching. In fact, when she turns her head around, she finds that she’s surrounded by that weird bug woman’s quote. (What's her name? Century?)

She kicks her feet out, then outright starts thrashing her legs to free herself from this pile of centipede quotes until she’s on her feet again. Immediately, she recognizes that she’s in the trash cave from before. (This explains the quote pillows.) Except that it’s not the trash cave from before. It’s different, for reasons she can’t place. The distant sounds of explosions cause her ears to perk, but she can’t figure out where they’re coming from. Where one sounds off from the back of the cave, the next seems to come from above, and another feels as though it’s right in front of her. “What the––”

The sound of the faerie’s voice interrupts her signature phrase and she wheels towards it, stormy eyes shimmering. (Okay either they’re both dead or they’re both here, but the point is they’re together and that’s all that matters to Juno.) She trips over one of those corny pillows on her way over to Olette, relief nearly washing over her until she notices her outfit and skids to a stop.

It’s not unlike her to change, that is true, but has Juno ever seen her in the same glamoured outfit twice? Not to mention, the way she says her name, while undoubtedly her faerie’s voice, is off. The inflection is off. But this just has to be in her head. If not Olette then who else could this fucking be?

Even so, her hackles raise and her eyes narrow to scrutinizing slits.

“Dunno,” she shrugs, taking a half step away from the faerie who she isn’t sure is her faerie. As cooly as she can, she sets her hand on her hip, readying it to reach for her pouch at a moment's notice. “Haven’t seen the little shit in a while.” This is something Olette should know, because they were together the last time they saw the cube. “Cube’s probably with Abigail showing her the world or something.” She watches the faerie who doesn’t seem like her faerie.

“What?” Olette (?) scoffs, then worriedly reaches up for her face. “Is my make-up smudged?”

“No, actually,” Juno clicks her tongue as she tracks her. (Olette is vain, but this is a fucking caricature of her personality and…) “You’re missing my favorite fucking freckle, asshole.” (It’s a hard one to notice, too, one she’s only started to notice because they’ve woken up next to each other these past couple of mornings. It’s right at the crease of her left eye and it shines most when she smiles.)

Another blast sounds off and she still doesn’t know where it’s coming from, but worry spikes through her heart. ‘Where is she?’ She can’t tell whether it’s bomberflies, bombs, or blasts of something else. She only knows that it has to be somewhere close, because cracks are forming in the walls of this cave. Her stormy eyes lock on “Olette,” lips curling as she growls, “What the fuck did you do with Olette, you cheap motherfucking imitation fairy?”

The cheap motherfucking imitation fairy rolls her eyes. “C’mon, Juju––”

“Don’t fucking call me that,” she snaps. (Another explosion rattles the trash cave, sounding close and distant all at once. A crack forms right above their heads.) The pirate stiffens and reaches for her switch axe, but a moment too slow. The “Olette” in front of her throws a shadowy arm in her direction and knocks the pirate in the stomach, tossing her stupidly buff form into the rock wall behind her. A sickening crack fills her ears as the wind is knocked out of her; she gasps, tossing her head up, realizing she must’ve collapsed onto her knees shortly after impact. There’s a Juno-sized crater left where the pirate hit the wall.

She coughs, then looks up for the fairy, seeing double and triple of her––either from her brain still rattling around in her skull or because the fairy is starting to tear open and a dark shadow with mangled, spidery appendages is crawling out of “Olette.” Familiar red eyes bore into Juno and not a moment later the entity hurls itself towards her. Juno rolls over to the right, narrowly dodging the attack. Quickly she scrambles to her feet before it has a chance to recover and reaches for her switch axe, shifting it into its axe form as she steps towards the thing. She rears it back, intent on splitting it in two, but where the axe blade should make a connection, the shadow dissipates into smoke with a taunting laugh.

“Good luck getting ahold of me or your pretty little girlfriend,” the entity says, rematerializing behind Juno and wrapping one of its amorphous limbs around her in a vise. The pirate struggles, twists, but it’s no use. “I will kill her if you don’t tell me the location of the relic, you worthless little runt.” They punctuate the final word by growing in size, spreading out their shadow frame to shrink the pirate.

Juno’s heart tries to free itself from her chest when she hears that threat and even if she already knows that struggling is useless, she redoubles her efforts. “Where is Olette? My Olette?” she shouts, her voice cracking. ‘There’s no way it has Olette. That’s… That’s impossible.’ Though she’s doubtful of her own assurance, because nothing has been out of the realm of possibilities since that stupid fucking cube entered her life. Knowing that, she jerks her arm around in the shadow entity’s grasp, worming it towards her pouch. Once she’s grasped onto a molar, she pulls it from the pouch and manipulates its magic. “Where is she!?”

“About to die, if you keep wasting my time,” the entity smirks, raising one of its shadowy claws and manipulating it in such a way that it starts to resemble faerie wings. Olette’s wings. As if it’s skewered them and ripped them from her faerie’s back. (It’s not real. It’s not real.)

But honestly? That imagery is the shadow's funeral. It only inspires the pirate to steam ahead, to ignore her panic, because it’s threatening Olette. Her Olette who she has sworn to protect; who has already saved her twice today; who is the only fucking faerie she wants to be stuck with. She activates the molar in her fist turning it into a massive stake; the suddenness of the attack manages to surprise the entity and results in the sharp bone piercing through its arm, through its shoulder, throwing it backwards until it's pinned against the wall. It howls curses, eyes blazing furious red as it shrinks down to its original size and its multi-arms disappear.

Juno takes a step back, grabbing her discarded axe from the ground and as she does so, she feels the most familiar feeling in the world, causing her to pause. True, she’s only felt this way once, but it’s so clear in her memories that she could never forget it. That feeling of transference between herself and Olette. That moment their joined hands passed energy between them; though they weren’t one, she had felt part of the faerie, connected. ‘Olette?’

“Olette!” She cries out, jerking around and stupidly taking her eyes off of the enemy.

***​

At the same moment that Juno manages to strike the entity, the ghost of a howl can be heard echoing through Olette’s own trash cave. The entity in front of her even seems to grunt in some form of acknowledgment, though its form remains intact. More than that, however, like the falling stalactites in Juno’s parallel cave, there’s a pirate sized crater in one of the walls that certainly hadn’t been there before. (Maybe it’s just from the blasts?)

The shadow entity, despite its earlier pained grunt, smirks. (The smirk is not unlike the reaper’s with its dark body and row of pearly white teeth to contrast.) It gathers itself from the ground, wiping its mouth like it has something to lord over the little faerie’s head. “Your girlfriend is such a fucking idiot.” Its statement is followed by the distant sound of a massive steel weapon clattering to the ground, echoing through this half of the nightmare. For a second, the red in the entity’s eye reflects the scene parallel to this one and it's not a reassuring sight. (Not unless Olette likes the possibility that the pirate might lose a stupidly buff arm.) “You know how you can save her, don’t you?”
 
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The dust clears slowly. Cracks scrawl over the walls like furiously tacky lightning bolts on neon leggings and the stalactites overhead shiver, whispering like the creeps they are that they could collapse and crush her like a bug at any given moment. Acid raindrops fall and sizzle in tandem with her heartbeat. Fuck. Bomberfly didn’t do shit. A howl ricochets off the walls, sounding like it could’ve belonged to the false Juno towering before her now. But it’s obviously something else. Something else is making these marks, making these sounds, and she can’t see it. (This is a lot like what happened with the mermaids, although she isn’t sure if it’s connected or not. And this time she doesn’t have Juno there to be her eyes. Where the fuck is Juno? What did they do with her?) Pressure settles a crushing weight over the faerie’s shoulders. She narrows her eyes to slits and hastily scours the area for more clues. The treasure (trash) is jostled about in some places where it wasn’t before— the centipede woman keeps all of her stashes organized in stacks in spite of all the chaos. A ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ pillow sticks out in particular, lying haphazardly over the face of the creepy doll she’d nearly tripped over in her rush to close the distance between herself and (fake) Juno. In the few spaces of ground she can see between the piles of treasure (trash), she also notices foot prints in the dirt. Boots. Pirate boots. Juno. (They could belong to the shitty fake, she reminds herself when her heart strains with the realization.) However, she notes that these footprints lead towards the crater in one of the walls and concludes that whatever it is that she can’t see… it’s happening across the cave.

The clamor of heavy steel hitting the ground startles Lettie out of her investigation. Her heart rate accelerates and the sound of the acid rain pounds the world outside harder yet to match it in intensity. Hiss, hiss, hiss. It sizzles like her blood does, incensed with every insult and threat that comes from the smirking lips of that (trash) fake Juno. The shadow entity without a name who has demanded one thing from them since they met. The relic. It’s always the relic. The self-proclaimed maestro that Lettie and Juno will only ever know as the fucking cube. Little does the entity realize that it’s a piece of shit that goes wherever it damn well pleases. And it’s probably stronger than all of them combined.

The faerie doesn’t waste any time on insisting that she doesn’t have it. (For whatever reason, they always seems to think that she has it with her… and she doesn’t feel inclined to clear that misunderstanding up. While it might paint a glaring target on her back, she knows enough about the world to know that possessing something that they want so viciously can be ammunition if she uses it wisely enough.) Even as fear for Juno turns her boiling blood to ice that’s cold enough to burn her up all over again, Lettie is now confident in her assessment that she’s sussed out where the action is going on.

This is all connected, like a web. The howl from one side and the grunt of acknowledgement on this one. Juno’s presence is there, too.

“You… you want the relic.” Lettie’s eyes turn big and pitiful as she layers her best damsel in distress act over her expression like make up. Usually, this face scores her free drinks at the bars. (Money, too. She can only imagine just how much she’ll have to put this angelic face of hers to work if she ever returns to Avangeline… ugh.) But right now, if it can buy her just a few seconds… “I have it! Please, just don’t hurt her.”

The second that the entity in the reflection pauses is the second that Lettie bolts. She grins mischievously and shoots dual finger guns towards the entity, sending two more bomberflies flitting towards it from the tips of her fingers like bullets before she takes flight. Focusing all of her energy on reaching for Juno’s presence, her phantasmic form flickers faster than either of the entities can move after her as she rockets herself like a shooting star across the cave towards the crater in the wall.

Although Lettie still can’t see her, flying in that general direction causes her to collide with something Juno-shaped, which she tackles to the ground. The faerie peeks her eyes open hesitantly as another crater appears in the wall where the invisible figure was just standing. (Too close. But it seems like she made it in time.) She peers down and sees the floor of the cave beneath her… but she is hovering slightly above the ground and undoubtedly lying on top of someone. (Someone warm, with a heartbeat and dreamy abs that she would recognize anywhere… even while she can’t see her with her eyes. Her pirate. Juno.) “Juno? Answer me!” This is strange, but she’s starting to figure this out. With their connection sizzling in the air between them like acid rain, maybe if they hold hands like before… “Juno.”

“You think you’re so clever. She can’t hear you.” The entity growls, their silhouette appearing through the clearing dust of the explosions she’d left it with. With a grunt, they wrench their neck from side to side with sickening pops and cracks. Growing frantic, Lettie’s hands start to tremble as she tries to search for one of Juno’s hands by touch alone. Her fingertips brush over one of her stupidly buff arms and she quickly moves her hand down, down towards her wrist— “A shame that she won’t be able to watch you die, either.”

An elongated arm snaps out before she can take Juno’s hand in her own— let alone dodge— snatching Lettie by her waist and tearing her off of Juno. It swings her high in the air before slams her down on the left end of the cave, toppling stacks of stones and towers of cards. She wheezes as the air is crushed from her lungs and a rain of black stars falls over her vision. Before she can recover, it proceeds to throw her like a rag doll to the right side of the cave. A faerie-shaped mess lies among a sea of shattered glass that used to be ceramics. (Some slice into her wings, into her back, arms and legs and her blood drips over them.) In both caves, treasure (trash) scatters and falls in an obvious path to where she landed as the shadow entity moves towards her like a shark smelling blood in the water.

Despite the entity claiming that Juno wouldn’t be able to hear her, a static-fuzzed clip of the scream the faerie gives at being thrown plays through speakers on her side of the cave specifically to taunt her.

“I have her pinned down like a butterfly now. Shall I send her back to you in pieces, runt?” It laughs darkly. “Or would you rather me display her wings in a pretty glass case for you? Perhaps your Duchess will forgive you if you give them to her. You can move on with your life as if none of this ever happened.” The ends of two of their arms become razor-sharp and scissor-like, snapping in maniacal and unpredictable patterns along with their cackles. “You can treat it like it was nooothing more than a baaaad dream.”

It manipulates shadows on the walls of the cave, they swirl around like a nightmarish mist before creating silhouettes of the faerie writhing and struggling as her left wing is ripped tantalizingly slow off her back, like a petal being torn from a flower in a game of ‘loves me, loves me not’.

“You knew this was how it was going to end, didn't you? This is what she gets for trying to save the likes of you. It’s all your fault. It always is.” The shadows on the wall show the left wing being completely torn off and tossed to the ground. The faerie’s tiny shadow slumps helplessly as it reaches for the remaining wing to tear it off as well. “Now she’s going to die, Juno. Just like James.”

The shadows on the wall are vicious all around the 'faerie' as they tear her apart. (Even as the shadow version of the faerie is torn to pieces, though, the energy of her presence still hums like a force of electricity in the cave.) "But I suppose she doesn't have to die." The shadow-version of the faerie is reassembled so she's fully intact again. It changes to reflect the real faerie and shadow entity on her side, hovering a needle-sharp arm just above her heart. "Convince her to show me where the relic is, Juno. I know she has it. If she would just hand it over, all of this bloodshed can be avoided. You won't have to fight. What do you say?"
 
Juno is frozen as the entity on her own side manipulates the shadows into a cruel play. Magic doesn’t hold her in place. The shadow doesn’t even need to hold her down. Her fear has filled her up to her eyes, turned her blood to ice, and it's the only thing that is keeping her together as she watches her faerie lose her wings, her stunning wings that make her look like a sparkly fucking flower. Her back twitches in sympathy, a shiver races down her spine.

‘No. Stop.’ She knows it’s not real. She knows that it can’t be real, because she can still feel the faerie in the cave with her. True to the faerie, her energy feels as defiant as ever. She might be a tiny little faerie, but she has as much grit as anyone who grew up on the ground. Even with a stake poised over her heart, she knows that Olette is not going to go down without giving every breath she has.

(But she can’t let her go down at all. If the faerie dies… If Olette dies, she won't just leave a hole in her heart. She’ll leave a void. A void that will make it hard to tell where grief ends and where Juno begins. She won’t let her die. She needs her.)

Her heart chokes, still, even with her resolve.

(This is why Juno hates attachment. This is why she prefers to keep the company of bones and women who will never last more than a week in her bed. People always hurt when they leave. They leave so carelessly, so hazardously and Juno is always left to deal with the wounds and poison of memory. (Memories aren’t things anyone can run from. Juno has tried. She has tried so fiercely to run, to forget, to become someone so unrecognizable to all the other Junos she has been, and she has had to learn that she cannot outrun herself. She cannot hide from herself while living as herself.) People hurt. They always hurt when they leave. It’s always Juno’s fault, too. If she hadn’t been a fucking runt, if she had been more fucking careful, if she hadn’t been so fucking brazen… Always, always, always she fucks it up.)

The soundbite of the scream isn’t on replay, but the pirate can hear it echoing in her mind, her eyes firmly locked on the spot where she knows Olette to be, stuck in that pile of broken ceramic where there’s a faerie-shaped dent. If she stares at it long enough, she swears that she can see the splatter of blood from her side of the veil.

It takes everything in Juno to pull herself together when she’d much rather fall apart. The thought that she might be losing Olette and that it’s her fucking fault threatens to undo all her stitches, threatens to unravel her. It takes everything in her to hold onto the fact that Olette made that fucking choice to save Juno. Because they’ve got each other. She would have taken that same stupid fucking risk to save Olette. Without hesitation.

And now it’s her fucking turn. ‘It’s not fucking over. Don’t you dare fucking act like it is.’ The pirate might not know exactly how she’ll make it over to Olette’s trash pile, but the cogs in her head begin to steam as she lets her reckless rage take over, melting away all her fears. Her eyes harden. ‘I’m coming, Olette.’

“You have piss for brains.” The pirate spits out a mouthful of blood, ignoring the ache that swells against the side of her head where her ear and jaw meet. (That’s how the entity got the upper hand initially when she stupidly looked away from the enemy.) She rolls her shoulder back, subtly testing it against the gash left from the saw blade that threatened to cut off her arm. It stings, but it’s nothing she hasn’t muscled through before.

“Oh? Well, I’d say I’m still smarter than you, seeing as I wouldn’t insult the hunter currently threatening my girlfriend’s life.”

She glowers at the entity, flexing her fists at her side. (Once again, she entirely misses the girlfriend comment.) “You think killing her is going to get you that fucking cube?” While the pirate talks, she keeps a peripheral watch of the pile where Olette should be, making sure that nothing moves. For now, the shadows on the wall still reflect her intact faerie and the other entity. “You must know you can’t fucking kill her without losing your only ticket to your prize. Otherwise you would have, yeah? I’ve seen what you can do. It’s impressive shit.” The pirate moves her left hand to cover her shoulder where the wound is still bleeding, soaking her shirt through (a shame because the faerie likes her in this shirt). She schools her expression as she pushes index and middle finger into the injury, aggravating it further as a means to draw out more blood. She concentrates on the flow, tracing her own energy, and pulls it up to her palm. “But you’re holding back.”

The entity tilts its head, appearing amused rather than upset by the pirate’s assessment. “You’ve ju––”

In a fluid motion, she tears her hand away from her shoulder, gathering the blood into her palm and tightening it into an orb that she flings towards the entity’s face. As it sails through the air, the orb breaks apart, each piece elongating and sharpening into pencil thin spikes.

The attack lands before the shadow can turn its body into mist. Its head is tossed backwards upon impact, nearly knocking it off balance but instead only sending it a few steps back. It catches its momentum and snaps its body forward, gripping its face with one hand, seething. Tendrils of smoke waft off of its frame as its shoulders rise and fall in rapid succession. The glow of its eyes is gone with two spikes planted in their place. (The shadow on the wall depicting the parallel scene shows that entity mirroring the one on this side; it stumbles away from Olette, its spiked arm transforming to a normal hand as it rubs something unseen out of its eyes.)

“You fucking pirate!” A dark orb forms in its palm, sparking with an all too familiar energy. It doesn’t seem to care that it can’t see and haphazardly pitches the blast towards Juno––or, where she had been. By this point, the pirate’s already stepped away from her original spot, quietly tiptoeing towards where she knows Olette last was. With the sound of the explosion, she uses that to disguise the rest of her movement, from gathering her weapon to racing towards the ceramic pile. (It’s not that she expects to find her still there. She knows that Olette would have enough sense to move given the opportunity; she’s only going to check in case she isn’t able to move. An entirely unsettling prospect.)

The entity howls curses in the background and though she’s only stealing the occasional glance over her shoulder, it seems she’s bought them a few minutes to find each other while it recovers. (She can only hope the one on Olette’s side is also out of commission.) She skids to a halt at the pile of ceramics, concentrating until she can make out the splatters of blood, trying to ignore the turn of her stomach. She reaches out to feel for Olette, her heart hammering to the rhythm of the acid rain outside that now comes down in sheets. Her hand touches down on the pile. Nothing. Relief and worry wash over her all at once, her heart swelling with grief and hope, unsure of what direction to settle on just yet. ‘Focus. Fucking focus.’

Another blast sparks over her head, sending a shower of dust over her, and she turns to see that the entity is still trying to blindly take her out. “You ignorant fucking imbeciles,” it hollers. “Don’t you understand that you’re going to ruin everything completing the relic’s mission?”

The pirate ignores this––it’s not like she’s going to trust the word of someone who is trying to kill her and her girlfriend faerie. (Just fucking faerie.) She looks to the ground for hints of where Olette might be, scanning the cave for piles of freshly knocked over trash. (This is somewhat unhelpful given the pirate’s track record for observation.) She can still feel the faerie’s electric energy in the air, but it feels neither distant nor close. It only offers the comfort of knowing that she’s alive.

She looks back to the ceramic pile, focusing on the splatters she knows are there and looks around the ground for a trail––whether that be drops of blood or heeled shoe prints. It takes a second, but she finds a trail and races to its end, heart pounding. She isn't sure whether its her own heartbeat or the rain echoing through the cave at this point; both are so damn loud in her ears. The air starts to sizzle around her though she doesn’t bother to figure out why, simply following the steps that she hopes will lead her to Olette.

And the trail does lead her back to her faerie. She collides into her, actually, miscalculating the point where the trail ends and topples over Olette, pushing them backwards into a pile of stuffed animals. They land in a heap of tangled limbs, but the pirate is certain that it’s Olette who she has crashed into––she would know her shape, her rhythm, her breath anywhere.

Part of the pirate wants to laugh and another part wants to wrap her arms around the faerie, even if she can’t yet see or hear her, but the sound of sparks pulls at her attention. Knowing that the entity must have heard them crash, she’s quick to roll them both out of the way. The blast completely misses their location, exploding a tower of broken cuckoo clocks a few stacks away. She breathes a sigh of relief, deflating against the faerie she’s still on top of before gathering herself again, urgency skating through her veins as time ticks against them. (She figures it’s only a matter of time before either this entity or the other recovers and catches them; rips them apart; really does make on their promise to end Olette.)

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck. What now?’ Vaguely, she remembers Olette’s hand frantically searching down her arm, Back then she hadn’t been able to think much of it, too caught up in her relief that the faerie wasn’t gone from her and too distracted by the fact her hands were roaming her body. Less distracted now, more frantic now, she copies the faerie’s earlier action, finding one of her shoulders and searching down her arm for her hand. (The rain outside hisses with greater intensity the closer she is to grabbing the faerie’s hand; the energy sizzling between tightens, like it’s pulling them together.) She reaches her hand and interlocks their fingers together.

All at once the two parallel realities collapse over each other like a foldaway fan, joining together at the point of the two entities. Before the scene unifies, everything appears in dizzying doubles as if reality is trying to make sense of itself. The two shadows at the center of these doubles slide over each other until its body ripples and fuses back into one shadow asshole. It’s barely hidden between the stacks of trash in front of them. It grabs its head, groaning, and Juno uses this opportunity to scoot them out of its line of sight.

Once she’s sure they’re hidden, she finally (finally) looks down at the faerie. Her eyes eagerly take in the sight of the pink haired mess, relief flooding her system. (The rain outside calms as well, turning to a gentle sprinkle.) Admittedly, Olette’s seen better days, but the pirate doesn’t care because she’s here and she’s alive––covered in cuts and bruises and alive. She squeezes Olette’s hand and keeps her grip firm. Then her overwhelm takes over and she pulls the faerie into her arms, like they do this all the time. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “I thought––”

“Cute.” Naturally, the moment could never last being that they are two chaos magnets. The entity is at the top of one of the stack with its arms raised above its head. Black lightning passes between its fingertips then collects at the space between its hands, coiling into one of those dark orbs; though this one is larger being about the size of Philip’s head as opposed to a fist. It doesn’t hesitate this time around and tosses the blast straight towards the duo.
 
Fingers interlock, Juno’s face comes into view, and Lettie’s entire world pieces itself back together. Albeit this happens slowly through the blurry, molasses haze her world has become. Before she can deflate with relief, her vision doubles and warps like a trippy kaleidoscope. She pinches her eyes shut tight against the strain and groans quietly, the back of her head throbbing like it has its own heartbeat. Ugh. Is this a side of the magic or did she sustain some kind of head injury after getting tossed around the cave? Whatever it is, she holds tightly to the solace that Juno’s got her through it all, moving them someplace safe to hide from the entity’s view. By the time she opens her eyes again, the pirate maintains a solid shape in her reality. Juno’s really here. Juno’s here and gazing at her softly, taking all of her in like she’s just as relieved to see her there. She instantly heals the part of her that thought Juno (fake Juno) didn’t care about her at all after their fall. This is the Juno she has come to know, the Juno she’s come to rely on after all this time. (She knew she wasn’t making it all up. Juno is the realest person she knows in all of the worlds.) “Hey. You’re not gonna get rid of me that eas—“ Lettie starts to joke, wearing a lighthearted smile and attempting to diffuse the overwhelming feeling she gets from being the recipient of such caring attention from the pirate. (Juno’s eyes are so soft, so honest in their softness when they look at her that they pierce right through her more effectively than any of her past glares ever did.) However, she’s cut off before she can finish, instead giving a surprised little squeak when Juno’s arms wrap around her in a hug.

Lettie blinks once, twice, and then sags and relaxes against the pirate. Her pirate. She’s warm. She’s safe. (And holding her. She's holding her, like she doesn't want to lose her.) I thought… (Juno doesn’t need to finish that sentence. Lettie already knows. Because for a second there, she thought, too.) The faerie moves her arms to reciprocate and hold Juno back, holding on tightly to reassure her that she hasn’t gone anywhere.

‘Cute.’ They’re cornered. There’s no time at all for them to dodge when the entity throws that enormous blast at them. All Lettie can do is glitch both of their forms the second the attack comes into their range, so that they don’t suffer the full impact of it. (They’re still intact in the aftermath. Hurts like hell, though, as a burning sensation crawls all over her side.) She breathes heavily, thankful for the support of Juno’s arms. She’s not sure how much more of her magic she can spare.

“Where. Is. The. Relic?” The entity speaks slowly, as if speaking to a couple of toddlers they're gradually losing their patience with.

“I. Threw it. In. The. Volcano.” Lettie breathlessly mocks their patronizing tone, giving the middle finger equivalent of an answer while her fingers are too busy being interlocked with Juno’s to bother giving the entity the time of day. “Why don’t you fuck off and search for it there?”

“Wrong answer.” They’re not fucking around this time, either. The entity raises their arms again, effortlessly collecting another one of those dark orbs and throwing it towards them like a reprimand. Lettie gasps out as she glitches them again in time with the blast, protecting them from taking the brunt of it. She shudders in the aftermath.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Olette. If you give me the relic, I can take you home. To Avangeline.” The entity sighs and shakes their head. “Isn’t that what you want?”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Lettie rasps, her words are sandpaper in her mouth. Her full weight is pressed against Juno’s chest now for support. The ‘thump, thump, thump’ of the pirate’s heartbeat against her ear keeps her focused on protecting it. It also reminds her of what they’re here for. They’re going to survive this. Somehow. They’re going to fix the broken heart of this world. And she is not going to think about Avangeline just because this stalker is trying to shove it in her face. She’s not, she’s not, she’s not. Fuck. “Fuck off, creep.”

The entity grunts, unimpressed with her sass, and throws yet another blast at them. Lettie glitches them again— the strain blasting a whole galaxy of stars behind her eyes.

“I can keep this up all day. The only question I have is… can you, little faerie?” The entity smiles, showing off sharp, white teeth that shine glaringly against their shadowy form. Like that, they look unsettlingly like… “So much for conserving your magic, eh Onus? Perhaps the relic will appear when you’re a pile of dust? It takes double the energy for you to protect her, doesn’t it? Tsk, tsk. This is exactly why I prefer to work alone.”

Lettie shakily tries to sit up taller so that she can bite back with vigor, only to falter and fall against Juno. It feels like all she can do now is cling onto her and tense while she waits for the next blow. At this point, witty comebacks will exert energy she needs to hold onto. They need to find a way out of here, but all of her thoughts scattered like marbles the instant that freak mentioned Avangeline. The second they reminded her of…

Lettie’s hand grazes a place she’s sought out so many times before. Juno’s bombs. An idea begins to form in her head.

“I’ve learned some very interesting things about you since we last spoke, Olette Lycoris Radiata. You have some very important business to take care of on Avangeline. Don’t you? Tell me, what happens if you make it back and it’s already too late?” The shadow entity smirks, throwing down their ace. “You’ve caused quite a stir. I picked up a little souvenir. Take a look.”

With a ‘fwop’, a magazine of all things is tossed towards them. Lettie doesn’t want to see it, but she glances down at it out of morbid curiosity anyway. She sees a photo of herself as a child with her mother on the cover with a tacky, attention-grabbing headline slapped over it. ‘Like mother, like daughter? Eight years after fallen angel Titania’s mysterious disappearance, her daughter goes missing as well.’ There are other blurbs as well— ‘the search begins’ as well as speculation about the two cases being related. The faerie recognizes the photo. It’s from a shoot that mother had them do together back when she was six or seven years old. Mother looks so young in the photo— startlingly like Lettie does now, if only softer. She’s breathtakingly pretty, angelically smooth, less sharp and avian than her faerie daughter. Her white, feathery wings are framed around her tiny mini-me in the center like a protective cocoon. (All she can remember is that she had trouble sitting still through all the retakes and eventually had to be bribed to behave with cookies.) The date… is there a date? However, even if she finds one, there’s no way of knowing how old the tabloid is. (Out of sight, out of mind. Focus, Letts!) Eventually, she tears her eyes away.

Her gut-reaction is an electric shock, yeah, but it’s not actually that surprising. She grew up with this. These tabloids don’t care about finding her so much as they care about making a story that sells out of her trauma. Ever since she first opened her eyes, everyone’s tried to make a profit off of Lettie’s existence. And everyone seems to profit off of her life except for her— who has at this point been forced into a corner where her whole existence revolves around puzzling out new ways to make a profit off of herself. It’s exhausting. (If anything, she hopes that this widespread attention about her disappearance is making those bastards at the estate sweat. What’ll they do, after all, if the investigation takes them underground? Maybe something good will come of all this bullshit.) All this time she’s fought to be free. And now, in a way, she has that. Sort of. So she’s quite content to vanish from Avangeline under mysterious circumstances, to let everyone wonder what actually happened forever. She doesn’t owe anyone her story. It’s not like she can tell it, anyway. So why bother?

The point is, Juno didn’t sell Lettie out to the Duchess when it really mattered. Juno’s proven that she’s got her time and time again. And she’s got Juno in return. Her stupidly buff arms around her offers more safety than her own mother’s ever did.

That changes nothing. Lettie curls her fingers tightly around one of the bombs. You think that makes me want to go back? You fucking wish. She keeps her truth to herself. Behind their backs, she glamours one of Juno's bombs to look like the cube.

“I’ll admit, I didn’t think it was possible at first. Like, I don’t trust you. At all. But this… this is proof. This means you can actually take me back home.” Lettie acts her little heart out, shifting in Juno’s arms to face the entity, and producing the ‘cube’ (bomb in disguise) in her hands. The entity leans forward and licks their lips. Ew. Creep! “So if I give it to you, you’ll take me home?”

“Exactly. I knew you were smarter than you let on. Unlike that idiot girlfriend of yours.” The entity snaps an elongated arm out and snatches the 'cube' from her, possessively bringing it to their chest with a cackle. “Not smart enough, however. Now that I have what I want—" Lettie can’t keep her mask intact anymore, wearing a mischievous smirk and snickering softly to herself. The ‘cube’ begins to hiss like the bomb it actually is and the entity’s eyes widen. Yeah, who’s the idiot now? Because she doesn't think that it's Juno. No fucking way. “You fucking faerie!”

BOOM! The blast casts a light that beams out and swallows them all up. The shadow entity screeches, the sound like nails raking down a chalkboard.

Then there’s endless darkness. They’re falling again, but this time they’re falling together. Lettie clings tightly onto Juno to ensure that they don’t get separated this time. (She can’t bear the thought of letting go. Not right now. Not like this.) "What the fuck?" The faerie gasps out… and then the last of her self-control breaks into hysteric, gasping laughter that could easily be taken for hysteric crying. (It’s rests someplace in between at this point. The news about Avangeline is sinking in. It still exists, while she’s out here. Time is still moving forward. She’s panicking.) Might not matter if they’re falling to their deaths now, though. Their fall stretches long enough for her to catch her breath.

“Juno. Whatever you do, don’t let go of me.” She asks when she finally calms, digging her nails into the back of her shirt. They're going to be fine, right? As long as they're together. Their energy sparks between them, the heartbeat thrumming in her ears is becoming louder and louder. “We can’t lose sight of each other again.” Then she furrows her brow. "I think we're getting closer to the heart. I can hear it. Do you sense anything?"
 
Oh.

Oh.

The pirate sinks against the faerie with a relieved sigh; tears she won’t let fall sting her eyes. Her arms are the safest place for Juno to be. (She’s got her.) It’s not even the way that she glitched them through three separate blasts. Or the way that she cleverly turned one of Juno’s bombs into a cube to trick the shadow. Or that she’s a total stunner. It’s just that she’s Olette and the person she’s come to know as Olette is safe. She’s a safe person. Juno will do everything to protect her.

As they fall through yet another endless chasm, thankfully together this time, the pirate’s brow wrinkles when the faerie breaks down into hysterics. It’s not in her nature to offer comfort and she doesn’t know what to do, so she just holds on. She clutches her hand against her chest and firmly wraps her arm around the faerie’s waist, a mutual gesture that she understands to mean that they aren’t ever letting go. Not now. Maybe not even ever. (She doesn’t want to get ahead of herself and believe that Olette might really want to stay with her forever just because she rejected the entity’s deal to go back to her fancy world, Avangelous. It was a shady deal, after all, and her faerie isn’t stupid. There isn’t anything to read into and the pirate wishes she weren’t so hopeful.) She doesn’t even need to be told to hold onto the faerie or to not let go; the prospect never even occurred to her, so she simply nods against the top of Olette’s head. “I’m not going fucking anywhere. You’re not getting rid of me that easily, fucking faerie.”

Despite her joke, her attempt at lightening the mood the way the faerie is so effortlessly able, worry ripples through her as memories from only moments ago flash through her mind. She remembers the magazine cover, the hints that it offered about some scandal in Olette’s life but giving Juno nothing solid to grasp onto. (Though it does bring to mind other pieces of the faerie’s life that she isn’t supposed to know and this draws out a rare curiosity in the pirate, finding herself wondering about her life and experiences.) The pirate is also reminded of the way that her companion glitched them, at least three times, and while Juno still doesn’t know much about the faerie’s limits, she knows that she must have been approaching them. The entity seemed to understand that and she remembers how she couldn’t even pull herself up to give the entity a defiant look; the way she couldn’t even come up with a quip; the way she had to lean against Juno that entire time. ‘How much does she have left?’

…But if she’s being honest, Olette wasn’t the only one overexerting. While the attack she used against the shadow wasn’t nearly as taxing as, say, anything with spirits or flesh, she used her own blood and the light headedness she feels now is probably first from that and second from the other injuries she took. Though it's not like she can’t complain or do anything about it. They still have a mission and she has little doubt they’ll create new limits for themselves trying to complete it.

Following Olette’s direction, she brings herself back to the present and listens for the heartbeat, closing her eyes to focus on the sound. It’s louder than before, than even those sheets of acid rain outside of the cave. It’s urgent too. Thumpthumpthump. It doesn’t seem to be responding to their heartbeats as theirs are calm. (Or, calmer now that they’re in each other’s arms.) “You said you can hear it?” Her brow wrinkles together, puzzling out a way for them to reach the heart. “Focus on it. Try to sync with it. I think if we do that, it’ll reveal itself to us.”

It’s not pleasant lining up her rhythm to that of the world’s heart. It’s so frantic, tying up knots in Juno’s chest that she just worked to get undone but she lets the world’s rhythm take over anyway. As their hearts sync up, the chasm starts to brighten and transform. Instead of a black void, dirt kicks up around them like they’re at the center of a desert storm. Lightning flashes behind the brown clouds and, just as before, shadows are outlined with each flash. However, rather than sharp teeth and searing eyes, these shadows are lordly in appearance. They tower over the pirate and faerie wearing hooded cloaks with their hands clasped over the pommel of their downturned swords; some wear their hoods up, others have ornate helmets that resemble different beetles. The shadows neither acknowledge the pirate and faerie nor do they seem as alive as the monsters from before. They almost seem like statues.

When Juno takes a closer look at their cloaks, she notices movement on the garments. It shows an entire shadow play of the world's history––a monarchy eaten by a woman with golden eyes and three sets of arms; a sickness infecting the world’s guardian and spreading to the rest; a princess and knight from enemy houses coming together to fend off the disease; their final battle against the diseased guardian; their sacrifice and the disarray that followed when they fell; volcanoes rising from the ground, covering the world in magma and ash; the people transformed into beasts.

The scenes all pass by Juno so quickly that she doesn’t have time to interpret what she’s witnessed let alone even brace herself for a landing. Though they don't immediately hit the ground. Instead their fall is suddenly stopped and they hover a few inches above the ground. After a minute they are dropped with Olette on top of Juno. (As it should be.)

The pirate slowly sits up, ever mindful of the faerie on top of her, and slowly they gather themselves from the dirt surface. Even though they rise slowly, the pirate’s world spins, reminding her of her blood loss, and forcing her to grab onto Olette’s arm for balance. She holds onto her arm even after she’s got a hang of herself, not fully trusting her legs yet.

A few yards in front of them the beating heart rests in the ground, covered in dust. Juno nearly misses it because it blends in so well with the dust storm around them. The only thing that gives it away are the white glowing veins and the pulse that seems to draw them forward. As they get closer to it, two long dead and decayed bodies lay next to each other, hand in hand. Their clothing gives them away as the princess and knight heroines they saw earlier in the shadow figures’ clothing. Despite the centuries that must have passed since their death, their energy is electric in the air like they’re still here, haunting this place. (Or maybe protecting it? Perhaps similar to how Cerise’s and grandma Duchess’s spirits still linger in the goddess’s tomb.) The sight churns the pirate’s stomach and she squeezes Olette’s hand. ‘That won’t be us.’

She clenches her jaw as she approaches the pulsing heart, stepping over the remains of the other two heroes as she does so. Upon closer inspection she notices that there are patches on the heart that have a sticky black fluid oozing out of it. It doesn’t appear nearly as infected as the last heart they saw, leading the pirate to believe this might not require a resurrection. The heart still has threads of life keeping it alive––perhaps explaining why the world itself doesn’t appear entirely devastated or have a veil of nightmares clouding it like the other worlds they have seen.

“I think we need to heal this one.” When she announces this, the pirate rubs the back of her neck, refusing to look at the faerie because they both know what healing takes from her and Juno’s not even at her full strength. She’s still swaying, in fact. While she does have the faerie to rely on, recalling that Olette has healing properties as well, she doesn’t anticipate being able to draw on her faerie’s magic because of all those glitches earlier. She doesn’t even know if Olette has it in her to heal this world’s heart with her, but what other choice do they have? Especially now that they have made it this far.

“I won’t push myself to heal it.” This isn’t a lie either. She’s already made a promise to Olette and she intends to honor it until they’ve seen this through. Even if this means that they won’t be able to fully heal the heart, she won’t sacrifice herself just to complete one part of this task they’ve been assigned. Staying by the faerie’s side is too important to her. “Promise you won’t either?”

Without waiting for a response, she places her hand over one of the oozing patches on the heart to get a feel for what they’re working with. A map lights up in her mind, giving her a sense of the corrosion caused by the corruption––it also reveals that something seems to be preventing the further spread of the affliction. Or perhaps not something, but someone. Two someones, actually, as the pirate realizes the spirits of the two fallen heroines feel strongest now that she’s touching the heart. “I think that princess and knight duo gave their life to continue their mission. I can feel them in the heart, like they’re still fighting the corruption within it.” She tilts her head as she concentrates on the spirits, trying to get a better sense of what they’re doing. “Whatever magic they used to fuse their spirit to the heart, it’s still fucking kicking. Probably why Dominoes isn’t a total shithole like Desdemonia. I... I think we might be able to boost whatever magic they cast rather than heal it ourselves. That could give their spirits what they need to finish off the corruption?” She rubs her neck and adds, “Might be safer than trying to heal it all ourselves, too.”
 
Is this our future? Lettie isn’t able to look away from the corpses, her eyes stinging with mingling heat and dust. She bites her trembling lower lip, standing smaller than she is as their sacrifice looms over her like those cloaked shadows, making her a child in comparison. When she’s finally able to close her eyes again, she finds that they’re already rendered with a too-sharp clarity in her mind. The kind that cuts and leaves her bleeding. Their hand-in-hand image swirls alongside forget-me-nots sprouting from a goddess’s bones, ruins strewn with mermaid skeletons, and Lina. (Her heart wishes for a break as it synchs with that of this world. It wishes to collapse.) Is this our future? This isn’t the first time she’s had to ask herself that question. She knows now it won’t be the last either, provided that they make it out with their lives. The cube’s offered her an alternative route, but her destination— her end— remains unchanged. I’m going to die. The chains ring in her ears softly, faintly. It’s impossible to cheat the reaper. Gimmicks and trickery can only take her so far. It won’t ever be enough.

The memory of her mother’s face is fresh and the faerie shivers with everything she’s had to carry on her own. The wind sends a shudder through her wings.

Juno holds her tighter and Lettie opens her eyes. They’re teary when she does and she has to consider herself lucky that the pirate isn’t meeting her gaze to see it. (She doesn’t have to face this alone, though, does she?) She looks at her feet and scrubs over her eyes with the back of her free hand, wondering if she should say something lighthearted about the dust making her eyes watery to excuse her sorry state… but any excuses she comes up with are promptly shut down by the implications that begin to surface with Juno’s words. The implications when she considers why Juno isn’t meeting her gaze. I think we need to heal this one. She stops breathing altogether, her mind reeling her back to hours of worried pacing in front of the pirate’s door. Those days she stopped sleeping, started working non-stop on Lady, desperate to keep herself occupied with something as not to panic over the extent of what Juno had done for her.

This is the life they chose, isn’t it? And it’s only going to get harder with every day that passes. With every day that she realizes she doesn’t want this to end.

As if she’s been reprogramed with a radar for Lettie’s worry, Juno offers the reassurance that she won’t push herself. The faerie manages to draw in a breath. (She kind of has to, if she doesn’t want to pass the fuck out. Panic’s got her by the throat, whispering cryptic reminders of everything she’s been through and everything she’s going through now.) But Juno’s serious about this. She made that vow and ever since, she’s been able to read her every intention to keep her promises in her eyes. She’s not going down like this… and she’s got her.

‘Promise you won’t, either?’

Lettie fidgets. All her life it’s been gimmicks and trickery and confidence she fakes with finesse. Making promises that she does try— but ultimately fails— to keep. Like Lady’s defense systems, which should have kept them safe. (Whether that was her mistake or something else, it doesn’t change the fact that everything goes awry once she gets involved.) This… this is why she never sets expectations. I just don’t want to let you down, the way I let everyone else down.

The faerie brings a hand to her cheek while the pirate touches the heart, remembering the way that she held her face so gently as she made her vow. She also remembers what she said about needing her there, about being present. Juno’s only asking her not to push herself. Not something forever unattainable, like perfection. Whatever ends up happening, as long as she tries… she’s not going to blame the end result on her. Just like she didn’t blame her for Lady’s defense systems failing.

Juno proceeds to describe what she’s sensing from the heart, clarifying that they may not have to heal the heart after all. Having this perspective allows her to take another breath. This one steels her, supplies her vulnerable heart with armor. Okay. Lettie can totally be a cheerleader if that’s what’s being asked of her. She’s still got magic to spare… and perhaps it will be enough to see this through. They’re not alone, either. Together may be able to work this out without killing themselves in the process. They've survived as long as they have already, haven't they?

“It’s kinda hard to make promises when you're a chaos magnet.” Lettie admits with a crooked, self-deprecating smile. Gradually, the blue drains from Juno’s shirt, out of the bandana around her wrist. Then her own array of colors disappear, revealing the tattered ghost of a self she hides beneath. Standing only in one of Juno’s night shirts (yet again) she begrudgingly considers that she ought to check the wardrobe that the mermaid cube left for her next time around. She’ll never admit the thing has taste… but she clearly needs something that fits her, something that won’t disappear every time she does this if it’s going to become a recurring thing. (Overall, she understands that she has to do better with conserving her magic. Considering her theatrics earlier, she can’t help feeling… silly now. Like a frivolous little faerie. The magic she used back then could’ve been better used protecting them or healing the heart. Now that she has someone she wants to protect, there are far more important things it can be used for than selfishly hiding her nightmarish appearance. Stupid, stupid, stupid.) “I don’t know what’s going to happen to us next…” Her white eyes are dead serious now as she stares at the heart. They glow similarly to the white veins on the sides now, synching with their rhythm. A moment longer and her hair and wings sparkle like starlight as the white light spreads. Thump, thump, thump. The zing of the magic coursing through her is almost too much. She resists the urge to itch herself, to forcibly claw at it. “But I’ve still got some magic left in me to spare. Take all you need from me, Juno… and I promise I’ll let you know if I’m nearing my limits. Three squeezes in a row.” She squeezes three times to solidify it. “That can be our signal.”

Either Juno opens herself up to her at that very second or their connection has hit a point where it forges them a doorway automatically— because it bursts open and they’re swept into the maelstrom of the struggling heart in front of them. Lettie holds onto Juno, knowing that at least she’s got her, and grits her teeth while resisting the urge to cry out. There’s so much energy careening through her now that she can hardly contain it. (She’s on the brink of forgetting her own name. She’s not sure what rightfully belongs to her, or what she’s borrowed from those she’s synched herself with. Their pain is her pain, her pain is theirs and it’s visceral. The overwhelming desire to protect, the sensation that she's been trapped for years and years.) While Juno might be able to see or hear what’s happening within the storm, all Lettie can do is feel. It burns her up from the inside out.

“Reinforcements. At last.” A voice sighs, the sound consoling the howling winds ever so slightly. “Oh. I knew that someday, someday…!”

“You brought a source.” Another sterner voice speaks directly to Juno. The dust storm surrounding them flurries into the shape of two figures standing hand in hand. Their features gradually appear as chips of sand flake away, revealing a duo that nearly mirrors Lettie and Juno in height and stature. The princess and knight, the corpses they’d found beside the heart. The knight gestures to Lettie as her form flickers wildly and then points her sword at Juno’s chin. “… Hurry, then. Bring it to the center of the heart.” ‘It?’

The center of the heart is flickering light, flickering in synch with the faerie, and fighting for its life as it drowns in a dark pool of quicksand.

“Rowan! You mustn’t threaten her.” The princess chides, pressing her free hand to the blade. The knight refuses to lower it, holding it steady. She stares at Juno, her gaze steady and sure. “You’ve come to help us, haven’t you?”

“Don’t be so trusting, princess. I don’t recognize her clothes. Do you?” The knight doesn’t lower her guard any more than she lowers her weapon. The princess falters, hesitant, and ‘Rowan’ narrows her eyes. “…You know what? No. Hand it over. I'll take the source to the center myself. Hand it over now or I’m taking it by force.”And with that, she lunges towards Juno and swings her blade forward—!

It phases right through them as the part of Lettie that hangs by a thread senses danger and glitches them just in time. She squeezes Juno's hand. Just once. (Not three times, like they've agreed upon for stopping. She can still go on.) I'm here. I've still got you.

All around them, the sand begins to shift as cloaked shadows rise all around them. They hold their swords ready, prepared to cut down any possible escape route the duo might try to take. Rowan recovers quickly from missing her mark, regaining her footing as she makes a note of this. For her next strike, she turns and aims this time for their interlocked hands!
 
The pirate doesn’t like this, not one bit. Her tension is obvious in the way that she refuses to look at Olette, in the way that her jaw is tightened like she’s trying to break it. She pulls in a breath to keep herself from shaking and maybe still the beating of her heart (though she can't, given that the frantic heart in front of them is in current control of her own). She swallows and finally looks down at the faerie who has shed her armor and that encourages Juno to do a bit of the same. Her gaze softens as she allows some moisture to show in her eyes, taking in the starlight faerie. (She won’t admit it, but she does take her in like this could be the last time she might ever get the chance.) “Ah, well. Make that two chaos magnets, then.” She shrugs, even if the memory of Gran’s eyes sting. (Disaster and misfortune go wherever the pirate goes, no matter how hard she’s tried to hide or run or change. Juno doesn't agree that it's Olette who brings chaos towards them, even if that's what she claimed in the beginning, but she can't correct her with the urgency of their situation.) “Maybe we’ll cancel each other out and make it out of this relatively intact, eh?”

The faerie’s promise is enough to hold Juno together for the time being, because she trusts Olette to stay for as long as she can. As long as she wants. And she knows she doesn’t want to end up as dust. (Funny to think that not so long ago, and yet myriads ago, Juno once told her she’d snort her ashes. She might’ve been amused by the joke at this very moment if the prospect of holding her in cupped palms weren’t an alarming possibility.) With the signal decided, Juno nods and a bright line of light shines from one of the veins, sucking them inside of the heart.

Even within, the storm rages on, whipping around them and making it almost impossible for her to keep her eyes open. Once she does manage to get them open, she doesn't immediately set out to work; instead her eyes lock onto Olette, easily able to find her not just because of their connected hands but because of her glow. (A diamond in the rough.) In her phantasmic state, Juno finds it more difficult to get a read on Olette and while she wants to make sure that she’s still okay, the two spirits approaching them distract her before she can.

The necromancer senses them before she spots them in the dust winds and while she wants this to be easy, hopes that they are friendly, everything else thus far has tried to kill them first. Her grip tightens on Olette’s hand as she stares at what appears to be empty space, but there are actually two ghosts standing before her and she recognizes them as the knight and princess. The resemblance to herself and Olette is uncanny and causes her to take a half step away from them. Even if the short one’s voice soothes the storm around them, she is automatically mistrustful. Rightfully so, as when the tall one speaks, she threatens Olette and that forces the rest of the pirate’s defenses come up. Her hand falls into her pouch, crushing some of the shards to dust as she prepares for the worst. A drip of blood starts to leak out of her nose as a result of this, but she hides it and huffs it back up before the faerie can worry. (There’s no reason for her to worry, anyway. So until there is, she doesn’t want to show what her necromancy does to her.) Her jaw tightens once more as her eyes set on the one called “Rowan,” the one who has referred to her Olette as an “it,” as if she’s a fucking object and not a goddamn delight. The pirate growls when the sword is placed at her chin, not backing down. “You might want to rethink that demand, punk.”

The bone dust swirls around Juno’s hand as she prepares for the worst, as she spots the center of the heart and notes the way it matches her faerie’s pulse. ‘No. I’m not taking you there.’ Olette isn’t going to be some sacrifice.

By the time Juno realizes that Rowan has decided to take matters into her own hands, the pirate doesn’t have enough time to cast a defense, let alone move both herself and Olette out of harm's way. She’s about to pivot so that she can at least take the blow against the light armor of her coat, but there isn’t the need. The all too familiar feeling of a fatal blow passing through them consumes her and then she’s whole again. ‘One squeeze. It was only one squeeze. Trust her. She’s got this.’

The pirate nods, but doesn’t give herself a moment longer to think about this, doesn’t even consider the towering figures around them, because Rowan isn't backing down. This time, as the sword arcs towards their link, she pulls her hand out of her pocket and flicks her wrist towards the spirit, allowing the bone dust to create a shield that deflects the knight’s blow mid-swing, sending her stumbling to the side. While Rowan recovers, Juno calls the bone dust back to her and simultaneously moves away from their opponent, pulling Olette with her. She then takes a wide stance, placing the faerie behind her, as she anticipates the next strike. The bone dust swirls around her and, despite the winds, doesn't stray far from the pirate. Rowan seems to consider this but lunges forward anyway, perhaps thinking speed is on her side. This time, rather than create another shield, the pirate has the bone dust ensnare the spirit's sword arm and she yanks the weapon away from her. The bone dust sparks around the spirit weapon and when Juno swishes her arm away, the sword is flung away into the storm.

This move does shock Rowan and Juno uses her surprise as an opportunity to rush towards the knight. She grabs the collar of her armor, immediately tracking the spirit's necromantic energy and begins to fray the threads that hold her together. “You want to threaten me again? I’ll fucking destroy your fucking soul, Rowan.”

“I will happily be sent away if it means I can protect the future of my house and princess Aviana.” Then, despite not being in a position to make demands, and surprisingly unconcerned with her soul unraveling, Rowan jams her armored fist into Juno’s ribs, forcing a groan from her. “Now. Give. Me. The source.” With each break she continues to punch the pirate, but the pirate refuses to let go and only clenches her stomach to harden herself against the blows.

“Never. She’s not a fucking tool. She’s not your fucking source, dipshit.” At this point Juno’s undone more of the knight; to the point where her entire back is missing and, still, Rowan doesn't falter. “I don’t care if you’re protecting your hot mess of a world, you’re not getting her.” She squeezes Olette’s hand for assurance before she starts to pull at more of the knight’s strings, taking away an arm, an eye, half her face.

Still, the knight doesn’t seem particularly concerned. Maybe because she’s already dead. Maybe because the smoking cloaked shadows all start to raise their large swords at which point, Rowan smirks. “The guardians protect me. Who protects you, pirate?”

“Stop this nonsense at once!” the princess demands. In flash, she pops between the narrow space between the pirate and knight and shoves them apart with a surprising amount of force. Then she waves her hands at the guardians, instantly sending them back to their original position, blocking every exit. “Rowan. What have we talked about?”

The knight sighs, her stitches coming back together on their own accord; though it’s likely thanks to the guardians or whatever spell they used to keep their souls here. “We don’t threaten to duel everyone who doesn’t listen to our de… requests.”

“And?”

“Avi, please––not this. We haven’t the time. We really must get the source to the center of the heart, but this imbecile––” (“Rowie!”) “This three-quarter wit insists on blocking our path, on denying us the aid we need to end our eternal fight.” The knight turns to the new duo, softening some perhaps. “Why come? Are you here only to taunt and tease? I am tired. I just want to stop this fight and go to the hall of souls with my Aviana. Won't you make the sacrifice?”

Honestly? The pirate feels more than a twinge of sympathy for the knight, even if she just tried to fucking end her in order to destroy Olette. Juno can’t say she wouldn’t have made the same move were she in Rowan’s position. Giving the faerie’s hand another squeeze, she sighs and looks to the weary souls. “I get it. I want the same for myself and her.” And she only admits this because she knows Olette cannot hear the spirits themselves. “But she’s off-fucking-limits for obvious fucking reasons. We came here to boost whatever spell you used to keep the corruption from spreading. With a little more from us, I think you can finish this and rest.”

Rowan appears skeptical while Aviana, the more reasonable of the two, considers what Juno has offered and the terms she has set. "I do think your solution ought to work." With a small nod she gestures the group towards the center of the heart where the glow flickers with the faerie. “Originally we thought our spell would be enough, but alas by the time we cast the spell, we'd already used up so much of our magic focusing on the wrong thing. Since then we haven’t been able to get the leverage we need no matter what we try,” she sighs. “Rowan, prepare the key while I draw the glyph.”

The knight nods and reaches for her secondary sword, a puny falchion, that has a serrated edge on one side, resembling the teeth of a key. She waves her hand over the serrated edge causing it to glow and re-shape itself. Meanwhile, the princess traces several glyphs with her fingers and layers them on top of each other to create a more complex pattern; each layer spins over the other at a different pace with some going clockwise and others counterclockwise. Aviana finishes by waving her hand over the glyph, causing a keyhole to appear at the center in a show of rainbow sparks. At this point Rowan steps forward and aims her keyblade accordingly. When she inserts the key, it disappears into the glyph and the knight turns the key around this way and that, causing the layers of the glyph to turn with her movements until she has set it just so. Once the glyph is fully set up it glows and makes itself obvious for the faerie to see. Aviana gestures towards it as Rowan takes a step back, leaving the key inside.

Juno steps towards the glyph and then looks at Olette. “Three squeezes, yeah?” She knows she’ll tell her. She know she’ll be honest. She supposes she only asks to warn her that they’re about to start, to let her know she’s not a pretty battery. (She’s so much more than that and it pisses her off all over again that Rowan thought to think of her like that. If she weren't so desperate to get off of this world, she would seriously considering decking the spirit.) The necromancer rubs her hand over her injured shoulder, squeezing blood out onto her palm, and letting the liquid cover her arm. She stumbles a bit to the side, but catches herself before Rowan can do more than lift a brow (and she hopes before Olette can worry). Then she places her coated palm flat against the glyph on the other side of the keyhole. When her palm connects with the glyph it starts to bleed red as it saps up the blood on Juno’s hand; from there, she takes a breath and begins allowing Olette’s magic to flow through her, fusing it to the red glyph. The faerie’s magic spirals around the shapes on the glyphs until it’s glowing Olette’s same glow and flickering with the rhythm of the world. Once the glyph is shining like a red beacon, Rowan pushes Juno to the side (Aviana slaps her arm for that) and grabs the hilt of her keyblade. With a deep breath, she swings the glyph into the air, launching it into the center of the heart.

The center absorbs the spell, flickering, its light getting weaker and leaving the space dark for a few seconds at a time. The shadow figures around them sink into the ground, collapsing into smoke that shrouds everything around them. The only reason Juno knows where Olette is is because they’re still joined by their two hands, but everything else is swallowed; she can barely feel Rowan and Aviana.

A streak of light then cuts through the thick clouds of smoke, shining up. Another beam shoots out from the side; another from the bottom and soon enough the entire heart bursts into a bright shining light that forces Juno to shield her eyes with her free hand. When the light clears, the newly intact heart reveals itself, a clean ivory color with veins of magma running through it. The storm around them has cleared, leaving them in an ivory palace, if Juno had to guess, and they’re standing in something similar to a throne room with the heart where the throne should be.

The heart starts to crack, break apart, and when it has fallen away… a cube of all things sits on an actual throne. This cube wears a regal velvet cape with a black spotted white fur trim.

In unison, Rowan says, “What the Hell?” and Juno says, “What the fuck?”

“The house of homo is victorious.” The cube nods and indicates towards both pairs. “Princess Aviana, sir Rowan,” (Rowan drops to one knee like a nerd and Juno even mutters so under her breath.) “You have fought most valiantly. Rest awaits you in the hall of souls. And you two,” it then directly addresses Olette and Juno. “You did not die. Congratulations.” Confetti poppers go off above them and if Juno had the strength in her, she would throttle the mayor, the third little asshole.
 
Their fight has only just begun, but static falls through Lettie's mind like snow after she phases them through the first blow. Not yet. I'm still here. She cannot hear a thing, cannot see a thing. She can only sense it, the desperation clawing at her like a starved animal, begging to drag her to the center and soak up everything she's got left to give. (Every bone in her body is ethereal, threatening to shred right through her glitching form. The lost souls magic, her magic, it hyper charges within her and it takes everything she has to contain it in her tiny body. Juno's fighting with the souls she can't hear and she just needs to release all of this before it breaks her.) I'm not finished yet. I just...

Lettie wishes she could ask about what's happening, but she can only grit her teeth as she tries to placate the restless, scintillating magic in her. She no longer possesses the focus to phase through attacks, but Juno's got her. Juno pulls her behind her, blocking any incoming blows with her body-- acting as her human shield. (And if she were in any state to talk, she would be objecting that course of action with a firm 'Juju, no.' It's so flipping reckless to block this way! What the hell is she thinking!?) The mystery of what her stupidly buff pirate is thinking is gradually unveiled, though, as she speaks to their attacker. “Never. She’s not a fucking tool. She’s not your fucking source, dipshit.” As it sinks in, it sinks her stomach that they're fighting over what they should do with her. (The ash deity implicating what a faerie's sacrifice might offer replays in her mind.) But Juno's not about to give in or sell her off. Through all of this, she doesn't doubt her for even a second. The warm sincerity Juno's intentions wars with the tired soul that wants to use her as their key out. Even without sensing all of this, she would know her words are true. The pirate didn't hand her over to the duchess and she's not going to hand her over now or ever. And the way she took her in like it might be the last time? She's pretty sure the worlds could be ending right now and Juno wouldn't sacrifice her without getting her opinion on it first, all while insisting that she go with her hand in hand. That realization is as comforting as it is terrifying. What is Juno going to do if-- or when-- she finds out about... no, don't worry about that now.

Next to being stupidly buff, she's stupidly stubborn, stupidly loyal... and the best necromancer she could've gotten paired with.

The back and forth between Juno and their hidden opponent yanks Lettie left and right, the mashup of words she can't follow and raw sensation dizzying her even when she's standing still. However, she trusts the pirate and her newfound resolve to master the art of negotiation even when she can't hear anything from the other side. And before long? They've come to a resolution. (She's getting better at this, isn't she? Perhaps the day that they'll solve a conflict without any violence at all is closer than they think.) When Juno reaffirms their three squeezes rule, Lettie draws on all of the strength left in her to be present and nods her head. And in doing so, she notices with no small amount of worry as the pirate reaches for her shoulder, the slight stumble afterwards... There's no time to comment on it, though. To the faerie's eyes, the wheel of glyphs appears all on their own, drawn out by phantoms she can't see. All she can do is press her feet firmly on the ground to keep her balance and brace herself as Juno draws on her magic to enhance the glyphs and heal the corruption. The cacophony of magic explodes like celestial fireworks inside of her. She presses her eyes shut as they burn with light and offers one squeeze. (This is more than she bargained for. Fear spikes in her when she wonders if she'll even know when she's approaching her limits, if she'll even be able to warn Juno before she's dust--) She goes for the second squeeze when the terror of leaving Juno without warning grips her, and then--

And then a thunder clap of impact hits Lettie as the overstimulating magic is finally released from her body. Relief replaces it as her frantic, flickering glow dims and she's offered respite. She loosens the grip of her second squeeze to assure Juno that she's fine. I'm still here. We're still here. We're okay. All she can feel now is her own slowly calming pulse and Juno's hand in her own, their fingers interlocked, and she prefers it that way.

Lettie opens one eye and then the next, slowly taking in the ivory palace as the heart begins to shatter. She tilts her head perplexedly as it reveals the throne and robed cube sitting atop it. Well, that's a choice. The 'mayor' is just about as pretentious as she expected. Chewing the inside of her cheek, the slightest smile twitches at her lips as Juno's 'what the fuck' follows afterwards. Because, well, it's like the cube said. They didn't die. They're alive. They're alive and she decides that is something to celebrate as the cube rains a patronizing confetti down over their heads. She looks up at Juno, endeared at the sight of the shimmery paper landing in her hair and on her shoulders. The juxtaposition between it and the pirate's rage causes her smile to widen. I'm so happy I could almost kiss-- woah, woah, woah.

"Juju!" Lettie interrupts her own thoughts before they can take her anywhere beyond the point of no return, tugging on her hand as she hops joyfully up and down. "We did it!" A laugh bubble out of her and once she starts she finds that she can't stop. (Yeah, this cube is infuriating. But she kinda saw this one coming, thanks to the other two assholes. This is their life now and rather than get upset about it, she'd rather celebrate the fact that they didn't die. They've got to enjoy these victories, right? While... while they still have them.) Her carefree laughter gets way out of hand, enough that she snorts. Ah, geez! That's real attractive. It's embarrassing enough that she blushes, but not so embarrassing that she stops laughing. She gasps to catch her breath, grinning as she brushes her tears away with her thumbs. "And you..." She looks at the cube. The 'mayor'. "Look ridiculous."

Although Lettie still can't hear it, Aviana snorts as well, as if it's taking all of her self control not to laugh alongside her. Rowan shoots her an incredulous look. Then the knight glances quickly between the faerie and the princess as if only just now putting together their similarities.

"...Rude." The third cube takes offense. "And to think I was going to throw you two a party. I was going to supply the hats, the pizza, and the rhombuses."

"Ah! An excellent choice, mayor. Rhombuses are a most trustworthy shape." Aviana nods sagely, managing to find her composure. Rowan grumbles. "They remind me of my dear friend, Centi. Will she be in attendance?"

"Indeed." The cube replies. "These fools have promised her a party and must deliver."

Lettie blinks, confused. She knows she just missed something, considering she still can't see or hear the two spirits. "...What?"

"I see. You must relay my thanks to her, then, for eating my mother and father before they could eat me. I was able to fulfill my duty, thanks to her." Aviana curtseys. (It sounds like a long story.) She turns to Juno and Lettie. "And I must thank the two of you as well. You've set us free. We can finally rest." She gives Rowan a pointed look afterwards. "...What do you say, Rowie?"

"Thank you." Rowan grumbles, her voice barely audible. Aviana puffs her cheeks and the knight tries again, this time with a proper bow to satisfy her. "Thank you for your assistance." Aviana elbows her shoulder and nods at Lettie, whose eyes are flicking between Juno and the cube. Rowan gives a gruff sigh and waves a hand in front of Lettie's face to test a theory. As expected, she doesn't react to this. "She can't see me, Avi, why do I have to--" But her princess never relents, glaring at her as her cheek-puff intensifies. "...I apologize for trying to sacrifice you."

"There. Now we can depart with no regrets." Aviana nods, beaming brightly at Rowan and then at Juno. "Truly. On behalf of all Dominia, I cannot thank you enough for your help. Enjoy your party." She squeezes her knight's hand. The shape of a doorway draws itself in behind the throne before filling with light. "Shall we, Rowan?"

Rowan softens and nods. Hand in hand, the duo walks towards the door with a slowness that indicates neither of them can quite believe it's actually happening. Just before their bodies are absorbed with the light and drawn into the hall of souls, the knight presses a kiss to the princess's forehead. In a flash, that very image is immortalized in a stain-glass window behind the cube's throne. Rainbow shapes are cast shapes over them and the ivory floors through it as the smoky clouds part and a brilliant sunset shines through. The moment is quiet. It's radiant and peaceful.

Without understanding the context, Lettie can only stare with awe. (The couple in that window looks a lot like...) "What's going on? Juju?" She breaks the silence, looking at Juno. Alive... but not unhurt, even if she tries to pretend otherwise. She puffs her cheeks and rises to her tip-toes to get a better look at the pirate's shoulder now that she's remembered her concern. (She's so stupidly tall... the faerie forgets momentarily that she has wings as she tugs insistently at Juno's arm.) "...Hey. Get down here right now. Let me see your shoulder." Her brow furrows when she manages to examine the wound. It looks deeper than she suspected it to be and worry tangles her heartstrings up in knots. Then she inhales a sharp breath. When did this happen? How much blood has she lost? And when she considers the blood dripping down her arm before... does she even realize how dangerous that is? "Idiot. You're probably all bruised, too, after using your body as a shield back there!"

The cube doesn't need to be asked to provide first aid, because a kit materializes beside them when the faerie finally steers them towards a place to sit down. Juno's stubbornness is no match for her signature cheek-puff, as Lettie quickly manages to get her to shrug off her coat and show her the wound. "Did you think you could hide this from me?" She whispers under her breath as she approaches as gently as she possibly can with the disinfectant. "...Idiot." It has to sting, and knowing it must sting for Juno makes her own shoulder sting with sympathy. She wants to ask why the pirate was using her blood like that in the first place, as if it was a tool right after insisting that Lettie wasn't one... but her chest tightens every time she gets close to breaching the subject. Instead, she mutters under her breath with every careful motion of her hands over the wound. "Idiot, idiot, idiot."
 
Rowan and Aviana’s departure is gay as fuck. Extra as fuck. Stupid as fuck. They look like fucking dweeb ass nerds and Juno wants nothing more than to be them. To have what they have. (The uncanny resemblance to herself and a certain fucking faerie just makes it all too fucking easy for her to picture a life where she gets a happy ending like that. But happily ever afters aren’t for pirates who are wanted by duchesses and stewards; and they certainly aren’t for Juno whose future has never been predicted to be so fortunate. She might be able to hope and dream that there could be something for her with Olette, especially while she stares at the stained glass image of a homo knight and princess, but it’s not going to happen. No one as pretty and smart and warm wants someone so disgusting and stupid and cold. Opposites attract, sure, but she can’t imagine that’s what the fucking faerie would want; especially not after her horrendous first impression. Even if they have come a long way since then, even if Juno has treated her wings better, she just… She just doesn’t see it happening.) She knows that hoping for such a future for herself is a sure fire way to self-destruct, yet she’s hopeful anyway because through all of this, she knows that Olette cares about her. Ever since her outburst before healing the mer-world’s heart, Juno has known that she cares. She just doesn’t know how far that goes. (Does it touch her heart? Or go right past it?)

Pathetic as it is, these thoughts are what occupy her while Olette treats her shoulder and calls her an idiot under her breath. (More evidence she cares.) Though she knows it’s not appropriate given her concern, the pirate can’t help her tiny grin when she finally pulls her attention away from the stained glass to listen to the faerie’s mutterings. Maybe because she’s also remembering how she snorts when she laughs and, how, when she laughs, it could melt the sun. That all only helps fuel a dangerous fantasy in Juno’s mind. ‘But maybe it won’t be so bad to hurt over her? She wouldn’t want to hurt me. Not on purpose.’

But she knows she can’t remain suspiciously silent (and suspiciously stiff) forever. She has to say something, otherwise she can only imagine Olette’s worry. She shifts a bit in her seat, trying to hide the way she winces as she does so (she doesn’t want to admit that Rowan might have cracked a rib), and only speaks when she’s caught Olette’s enchanting white eyes. “I needed to protect you. In my head, that was the best way. The… The one spirit, the taller one,” she points to the knight in the glass, “she wanted to sacrifice you to the heart’s center. She, uh, apologized for that, too, but before we got there, I just needed to make sure you were safe.” She can’t admit this out loud, but it’s all that matters to her when the cube takes them to a new assignment. Beyond her promise, she just can’t imagine the worlds without her. “And I wouldn’t’ve used my own blood, but the things we’ve been fighting? Hardly any of them have blood or souls I can really work with and flipping their skeletons inside out only works if I can touch them. And honestly? I’d do it again, Olette. If it meant protecting you, I’d take those hits again. I’d use myself, but not so much that I’d leave you behind.

“But I was being reckless,” she admits with a sigh, clenching her fist over her knee. “I’m not used to… to...” She struggles, uncomfortable with the vulnerability that comes with admitting she’s not exactly used to caring about what happens to her in a fight. It’s a lot to tell someone, even a friend. “Blocking, I guess. My defense sucks, but you knew this already.” Their many sparring matches should have already clued Olette in on this and if not that, then their prior roughhousing or even the other fights they’ve been in. Juno always comes back bruised and bloody, but she always comes back. That ought to mean something, right? (She knows it doesn’t. Well, it does, but she also knows the distress of seeing someone she cares about injured.)

“I’m… I’m sorry. Marjorie’s rules. I should improve that shit. Maybe, um, maybe we can practice that?” She adjusts herself so that the faerie can wrap the injury, trying to ignore the way her heart skips a beat every time she realizes that Olette is touching her. (She’s so gentle with her. The pirate doesn’t need her to be, she can handle pain, and yet she is anyway. Why?) “Oh. The princess and the knight have names. Aviana and Rowan. Guess they’re friends with Cindy.” Naturally, she leaves it at that, believing that she’s said everything there is to say on the ghosts they helped.

Once her bandages are fixed (these wrappings are hot pink), she motions for the faerie to let her inspect her injuries, recalling how she crashed into a pile of ceramics. (Or was thrown? Juno doesn’t know since she hadn’t seen her side of the fight, but she does remember the bloody faerie shaped imprint in a pile of broken vases.) While there are a concerning number of bruises and cuts littering her form, they’re smaller and more spread out than her injuries. While she returns the favor of fixing up her wounds, her mind wanders back to the heart’s center, recalling the two squeezes. “You need to be more careful, too, you know. I know you’re pure magic, but… two squeezes, Olette. Scared me shitless. What if…” She doesn’t finish that thought, because they’ve both had those thoughts today. “I trust you. I do.” ‘I just can’t lose you.’ “Just don’t scare me like that. It makes me feel like a fucking dweeb.”

It’s not long after their injuries are attended to and the party started (at Asshole III insistence), that Asshole I finally makes an appearance and takes the duo away in a signature flash of light.

Honestly, Juno doesn’t remember much after that but she must have fallen asleep the second they landed back on Lady because the next thing she knows, she’s waking up alone in her bed. (Having spent the last couple of nights next to Olette, waking up without her there feels wrong.) While ordinarily allergic to her bed, she spends a good portion of the morning with a pillow clutched to her chest as if that could ever emulate the faerie’s softness.

Once she gets up, life passes in a blur after that. The routine remains as it always has been— constant battles, attempts at negotiating, hunters chasing them (though none quite so adept as the shadow), and so on— but they’re improving. It doesn’t feel like it at first, but Marjorie points out that they’re spending less and less time on each world the longer this drags on. It might have been a comfort to know that they’re getting better, if only it didn’t make the pirate wonder just when this will end. The corruption has spread so far that they’ve spent a bulk of their time healing hearts or stopping the corruption from taking root; they have yet to make it back to another fully ravaged world. (Though Juno isn’t complaining. She half hopes there aren’t anymore to deal with and it was only those two, but she knows there is more to come and she gets the sense that the cube might be building up their tolerance for to the corruption and the nightmares it can cause.)

On several occasions during their fights Juno catches Olette watching her, presumably just staring off into space or trying to make sure Juno’s practicing a good defense. She’s been clobbered at least once as a result; the other times Juno’s either able to tackle her out of the way or she glitches at the last possible second. Juno keeps trying to assure her that she doesn’t need to watch her every move and that she’s had better defense since volcano world, but it still happens. (Juno never puts together that Olette could be ogling her as the notion is too unfathomable.)

Thanks to Marjorie’s rules, they’re given breaks between worlds in accordance to how much energy and magic they use. During these down periods the duo are rarely seen apart, often discussing strategy while Olette continues her work on the engine, or pouring over notes in Juno’s study with Missile Launcher (Juno’s spikeball that Olette insisted she name) and their demon bug army floating around them. Their study sessions creep later and later into the evening hours and it’s not uncommon for them to fall asleep near each other. (Juno prefers this, but she is terrified to voice her embarrassing desires.)

Aside from that, their sparring sessions help Juno work on her defense and give Olette the chance to fight without as much magic. It’s actually during one of their sparring sessions, which turns into an impromptu study session, that they discover other ways to combine their magic. Juno’s favorite trick they’ve come up with is combining a bomberfly and enchanted shard to create a bomb that not only covers an area in shrapnel, the shrapnel itself becomes a field of Juno’s signature deathtraps where there’s no safe place to step. (It is particularly satisfying throwing one of those at the tentacled god who turns out to be horrendously evil and disgusting.)

The more time they spend together, the more curious Juno becomes about Olette and the life she has lived. She asks her more questions— like if she’s a celebrity where she’s from, if she prefers sunshine or rain, if she’s ever considered modeling or working in fashion, what her favorite animal is, and so on— and becomes increasingly more hopeless for her. But she doesn’t mind. She can’t. It’s only when she has too much time to think about it that she starts to get anxious about what will happen when this eventually ends, but those moments never last long. Olette usually comes in to ask her for help with something or she’ll be interrupted by Asshole I taking them to a whole new world.

So while the routine may be the same, it’s never stale. There’s always something for them to learn or improve on.

After a particularly short stint on Asshole X’s world, they spend the rest of the day figuring out how to prepare for the next fully ravaged world— neither trust Asshole I enough to think they’re done with nightmare worlds. Olette tries to get Juno to explain how the nightmares work, but she’s only left with variations of, “They just get into your fucking head,” to work with. Apparently the faerie thinks she can figure out a way to see through them and while Juno is willing to help, she sucks at explanations even when prompted with the right questions. (There are a few times that Juno purposefully answers in an unhelpful way, because it’s kind of cute seeing her get so exasperated.) When it’s well into the night, their bodies quit on them and they end up in heap on Olette’s couch, passed the fuck out.

At some point during their slumber, Juno stirs and isn’t able to fall back asleep even with the faerie lying on top of her. (Another thing she won’t admit, but she does sleep better when she’s on her chest.) So she slyly scoots out from under the sleeping faerie and aimlessly strolls through the ship, eventually finding herself in the kitchen.

Knowing that there’s little chance of her getting caught with her secret hobby (hobby secret), she grabs some bread to make crisped bread with butter but the snack is unsatisfying and leaves her wanting. She vaguely recalls pictures of a melty bread stack concoction from the diner they went to all those eons ago and decides to recreate it. She sets out two slices of bread and tops them both with healthy slices of the orange cheese. Then she grabs the blowtorch. ‘I wonder if Olette likes melt stacks…’
 
‘I trust you. I do.’ Juno’s words lay themselves down on her heart whenever Lettie can’t sleep at night. If she’s not sunken in an abyss of thought about that classless tabloid, and Avangeline, and the accumulating mess of trouble that will crush her under its weight when she returns there, she thinks about Juno. Juno and the strand of white in her dark bangs. The way it falls over her scarred brow. (Her hair’s been getting longer these days. She often finds herself wondering if Juno cuts her own hair or if Marjorie helps her with it. She wonders if Juno would let her try and style it once, the way she styled her for dinner before. Every time she considers asking, though, she finds she’s too chicken when confronted with the fantasies of running her fingers through her hair, getting too flustered, and cutting too much.) Then she proceeds to think about the furrow of that scarred brow, the way it relaxes around her and softens her stormy gaze whenever she sees that she’s made it out of a fight unscathed. (Or, at times, whenever she sees her in general. Like she’s happy to see her regardless of the reason why. And when Lettie starts entertaining the idea that Juno enjoys spending time together just as much, it sends the butterflies in her chest all aflutter. It excites her, thrills her, and yet the butterfly wings cut like razor blades when she realizes her visions of the future all end the same way. Dreams aren’t for little faeries whose fates have long ago been sealed.) Guilt slams her like fist to the gut. Does she even deserve Juno’s trust? ‘I know you’re pure magic, but… two squeezes, Olette. Scared me shitless. What if…’ (What if the ‘what if’ is a reality that she’s been shackled to since she was a girl? What then?) Lettie knows she can’t allow this continue if she’s going to end up hurting Juno in the worst possible way. She knows what it’s like to be left behind, she knows it all too well.

But Lettie can’t warn her even if she wanted to. All she can do to vent is scream incoherent noises into her pillow and kick her legs like a child. (When Ravan started asking questions about her mother, she couldn’t tell him anything she knew. Everyone assumed her silence was out of grief or shame. But he knows her. ‘You’re my best friend, Lette. You know you can tell me anything.’ She knew that. And yet…) ‘The curse’ isn’t a cheap excuse that she hides behind. She’s not a fucking coward. Many sleepless nights were spent trying to find creative ways to tell him what she knew. She learned the painful way that no matter what the words themselves are, the curse can sense exactly what she’s thinking. Even if she tries to make up a code… if she so much as hints at the truth with intent to reveal it, the golden noose tightens around her throat. Similarly, if she tries writing the story down or using any such manner to communicate with her hands, the glow around her wrist tightens until it burns and threatens to break it. (…Apparently, some faeries have lost their hands altogether this way.) She worked at a solution until she hit her limits. Until her neck and wrists were black and blue. Through her struggle, Ravan was at least able to realize that her situation is beyond her control. She’ll never forget the way he looked at her when he came to that realization, though… his eyes all big and sad.

Maybe it’s selfish, but Lettie doesn’t want Juno to look at her like that. A faerie has her ways of getting about in the world. She’s worked so hard, trying to take care of it and clean up the mess herself. (Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered even if she stayed. Perhaps she’s got a guardian angel somewhere, giving her a vacation to live a little before her time is up. A bit laughable that this ‘mission’ could be considered a ‘vacation’, though. Whatever the case, she does prefer this routine they’ve worked out to everything she was doing on Avangleine before.) Either way…

‘I need to be mean. Like, really mean.’ Lettie thinks one night, pursing her lips determinedly. ‘Scare Juno away!’ That’s the only solution, the only way to protect her. She needs to make herself into someone that she’d be okay with losing. Someone she’d be happy to have out of her impossibly badass hair.

…Except it turns out this is a plan that Lettie is incapable of carrying out. ‘Mean’ has never been her forte, despite what most might assume of her drama queen self from a glance. Every time she comes up with something even remotely sharp to say, she’ll catch a glimpse of Juno’s stupidly cute smile and her insides turn to putty. ‘I don’t want to hurt her.’ Her thoughts pout. Geez! Her impulse to keep making the pirate smile is the exact opposite of her ‘brilliant idea’. It’s not so brilliant at all, though, if it means Juno loses that rare, sweet smile… so she scraps it before she can cause any unnecessary harm. The guilt weighing down on her chest is too much to handle as it is. Hurting Juno’s feelings will only intensify it. (Because, yes, even badass pirates have feelings as she has come to realize. They’re still a team and Lettie doesn’t want to destroy what they’ve built together by becoming an absolute nightmare to work with. Especially when they’ve been doing so well lately…) In a world full of gods and monsters always trying to kill them, Lettie wants to offer Juno the same safety she offers her.

Then the faerie thinks of it this way: if they heal the worlds and see their mission through to completion, then they can create a future where Juno finds a peaceful home. A world where she doesn’t have to fight so hard just to survive. Working towards that is the most she can give for now— it may be the only way she can forgive herself— and she tries to be content with that. When she imagines the future, she tries once more to imagine the future that Juno could have. That possibility helps her power through this. Whenever she rouses on Juno’s chest, she closes her eyes and uses sleep as an excuse to snuggle in closer and enjoy these warm moments while she has them. And for a few blissful seconds, when they’re not fighting for their lives or working on a project, she’ll even let herself pretend that she’s living in that peaceful future with her. Off in a field someplace faraway, listening to the breeze and her heartbeat. Ah… shit. Along with Juno’s, she’s probably going to end up breaking her own damned heart.‘You’re the worst. The worst, the worst, theworst, theworst, theworstheworst.’

‘…Heh. Conceited, much? You’re not that special, dummy.’ Lettie fights with herself constantly these days. She’s only a little faerie, after all. (The arguments tend to ring hollow, though, since Juno has this way of making her feel special.) ‘She’ll get over me. It’ll take time, maybe, but she’s strong. Stronger than anyone I know.’

Strong doesn’t mean that she’s incapable of being hurt, though. It’s still agony to think about. So she wisely resolves not to think anymore if she can help it. Lettie starts seeking out distractions… which isn’t so hard, considering how busy they’ve been as of late. (The the maestro, the magistrate, the mayor, and then the master and the mistress, and also one who calls themselves ‘Melvin’. It’s getting harder to keep track of all these cubes they’ve accumulated.) She’s started coming up with more and more topics to discuss, purposefully prolonging their study sessions until they end up falling asleep on each other. Before long she’s filled her routine with new projects and theories, sparring and chatting with Juno, working on the engine, and occasionally even practicing with the band. When Juno asked if she was a celebrity, she laughed it off as best she could. ‘Not exactly. My mother was always the one in the spotlight.’ She had sighed. ‘It’s not as glamorous as it looks. I never wanted that kind of life for myself.’ Falling quiet after that, the pirate was able to sense that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore after that— mercifully changing the subject by asking about animals instead. Lettie was thankful for that. She tries asking harmless questions of her own in return— or rather attempting to guess Juno’s favorite things the same way she that guessed her favorite color. (She guesses her favorite animal being a coffee-brown grizzly bear, her favorite number being eight, and her favorite genre of music being rock.) She suddenly finds herself avoiding anymore topics that go too deep. It’s not like she isn’t curious about Juno’s life… but somehow it doesn’t seem fair, asking her to share such personal things with someone who may never be able to return the favor.

“Noose and goose…” Lettie mumbles in her sleep after Juno sneaks out, her brow furrowing as if she senses something is different now that she doesn’t have a stupidly buff pirate underneath her. “Why do they rhyme?” She turns restlessly. “It’s like a sick joke—“ And then she rolls right off the side of her couch, hitting the floor with an unceremonious ‘thud’. “Ow.”

Lettie rubs the sleep from her currently green eyes before blinking to adjust to the darkness. Wherever in the worlds they might be, either the sun hasn’t risen yet or there is no sun. And Juno is nowhere to be found. However, ever since using their magic together… she tends to get this instinctual feeling that she’s nearby. In fact, whenever she calls on her army of demon insects, she can ask them to split up and search the ship to tell her where the pirate has gone off to. (It’s not spying or anything creepy like that— it’s not like she can hear or see through the insects. They simply let her know where she is.) Once she knows that Juno has wandered off to the kitchen, she heads directly there to see what she’s up to. Little does she know that that’s going to be the moment she discovers Juno’s secret hobby (hobby secret). She looks at the bread, which is normal enough, until her gaze pans up to the blowtorch.

“Juju… what are you doing?” Lettie asks, genuinely interested. (And maybe a smidgen concerned.) It becomes quickly apparent that she’s trying to make food— she knows Juno and Juno wouldn’t waste their resources by burning them to a crisp— and she giggles. “You’re cooking with creativity, I see.” Rather than hassle her, she takes it upon herself to search around the kitchen for a frying pan. Eventually she finds the materials she needs to work with. Seems like cubey (the original) has been keeping them well-stocked in the kitchen. “…I’m not a great cook, but I do know some things. Like how to make a cheese sandwich.” She explains as she cuts a square of butter and allows it to simmer.

There is naturally some confusion about the word ‘sandwich’ as opposed to ‘bread stacks’, the name that Juno calls them by. (There’s no sand or witch in it, after all, so why does it have that name? Lettie can only shrug and say that’s just how it is.) There are some questions that the faerie can answer and others she can’t. She’s only doing a passable job while demonstrating for Juno because she doesn’t want to look like a fool who gets distracted and burns all the food she attempts to make. (And even then, she gets so distracted talking to Juno that their food comes dangerously close to charred on more than one occasion.) Lettie finds herself sneaking off to the kitchen more often now, hoping to catch Juno there so she can watch her progress. (There are some times where she’ll offer input… like the time that Juno claims she’s making ‘monster loaf’ with one of their recent monster kills along with other questionable ingredients, such as the peanut butter chocolate cups? That needed to be stopped right away. Otherwise, rather than take over everything, she mostly just likes to watch. Somehow she finds it just as fun as watching her flex her skills (and muscles… ah, her muscles) during a fight.) One day Juno chops onions for a salad, the onions make Lettie cry, and Juno threatens the onions. 'I like her.' The faerie thinks, sniffling and rubbing her eyes with her sleeve as she watches the pirate curse at the onions. 'I really like her.'

Shit.

Lettie sits on the counter (there are no chairs in the kitchen) as she’s gotten in the habit of doing, dangling her legs and holding her goggles out at different angles as Juno cooks. She really dove headfirst into her work after coming to her, ah… realization.

“I’m getting sooo close to nightmare-proofing these things. Just need a little more data.” Lettie murmurs, pulling her lips thoughtfully to the side. “Maybe one day I'll develop them so I can see the spirits that you see, Juno. I think if we combine my looking glass magic with your magic, somehow…” There’s a clatter that distracts her and she looks up. Juno is no longer holding her spoon and she follows her gaze to try puzzling out where it went. Oh. Did she drop it in that narrow gap between the counters? Setting the goggles aside, she slips down from the counter and stretches. “Don’t worry Juju, I’ve got it.” (She tries playing it casually, even if thinking about doing what she’s about to do has her heart racing.) Then she shrinks herself down, making herself as small as flower petal. Whew. How long has it been since she’s taken this form? But she trusts Juno to protect her from eldritch monsters, onions and geese alike. She strikes a cute pose, hoping that the pirate doesn’t freak, and then determinedly flies into the gap to fetch the fallen spoon. It’s dark, so she moves as quickly as she can before resurfacing with it. She drags it across the countertop and leaves it next to Juno’s hand. “…Here you go. Might want to wash it off first before you use it again.”
 
Initially Juno stiffens when Olette walks in and catches her in the middle of her secret hobby (hobby secret); the giggles hit her like bullets until she realizes that the faerie isn’t making fun of her. She’s not being mean. (She’s never mean to Juno.) She is only curious and offering her expertise. (The faerie might claim she isn’t a skilled cook, but to the pirate she might as well be head of her own restaurant. ‘She’s so smart.’) Even this small lesson opens a whole new world in Juno’s cooking, confirming that bread stacks can be served hot and crispy. And maybe it's because she shares her first melty cheese stack with Olette that it becomes her third favorite food (following peanut butter chocolate cups and fries) and her first favorite of the hot stacks.

Since discovering her hobby, Juno no longer goes through the effort of sneaking around the kitchen. She’s happy to have her company; she’s happy to accept her tips and feedback–– though she does still think that the faerie might have been wrong about “monster loaf.” (She was incredibly correct about there being a significant difference between salt and sugar, however.) She’s just happy around Olette.

Everything feels so normal when they’re in the kitchen together and, fuck, Juno just wants to have something normal with her. Something quiet. Something peaceful, if she dared to hope, but she’s still unsure whether or not Olette even likes her. Somedays she really thinks that she might and others she isn't so sure. (Her questions never scrape below the surface and while Juno doesn’t like talking about her life, has forgotten parts of it, she still… She still wouldn’t mind the questions coming from Olette, if it meant she were interested in knowing her beyond her favoritest things.) Even so, she doesn't let that stop her from enjoying Olette's company. The more time they spend together, especially in the kitchen, it becomes easier to imagine this as their life. It becomes easier for Juno to show other sides of herself, sides she thought were lost or long dead. She can be anyone but the homicidal pirate everyone else knows her as–– like, she can be a fucking dweeb who curses out onions on behalf of her faerie without feeling like such a dweeb. She knows the faerie thinks she's a badass regardless.

Everything is just so easy around Olette. It only makes her torment worse when they’re facing towering opponents with centuries of wrath and bloodlust making up their entire being. It becomes all the more apparent that she cannot lose her. In any capacity. (The relief she feels after each battle almost brings her to tears these days; she’s barely able to hold them back whenever she rushes over to Olette to make sure she’s unscathed. Sometimes she gets dangerously close to hugging her.) She can’t do anything to fuck this up. And maybe that’s why she tries so hard to make the faerie smile; like if she earns enough smiles, then maybe the faerie will decide to not leave because she’ll realize that Juno makes her happy and maybe that happy will be enough to convince her to stay when this is all over. ‘Fat chance. I bet there are others who make her even happier. How could there not be?’ she thinks to herself. Then another, more hopeful part of her will encourage, ‘So fucking what? Be the fucking best, then. Be better than anyone else she could have waiting for her back home. Give her your best. You’re captain fucking Juno.’

So entranced by her own thoughts, her determination to earn the faerie’s heart, the spoon slips from her butter-covered fingers before Juno even realizes what’s happening. For a full five seconds she just stares dumbly at her empty hand, trying to figure out what just happened. Her confusion morphs to shock when she watches Olette shrink down, somehow becoming even smaller than she already is. She blinks. The pirate doesn’t take the spoon when it’s set next to her hand and just continues to look at the tiny (tinier) faerie, stunned. She entirely forgets about the bird she had been dressing and crouches down to get a better look at her.

“You could rob people so fuckin’ easily like this,” she blurts out, fully serious and unable to stop or help herself. Obviously they both have learned that unless the cubes specifically gift them items, non-cube items have a tendency to burn up between worlds. Still, this comment does open an entire conversation about heists and it’s eventually revealed that Olette is a fucking criminal. ‘I’m a goner. Fuck. She’s perfect.’ When Juno expresses her shock learning this, Olette points out that that cowboy hunter literally had been carrying a wanted poster of her and Juno has no excuses to explain what she thought of that. Before Juno can ask too many questions, the faerie brings up the heist competition that never was back from candy world and raises her brow in challenge.

She doesn’t even know what world they’re on, but once they’ve set the terms of the competition–– that includes a temporary suspension of Marjorie’s rules–– the gloves come off and they’re readily pushing and shoving each other as they race towards an exit. With the strength of their magic link, neither have to worry about splitting up–– what they do have to watch out for, however, are the multiple sabotage attempts made against each other throughout their competition. In the end, Juno’s not sure who ultimately completed the most heists as the faerie managed to rob her at some point and afterwards the pirate naturally spent the rest of the competition trying to mess with Olette’s efforts. (Though they might have healed this corrupted world earlier that day, that doesn’t stop the local authorities from trying to arrest them for their many crimes. The cubes reprimand them after saving them from certain execution and, the entire time, Juno and Olette can barely hold back their laughter–– like they’re two teenagers who don’t understand that their actions have consequences.)

Despite the stress of their situation, they both still find ways to have fun. The heist competitions continue, often with one of them casually revealing something they stole and the other showing off what they stole in turn. (Though neither plans for this, on a silver world they both steal each other lockets and, by some miracle, those don't burn up when they blip somewhere new. Abigail even hands them mini-pictures of each other to put in the lockets. This development caused the pirate to blush furiously, but the faerie is always over her heart now.) Even with their competitive spirits, they start sharing tips on theft and even offer each other pointers.

Slowly and surely, they no longer use excuses to hang around each other, simply popping into each other’s space and settling down quietly. During one of these moments that starts off innocently enough, they end up closing the distance between themselves and casually strike a conversation about everything and nothing. The candle lighting in Juno’s study causes the faerie's sparkles to dance and the pirate ends up pushing some hair from her face, eyes locked her lips. There’s a moment where she starts to lean in, but, naturally, Inez crashes through the door and starts performing an opera she used to be the star of (supposedly) and instantly kills the mood. Juno hurriedly backs away from Olette and avoids meeting her eye the rest of the evening, convinced she made things weird between them. They don’t talk about that almost kiss, but those instances start to become more frequent and they somehow manage to never talk about them when the moment passes or is ruined. Juno is thankful for that and, still, her frustration grows with each passing day.

Since she can’t take out her frustrations on Olette, and has long since stopped taking them out on her crew, she takes it out on their enemies–– where she had once been determined to settle things peacefully, she returns to her ways of face-punching onsight as a way to work through her pent up feelings. And the more their almosts occur, the more aggressive Juno becomes. They’re only lucky that they’ve both become so adept at handling these worlds that Juno’s behavior actually results in them revealing hearts or corruption sooner; so it's not all bad, she guesses.

At one point, they end up on a planet where there are laws against color and Olette is immediately charged with “crimes against being goth.” Juno, somehow, is mistaken as her lawyer and while they're standing trial, she simply gives Olette a look and a squeeze, giving her wordless permission to turn her entire outfit pink. She then gives her a second look, allowing her to turn her hair pink (the white stripe stubbornly remains). This results in them both earning the ire of the judge, jury, and executioner but neither are particularly bothered. If anything they seem a bit bored by the threats and even mock the judge as she delivers their sentence. Olette even dares to make the judge's outfit rainbow colored. Needless to say, the trial ends explosively, but that ultimately reveals the world's heart so it still feels like a win in the end.

The altercation there results in two new wanted posters added to their already full wall. While Juno hates the ones of her in pink, she at least likes the memory that this one brings compared to the one from volcano world. Though unintentional, Juno often finds herself staring at the wall of their wanted posters, usually because she sees one of Olette and is unable to help herself when it comes to looking at her, imagining her lips on her lips; imagining her lips whispering sweet nothings to her; imagining her. When she notices her favorite one is missing–– the one from their first or second world together that she hates because she’s still sporting a black eye from being dropped on her face–– Juno asks Abigail to ask Asshole I to make a copy. The cube cheekily provides her with twenty to "decorate her bedroom ceiling." That earns the little asshole a kick across the deck, but the pirate still takes all twenty posters. At first, she only aims to replace the missing poster on the wall, but an idea comes to her that she cannot resist; especially when she imagines the faerie's reaction. She decides to hide the remaining nineteen posters around the ship–– she places one behind the gym mirror, another in the fridge, one goes on the ceiling of the study, she hides another in the engine room, and so on. (This does result in Juno finally learning the joy of a "prank" and cements the idea that pranks can, in fact, be harmless.)

One afternoon, before they're set to take off for another world, the pirate scrutinizes her appearance in her bathroom mirror. She unties the white bandana keeping her hair out of her face and lets the mop fall. It's getting so shaggy that it hides her scar perfectly and there's a tail at the back that curls and flips around her neck. She lifts a strand and reaches for her scissors, intent on finally giving herself a haircut but just before she makes a cut, she pauses. 'What if Olette likes my hair long?' While she doesn't particularly think the faerie would stop her from doing what she wants... She does care about the faerie liking how she looks. 'Marjorie might know what she prefers... Or Philip.' As quickly as that idea comes to her, however, she scraps it, embarrassing herself by just imagining what their reaction might be to that question. (She can perfectly picture Marjorie's eye glow sparking and Philip stamping his feet excitedly at the idea their captain might be trying to impress a certain fucking faerie.) Still, she doesn't want to make any changes on her own and she devises a brilliant plan to ask Olette for helping, knowing that the faerie generally likes offering fashion/style advice. (Plus, if she's lucky, she might flat out offer to cut her hair for her and the idea of Olette doing that... Yeah, Juno likes that.)

When she finally finds the faerie, she's lying facedown on the floor of her room. Juno tilts her head and purses her lips, but ultimately says nothing. Instead, she forgets about why she even sought out Olette and lies down next to her. 'This is nice.'
 
They inch closer with every world they explore, gathering more 'almosts' between them. Almosts where the space between their lips is just one small lean-in away from sealing something brand new between them. Then one of the skeletons will barge in, the ship will rock and throw them over, or they'll end up on another world entirely and the moments will end with shifting eyes and awkward coughs. Neither of them dare breach the subject of these almosts, simply going on about their days as though they never happened. (Lettie is occupied enough with their research, sparring, battles, and heists that she's able to treat them that way... until she's alone in her bed some nights, catching herself imagining alternative realities where they do close that short distance between them. She brushes her fingertips over her lips, imagining Juno's lips. She wouldn't have looked at me like that if she didn't want to kiss me... right? Hope flurries through her in thrills that have her curling her toes and kicking her legs whenever she recreates the expression on the pirate's face. Then she starts to wonder if she's viewing all this through a rose-colored lens. Now that she's crushing hard on Juno, there's no way to tell. She likes her. She wants her so much it makes her dizzy, imagining her lips moving from her lips to her earlobe (does she think pointy ears are weird?) down her neck, to her collarbone, and lower--) And then her fantasies warp to nightmares when she falls asleep and the harsh reality sinks back in. Avangeline's been feeling further and further away lately, now that her days are filled with fulfilling work and laughter. Just because it disappears in her mind doesn't mean it disappeared for real. Geez. You're the worst. You're doing the exact opposite of scaring her away. This can't happen. This can't happen and it breaks her heart. One of these days, she'll have to face it... or maybe she won't. Avangeline isn't struggling, after all. Maybe she won't have to go back home at all.

Lettie is sluggish and heavy with guilt after waking up from one of these nightmares, unable to make it two steps out of bed before she finds herself face down on her bedroom floor. Ah, the floor. Her most constant and grounding companion. It connects her to something tangible, reminds her that she's solid and not a collection of dust floating on the wind. She needs a few minutes of floor time is all. Softly, she'll count down the seconds in her head before she pulls her act together and be like the bubbly faerie she's supposed to be. Eventually, though, the faerie loses track of the time as she hears someone enter the room. (Usually it's one of the skellies that catch her when she's like this and she's fully prepared to inform Marjorie, Inez or Abigail that she's totally fine... and turns her head to find Juno there instead.) Rather than ask any questions, she just... lies there with her. When it's evident that she's content to lie there in silence for a while, the faerie gives herself some time to catch her breath. Knowing she couldn't possibly explain, she's relieved that Juno doesn't feel the need to ask any questions about this. I shouldn't give up. She thinks, sneaking uncharacteristically shy glances at the pirate. Maybe she can tell the cubes that she doesn't want to go back to Avangeline. Maybe they'll respect her wishes and let her retire peacefully, too.

They return to the ice world and Lettie can't help thinking about how much has changed between them since they were last there. After healing the corruption there they end up playing all day in the snow together. After finishing up at a snow cone stand run by a sentient piece of candy (apparently they escaped from Mammy and set off to start their own business), Lettie eagerly suggests that she and Juno go ice skating together. After insisting she's got her when Juno admits to never having done anything like this before, she glyphs them both a pair of skates and instructs the pirate on how to keep her balance as they glide across the 'ice ground' together. When the pirate starts to sway, the faerie takes both of her hands to hold her steady and making sure that she doesn't slip and fall. They resolve to keep holding hands to 'keep warm' and end up doing just that-- even when they're off the ice-- up until they end up strolling through the crossfire of a brutal snowball fight between the baby snow demons. The faerie and pirate duo exchange a knowing glance before building themselves a fort to join in, participating as a team until the fight dissolves into total anarchy and they end up lobbing snowballs at each other as well. Things have changed. Juno now knows how to pull a proper prank and doesn't throw any bombs at her. (When Lettie points this out, they do end up squabbling whether Juno was really trying to 'save her' with that bomb or not.)

They get distracted with play-fighting until Juno tackles Lettie out of the way of a particularly big snowball... and lying on top of her, they share another one of those almost moments just before the snow guardian practically buries them both with a massive snowball. The snow abomination unleashes a deep, earth-rumbling bout of laughter, finally having gotten revenge on them for disturbing the peace the first time around.They come back aboard Lady with their teeth chattering, frozen and numb, and are urged to hang up their soaked clothes and warm up by the fire with blankets and cocoa at Marjorie's request. There's another almost in the warm, orange glow of the firelight as they sit close (for more warmth)... but Lettie ends up sneezing unexpectedly, spilling her cocoa and effectively ruining it.

...It's not a huge shocker when Lettie catches a cold. The cubes and crew inform her that she's on strict bed rest for a few days. Even though she warns Juno not get too close to her, afraid that she might end up catching her cold in the process, the stubborn pirate doesn't listen. She ends up bringing her bowls of soup and porridge at meal times-- determinedly working on perfecting the recipes-- and sits at her bedside to keep her company, considerately changing out the damp washcloths on her forehead and making sure she's comfortable enough. (Unbeknownst to her, there are multiple occasions where she embarrassingly ends up mumbling Juno's name in her sleep.) Naturally, it's around the time that Lettie recovers that Juno ends up sneezing. (The faerie raises her brow as if to say 'I told you so' and the pirate waves her off. Sure enough, though, the next day it's apparent that she caught her cold.) Juno is stubborn as usual about being told to go to bed, of course, but with a few insistent cheek-puffs Lettie is eventually able to convince her to rest. 'You took care of me, now let me take care of you.' And from then on Lettie stays by Juno's side, just like she did for her.

When they're both feeling better, they're informed that they'll have one more day off to ensure they're both fully recovered before getting back to work. They end up on a beautiful world full of healthy spring grass and wildflowers, floating rocks and waterfalls. Lettie flies across the blue skies to explore, foraging different patches of land for ingredients they can use for dinner later. She ends up finding some greens, mushrooms and wild onions that ought to taste excellent sautéed. In the afternoon she ends up showing Juno some tricks, even attempting some particularly daring loop-de-loops at the pirate's request. She's never been one to pass up a challenge. Next to turning somersaults, spins, and even catching some of the objects Juno has thrown to see how fast and far she can fly, she also occasionally dives down to steal the pirate's bag of bones. Cheekily, she tells her about the vow she made to herself so long ago about keeping a tally of the times she called her the 'flightless wonder' to get payback. This is all stated in good fun, though, and she mentions mischievously that she'll drop the tally if Juno admits that she's the best damn flyer she knows. (She ends up claiming that next to Lady Vengeance she is... and Lettie can't bring herself to argue when Lady is brought into it.)

Lettie washes up before dinner, swaying and smiling to herself as she reflects on the day they just had. (Although nothing destructive happened, it was still exciting and eventful. It always is with Juno these days.) On a world like this, life... it could be nice. It could be really, really nice. (And she wants it-- wants her-- more than she's ever wanted anything.) It's settled. I'll ask Juju if I can stay when the mission's over. Then I'll tell the cubes. Oh, stars. But just thinking about vocalizing her wish causes her heart to pound out of her chest. (...After all, what if she says no? What will she do then? Will it make things between them irreversibly awkward?) Either way, she changes into a fresh dress from her wardrobe (no glamours required) and turns her hair and eyes blue (Juno's favorite color). Finding over time that Juno doesn't look at her any differently if she's wearing make-up or not, she decides not to agonize over it tonight. If it's just the two of them she can relax. Lastly, she makes sure her locket is fastened securely around her neck.

Lettie slaps her cheeks a few times to get her head in the game before tiptoeing into the kitchen. Briefly, she considers sneaking up on Juno... but then decides it's probably better not to startle her when she considers how the pirate has recently grown reacquainted with her face-punching ways. (And if she ends up using a searing hot frying pan as a weapon... yeah, that may not end well.) The faerie knocks on the doorframe to announce her presence before approaching, peeking over her shoulder. (It makes her happy to see Juno using the ingredients she found, as it feels all the more like a team effort.) "Ooooh. Smells delish!" She comments. Juno really has been making lots of progress in the kitchen lately. "Do you need help with anythi--"

The faerie is interrupted by a crash just outside the door. And then... silence. Lettie tilts her head. "Helloooo?" She purses her lips and puts her hands on her hips. Immediately, she envisions the skeleton crew and their score board. It's not so uncommon to catch them spying. (Come to think of it, she hasn't checked to see who has been winning their untitled competition recently... but the last time she saw it, the board was covered in an unthinkable amount of tallies. She needs to check the score again soon.) "Marjorie? Abby?"

Lettie glides towards the door and peeks down the hall both ways. "Huh. That's weird..." She tilts her head and then turns back to Juno. "No one's there. You think they ran off?" Even though that's a possibility, paranoia begins to creep in. She hopes that Abby hasn't switched off the defense system again. (If she's going to prove she's at least useful enough as crew mate to keep around, then she ought to prove it with the defense she's been entrusted with. Whenever attackers break through, it just tells her she's incompetent.) "Ah, those skellies. Always up to something." She tries to wave off her concerns. It's probably nothing. Between the cubes, insect army, skellies, and puffer skellie, there are plenty of places where that noise could have come from. "Anyway, do you need any help? I could set the 'table'." She gestures to the picnic blanket they set up on the floor. (Yes, their table.) There are no dining room chairs in here (the only one is still in Lettie's room and for whatever reason the cube burned up the ones they stole on their heists) and so they've had to improvise.

"So, uh..." Lettie starts as she makes their dining space look presentable. (Ugh, why is she such a nerd?) It's too soon to ask her question. She needs to work her way up! "Today... it was pretty fun, huh?"
 
Chop, chop, chop.

Juno slices the mushrooms, dices the wild onions, and scrapes them into a pan of hot oil. The oil jumps from the pan onto the pirate’s arms without reaction from her. In addition to the foraged foods Olette suggested she sautée, chicken is being roasted in the oven and a pot of wild rice is simmering in broth on the stove. Contentedly, as she stirs the contents of the frying pan with one hand, the other clutches the locket over her chest, smoothing her thumb over the small engravings. The aroma of the cooking foods gather together and tighten around her like a warm blanket.

Right now her life feels normal. (This isn’t going to be forever, but for now she’ll gladly cut herself on the hope that it could be. This is a dream she hadn’t known she needed until she started living it this past week.) A few corridors down, she knows that Olette is freshening up and will be joining her soon. It’s not even been more than a few hours since they’ve been apart and she’s already looking forward to her return. The thoughts of the faerie put an automatic smile on her lips as she reflects on everything they’ve been up to. In particular, her mind wanders to review their high tally of almosts. It seems like they are weeks, seconds, or days away from turning an almost into a something. Just thinking of the way the faerie looks down at her lips, eyes fluttering closed, so close that she can taste her breath, and nearly feel the brush of those soft petal lips confirms that this is not a one-sided affair. Olette has started her fair share of almosts herself, after all.

Still, it’s impossible to talk about so openly. Juno is mostly assured at this point that there’s something more than friendship between them (should she start calling her Lettie?), but broaching the topic just feels… Just feels like they could be dropping an anvil on something delicate. To name what they’re feeling instead of keeping it a secret might not change things between them and, at the same time, what if it does? What if it changes everything? What if they lose? What if, what if, what if––

The pirate knows she’s put a stop to almosts out of concern that it could ruin the more than friendship that they have. She likes their more than friendship too much to risk it. For now, walking this fine line feels right. Feels safe. (It’s exciting, too, she has to admit. Even if the tension might literally kill her one of these days, there’s a twisted pleasure in it as well.) She won’t lose Olette if she never gives herself the chance to have her and there is as much safety as there is disappointment in that truth.

Although, she does have to admit that she’s been tempted to chance everything in the recent week, recalling the way that Olette would mumble her name in her sleep. Each time she caught it, a hurricane of butterflies was set free in her chest, knowing that she does exist somewhere in Olette’s thoughts. Beyond that, letting the faerie take care of her was… nice? peaceful? comforting? She doesn’t know if there is a word for it, but she does know she wouldn’t mind the faerie taking care of her all the time. She trusts her. Even so, she knows that that is not in their cards. Even so, she’s not going to hold back. (Marjorie sometimes asks Juno why she doesn’t ask Ms. Olette to stay when this is all over and the pirate has never had a good response to that; she doesn’t want to admit that she’s scared Olette will laugh in her face.)

The pirate lets out yet another contented sigh and then gathers herself, feeling the faint pulse of the only other living being on this ship approaching. She doesn’t turn when she hears the knock, on account of trying not to burn herself as she takes the chicken out of the oven, but she does hum an acknowledgment. The sound of the crash, however, startles the pirate enough that she harshly sets down the roasting pan, grabs a knife and spins around all in one motion. Her eyes hardened towards the door, then soften upon seeing the faerie and her blue hair. Her shoulders relax (the faerie’s got her) and she turns back towards their dinner. A moment later she turns off the burners, satisfied that everything is done.

“Not sure what’s going on with them, but I never am. They’re fucking boneheads, Olette.” (Should she call her Lettie? Should she test that out?) She reaches for some plates and doles out their portions before arriving at their floor spot. (She refuses to refer to it as a table in the same way that the faerie does. It is not a table.) “You look nice, by the way.” Juno doesn’t know what exactly inspires her to comment on Olette’s appearance–– it’s rare that she ever does–– but she tries not to think about it too much. (It’s because of her blue hair. It reminds Juno of when they first met, among other things. It’s her favorite.) She pretends the comment is something entirely natural, something she would say any day; though she still avoids the faerie’s gaze for a few seconds afterwards, knowing that it isn’t something she says all the time. ‘Fuck.’ She sets down the plates of food and makes herself comfortable on the floor, sitting so that she’s facing the faerie.

“Yeah,” she agrees with a nod. “It was. I didn’t even fucking know that rocks could float. Like, what the fuck? Or that there could be so many waterfalls. I thought, like, every world just got one or something.” Not to mention, watching the faerie soar and do tricks at her request is something she never wants to forget. She looked so happy and free; the sun jumped off her sparkles, making it impossible to look away from her. This is on her mind, but she doesn’t mention it, unsure of how to put it into words. “But maybe this world is just hogging them all,” she muses, the small grin indicating she isn’t serious. “We should find out which of those assholes are in charge of waterfall distribution and fucking crush them. I woulda liked to have grown up around waterfalls.” (James would have too.)

Her grin widens, the clear sparks of mischief like lightning in her eyes, as she opens her mouth to suggest––

Smash!

The pirate jumps at the noising, rising from her seat in an instant with her utensils poised in defense. Her eyes narrow, staring at the door as she takes a cautious inch forward, careful to not make any noise or alert the intruder of their location. (It’s probably just the skeletons–– although it has been suspiciously quiet. She hasn’t heard their rattling, knocking joints in a minute now that she’s thinking about it.) She clamps down on her jaw, ready to strike at a moment’s notice when a pink cloud whirls in from the hallway?

It spins itself to the center of the kitchen, unfurling into a human-ish shape and finishes by striking a disco pose. Two dots for eyes and a simple line for a mouth pop onto its “face” and it looks between the two, blinking in confusion as if Olette and Juno are the ones out of place. However, it doesn’t dwell on this for too long as the line for a mouth springs into a wide smile. “Winner winner, chicken dinner!” It then crosses its arms and just as quickly throws them outwards, raining golden glitter everywhere. Before Juno’s catchphrase is said, the cloud whirls around again and, like a tornado, it siphons up the entire kitchen (and Lady), leaving Olette and Juno’s picnic in a field of pink grass that burns against the setting sun. “Teeth bone apples!” it finishes, disappearing in a puff.

“What the fuck?” It goes without saying, especially as Juno turns around to look at their new setting. Aside from the lush pink grass, that flows like the sea in the gentle breeze, lilac colored rocks float above and sky blue waterfalls fall from them. It is reminiscent of where they’ve been all day, but the palette is more 'Olette-y.'

‘Hmm.’

This checks out, she decides. They were talking about what a nice day it has been, after all, and part of the reason (a large part, really) is Olette. Olette, Olette, Olette. (Lettie?) Naturally the landscape should reflect this. It’s atmospheric. That’s all. There is no cause for concern, so the pirate settles back down and acts as if nothing has just happened, because she honestly doesn’t really remember what happened. She only knows that she is having dinner with Olette, who looks as beautiful as ever. “You look nice, by the way.” (Wait.) “Yeah, it was. I didn’t even fucking know that rocks––“

The cloud puffs back into existence, interrupting the pirate’s reflection. This time, when it speaks it has a weird accent–– like from a language that just sounds perpetually slurred and like the people don’t know how spelling works. “Ah, apologies, madames! I forgot to offer the, ah, how you say, bottle service! For this lovely foraged dinner, I would suggest, perhaps, a nice––“

“Whatever gets us smashed, pal.”

The puff nods and produces a magnum of something red before the pirate shoos it away. She pours them both a glass, not that they had come prepared with wine glasses. However, that doesn’t seem to be relevant as two glasses appear the second the pirate tips over the large bottle. “Where were we… right.” She looks up at Olette, handing her a glass, clinking them together. “You look nice, by the way.” (Deja vu?)

Her head tilts back to look up at the floating rocks, the waterfalls, the flying lizards above them; then her gaze sweeps back down to look at the faerie bathed in the radiant golden light of sunset. “Yeah, it was nice. I didn’t even fucking know that rocks could float.” This makes sense. This isn’t weird––she’s pretty sure she stuttered the first time anyway so this is just a do-over. She continues on, repeating the rest of what she said earlier. Once through her script, she sighs and focuses on her plate, trying to add the perfect bite to her fork. “I guess the skywards live on floating rocks, but their rocks have tech from before that make ‘em float. Or so the rumors go.” Now that Juno’s thinking about it, she doesn’t think she’s ever seen a skyward rock before. Even when she went seeking one out, intent on figuring out a way to break in. But she does know they exist–– the duchess buys food from them whenever she wants to show off.

She leans back, propping herself up by placing one hand in the grass behind her. Her other hand undoes the buttons of her billowy white shirt. (She had not been wearing this earlier. She hadn’t even been wearing it five seconds ago.) A convenient breeze pushes her hair out of her face and opens up her shirt that much more, making it look like she’s on the set for some romance novel cover shoot–– all that is missing is the horse. She scratches her stomach and then clutches the locket, something she often does now that it’s there. (She’s always afraid she’s going to lose it.) “Remind me to use the strawberries when we get back–– I think they’re gonna go and one of those cubes, uh… Mitch something? Left a recipe for something called a ‘strawberry typhoon.’ I wanna make it for you.”

A singing beetle starts humming directly in her ear–– something about kissing, but Juno doesn’t listen for long enough before she’s swatting it away with the hand that had once been propping her up. What she doesn’t notice is that once her hand is removed, it reveals a palm-sized patch of decay. Not just decay, but of shriveled, long rotted corpses beneath the surface of this lush field. The area flickers then glitches back to pink grass, hiding whatever is below.

The beetle flies away and Juno flops back onto the blanket, finished with her meal. For a moment she is quiet, then she turns on her side to look at Olette. (Lettie?) “What did you like about today? Um, if you even liked it…”
 
Lettie's sparkly cheeks blush the same cotton-candy pink of the grass swaying all around them at Juno's compliment (compliments), making conflicted duck lips as she pinches the delicate floral strap over her left shoulder. The v-neck crop top and skirt set were hanging up in the wardrobe for her, no glamours required. This means, of course, that it's actually cubey two who styled her for tonight. (Somehow, she can hear that smug little asshole laughing at her from afar as they crown themselves the superior stylist.) All that time coming up with new outfits, seeing which ones Juju might like best... and this is the one that inspires a compliment!? (Compliments.) 'Don't be a little brat about this, Letts.' She soothes herself with calming thoughts, idly bringing a hand to her locket. 'A compliment is still a compliment.' If she puts a positive spin on this, it means Juno thinks she looks nice in an outfit that won't vanish like a spell at midnight. And-- and-- the compliment (compliments) weren't even specifically aimed at her outfit. 'You look nice, by the way.' It implies that Lettie, in her entirety, looks nice. Considering this flusters her all over again and she has to resist the urge to throw herself onto the ground dramatically in defeat and proceed to roll down the hill like a nerd with a crush.

"What are you saying, Juju? I always look nice." Lettie chimes in playfully, pushing her shoulder, but... ah shit, is that too arrogant? Scratch that! Static! (Her hair turns violet.) "Thanks. Nice, you look too." What? What!? She stretches her lips in a way that says 'yikes' without words and... Static! (Her hair turns blonde.) "Oh. You really think so?" She tugs bashfully at a lock of her hair. Ugh, no! Not confident enough. Not her enough. What are you, a blushing maiden from a storybook? Static. (Her hair changes back to blue.) "Thanks." She laughs breathlessly, hopelessly and hates herself for the way it sounds. Why is this so hard? How many takes will it take for her to get this right? Usually she's a pro at this whole flitting-- no, flirting thing. Stars. Captain Juno's got her stumbling hardcore.

Before Lettie can make a mess of any more words, she spears a mushroom on her fork and silences herself by popping the whole thing in her mouth. She listens to Juno when she talks (she could listen to her talk all night) while quietly chewing on her food. Yum. Mushrooms. (After a few times of hearing something muffled by her own thoughts about the floating rocks, she hears and comprehends what's being said the final time.) When the pirate orders them a wine that will get them smashed (thank fucking goodness for that) and they clink glasses, the faerie eagerly downs the whole drink in one go. (Or rather, she starts to and then the wine vanishes from her glass quicker than she can physically drink it. This is normal enough.) Her face is an even brighter red, as if she'd soaked it up from the wine, burning up. Now she's mostly certain it's because of the alcohol. And if it's not, she can blame it on the alcohol. Heh. She feels more like a pirate when she drinks. Admittedly, she never dreamed of being a pirate as a little-- littler faerie. And now she wants it more than anything. If the pirate life is for Juno then that's the life she wants, too. She wants to go wherever she goes. (Lettie was going to put this into words, going to ask to stay, but words were already failing her before she brought alcohol into the equation... ah! Why didn't she think this through?)

"I lived up on a floating rock when I was thiiiis small." Lettie admits wonderingly, pinching her fingers as if to indicate that she was no more than two inches tall at that stage of her life. This is an exaggeration. (She was small, but not that small. Not unless she magicked herself to be itty bitty enough to nap in flowers or win games of hide and seek.) "Then I went way, way down below." There's only so much she can divulge about her move, though, and the last thing she wants to talk about is life on Avangeline. So she carries on without missing a beat. "If we ever go back to Desdemonia I'll help you look for the floating rocks. You saw me earlier--" She bats her eyes and flutters her wings with a flourish, letting them reflect rays of sunlight like the glittering surface of a lake. "I can get around pretty fast."

Lettie stills in the middle of her theatrics, though, getting lost while watching Juno. Juno who is... damn. So effortlessly hot in comparison to all her glitz and glamour. Wearing that buttoned down shirt with her hair blowing back in the breeze. (Question. Is it weird to envy the wind...? Because she wishes she could run her fingers through her hair like that... maybe hold the back of her head while closing the distance that stubbornly continues to exist between their lips.) The world is hazy and rose-tinted. Her vision, her wings and face, even the grass. This was a good call for a picnic spot. Everything is so peaceful and dreamlike here...

"Juju, careful! You almost squished Samuel the singing stinkbug." Lettie wags her finger and puffs her cheeks. A butterfly lands on her shoulder and sings a soft 'shalalala'. She turns her puffy face on it, waving it away. Rebecca has a lovely voice but they don't need this right now. "We're having an important chat, guys! We don't need a soundtrack right now." A four-inch Inez poofs onto Juno's clean dinner plate with a tiny drum set, playing a 'ba-dum-tss' before disappearing again. "That means you, too, Inez." Inez appears again and plays a slower 'ba-dum-tss'. "I mean it." Inez proceeds to play an entire drum solo and Lettie trades an exasperated glance with Juno. Finally, the skeleton bows and poofs away again.

Lettie flops onto her back next to Juno. Automatically, her hair turns the same pink as the grass while her eyes turn the same red as the wine.

"It's been lively aboard Lady these last couple of weeks." Lettie giggles awkwardly. It's always lively, of course. But between the extra cubes, the insect army, Missile Launcher, and the skellies, it's been even more so. "So many... interruptions." So many almosts. Ahem. She blushes and clears her throat. "I wonder if the cubes will let us stargaze here."

"What did you like about today? Um, if you even liked it..."

"'Course I liked today." Lettie offers her reassurance automatically, she doesn't even need to think about it to know that. She hums softly as she considers what part of the day to talk about, because there's a lot to consider...

"What did you like about today? Um, if you even liked it..." This time it's Lina saying those words. She's lying on Lettie's opposite side and as she speaks the pink grass glitches into a field of blue gladiolus flowers. Waterfalls trickle, the flowers rustle in the wind, and birds chirp. (Gradually, the bird-chirping sounds more and more like multiple camera shutters going off at once.) It's unnerving. It's nothing. She resists the urge to sit up and look around. Maybe it's better that she doesn't look.

Lettie blinks twice and the world rushes around her to set itself right again. Lina disappears and so do the flowers. Juno even repeats the line from earlier, bringing her back into the present. (Must be the wine.) She takes a deep breath, giving her heart a second to settle down.

"'Course I liked today." Lettie repeats. A hand close around hers. (It doesn't feel exactly like Juno's hand... but who else could it be? There's no one else here. For some reason she doesn't check to see for herself. It's fine.) "I love to fly like that. I feel so free." She smiles and stretches herself out. (Love spending time with you.) "I know you had to stay off the ground to get by in Desdemonia... but do you like flying on Lady?" On some level, she understands that Juno's not a pirate captain just because she felt like it. Sure there's some amount of choice involved that took her on that path, but the faerie's under the impression that her choices were limited. 'I don't like fighting.' The secret she trusted her with pinches her heart. "...Did I ever thank you for healing my wing? It meant a lot to me." She doesn't know why she's getting into this now. She ate mushrooms and now her insides are mush. "For a while I wasn't sure if I was ever going to fly again."

"I should thank you for dinner, too. It was-- mmf." Lettie is blurting out a lot of random thoughts, so maybe it's only natural that someone press a hand over her mouth to get her to stop. Except this hand is rancid and rotting and when she realizes that, she squeaks. The hand that had wrapped around her wrist is also decayed, with little maggots crawling over it. Cringing, she bites down on the hand over her mouth to force them to back off. "Bleh, bleh." Gross. "Not saying that about... about the dinner, by the way. It was lovely." Surely Juno can see this too, it's not like she needs to clarify. But she doesn't want her to think for even a second that she doesn't like her cooking. Especially as she takes one of the empty plates and smashes it over the head of the corpse behind her.

"There's a party down below." The corpse underneath her winks and tugs insistently on her wrist. More hands rise up and reach for her wings. Rude. Would've thought the plate over the head would've sent her message loud and clear, but nooo. "C'moooon! Follow me!"

"Hands off, creep!" Lettie scowls. "Can't you see we're having an important conversation here?" More irritated than frightened, the faerie looks up to exchange another exasperated glance with Juno like 'can you believe all these interruptions?' Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what she wants. The hands reach for Juno as well and continue to drag them down, down, down through the pile of corpses and skeletons. Gradually the outfits on the bodies all around them become more and more festive-- with heart-shaped glasses and pink feather boas. And then...

Oof. Lettie lands in a heap on a crowded dance floor. (Not on top of Juno. She waits... but Juno never lands on her. She frowns at this development.) The club music vibrates through her whole body. Thump, thump, thump. Dancing feet thunder all around her. One asshole comes dangerously close to stepping on her face. What the hell? Normally she'd be the life of any party... but she doesn't want to be here. She wants to be back in that field with Juno, to have a private moment between just the two of them, so maybe she can ask if she can...

Ah. Shit. What was she going to ask again? Whatever. Lettie knows it'll come back to her eventually. She needs to find Juno first.

"Juno?" Lettie can hardly be heard over the blaring music. Even wearing heels, she's too short to see anyone through this crowd. Along with being stupidly buff, Juno is also stupidly tall. That ought to make her easy enough to find... but unfortunately, most the faceless attendees of this party are obnoxiously tall. She flies to give herself a better view. A bear mascot acts as the dj and the crowd is a mix of corpses, skeletons, and people. (...Any pirates, though?) "Juno!? Can you hear me?" A few of the partygoers around her grow in height, as if to purposefully obscure her from view. Their heads nearly touch the ceiling. The bastards. The faerie cups her hands around her mouth and cries out again. "I lost my stupidly buff pirate! Does anybody know where she went!?"
 
Powder rockets up Juno’s nose as she chases a gladiolus blue line down the edge of the table. Then another. When she comes up again, tossing her head back with a sharp inhale, the lights around her blink like excited multi-colored stars; stars that flash pink, blue, white, intercut with blackouts. The music pulses against the seat, simulating the thrills now coursing through her veins. Too bad it’s not enough to block out the slithering bitter drip that’s sliding down the back of her throat. She presses her eyes shut, as if that might block out the acrid taste (it doesn’t), swallowing hard.

She slumps against the backrest of the booth she’s tucked in, unsure of how she got here, and unable to question it much now that she’s numb-faced and numb-brained. Her hands tingle like she’s perpetually smoothing them over a shag carpet and she lifts them up to inspect them, palms first then the backs, mesmerized. ‘Hands are so fucking weird…’

A hand claps her on the shoulder, pulling her out of her reverie and causing her to jump, but she settles not even a second later, remembering that she did come here (wherever here is) with someone. The person who she is with slides a shot glass of something pink and sparkly her way. “Thirsty?”

The pirate (?) nods and tosses the shot back without hesitation, but she winces against the liquid fire like she’s not used to alcohol. (That’s not right.) The shot, at least, helps get rid of the drip even if it only replaces one discomfort for another. She hasn’t decided what discomfort she prefers, but her expression makes her companion chuckle.

“W-Where are we?” Juno coughs, finally looking over at the person beside her. The woman is no more than nine years older than Juno with dark chocolate hair and matching eyes–– they’re nearly black. A decoration of scars covers her face and muscled arms, revealed by the sleeveless shirt she’s wearing. Each scar has a story. She’s told Juno almost every single one, proud of each one. They’re badges of honor, fuck yous to the goddess who abandoned them. No one messes with Eliza, except for little punks like Juno. Eliza smiles (it’s reassuring), reaching over to rub the pirate’s (?) shoulder.

“Somewhere fun.” The woman drops her hand to nudge Juno’s side, grinning. Juno’s expression doesn’t lighten, even if thrills of happy are pumping her heart. “For fuck’s sake, do you ever lighten up, Juno? You’re still that same grouch you’ve always been–– you need more faerie dust?”

“What?” The pirate (?) blinks, eyes shocked with horror as they flit down to look at those radioactive lines on the table. The lines remind her of... ("Hey. Look at me. We got this. Right James, Juno?”)

Eliza raises a brow. “Dust. Shit, maybe you’ve had enough. You doin’ alright, kid?”

“Yeah, I just…” Juno rubs her brow as she looks around “somewhere fun.” This… doesn’t feel right. This doesn’t feel like Desdemonia or any of the worlds she’s ever been, for that matter. (Any of the worlds she’s ever been? What does that mean?) Even if she trusts Eliza with her life, uncertainty still wraps around her, unable to remember how it is they got here. This is not Desdemonia.

“I lost my stupidly buff pirate! Does anybody know where she went!?”

Despite the deafening music, this call reaches the stupidly buff pirate clearly and her head whips automatically towards the voice–– it’s familiar even if she cannot place who it belongs to. (It sends her heart aflutter or maybe that’s just the drugs.) It’s alluring. It pulls her forward and draws her in. ‘She’ll have answers. She’s a genius.’ Already, she’s scooting out of the booth, offering Eliza a weak wave as she exits, muttering, “Came here with someone else.”

“Juno! Juno, where’re you going? You shouldn’t––”

Eliza isn’t quick enough to grab the pirate before she’s sucked into the sea of impossibly tall bodies that make even her look like a runt in comparison. This doesn’t deter her, however. Nothing will stop her from meeting whoever it is that the voice belongs to. (“What are you saying, Juju? I always look nice.” The pirate had smiled and would have conceded had they not rewound for do-overs.) She pushes her way through the crowd, shoving people to the side without care. Her eyes scan the ceiling, somehow knowing that she ought to look up to identify this stranger. ‘This place is fucking huge. I’m never going to find her.’ Frustrated, she ashes a skeleton who is inching way too close for comfort. She cups her hands around her mouth, “I’m over here!”

Bizarrely enough, a glowing arrow blinks in front of her, directing her where to look. (That’s convenient.) Her eyes trail up to follow the direction that leads to a wall of bodies so massive they’re scraping the ceiling with their heads. Between the small gaps she catches something–– someone sparkly and small trying to fly through the crowd. The crowd, however, seems insistent on blocking the winged woman’s path as they strategically grow and shrink to prevent their meeting.

The pirate sucks her teeth, knocking over strangers like bowling pins as she makes her way over to the tallest figures. However, despite the many people she pushes over, more materialize to replace them and enough of them gather to create an impenetrable wall between herself and the winged woman. (She looked like a flower under the midday sun when she fluttered her wings with that signature flourish of hers.)

“Hey! Assholes.” She tries to shove past them, but these ones don’t budge. And, as if desperate to keep the pirate from this woman, the bodies behind her grab her, wrapping their arms around her torso, grabbing onto her arms and shoulders, pulling her backwards. “H-hey––” One knocks her off balance, pushing her onto her back and a crowd of faceless figures surround her from all sides, closing in on her until she’s covered in strangers, unable to see and barely able to breathe. She struggles against them, writhing beneath the pile that gets heavier and heavier, pushing her through the floor until she’s falling into a dimly lit room with cotton-candy pink lights.

She lands on a plush leather bench in what she assumes is one of the club’s private rooms. The music still beats through the walls, but the pulse isn’t as strong and she’s better able to hear her thoughts. Not that she has many with a woman suddenly on her lap. (Not the woman, though. This is wrong.) The woman’s lips are clasped around the pirate’s earlobe while one of her hands trails beneath the pirate’s shirt, raking her fingernails tauntingly over her abs. A gasp flees past her lips, her eyes fluttering closed as her blood turns to hollow lightning. (It’s good, but where is the other woman? The one she actually wants?) She struggles with her desires, barely able to open her eyes enough to search for the one she wants. ("So many... interruptions." Juno almost had the nerve to lean in right then, but something blue interrupted her. It might have been ironic were it not so frustrating.)

When the woman comes up from her ministrations, a curtain of cinnamon colored hair surrounds Juno and sharp blue eyes cut into her stormy ones. The pirate hesitates, trying to place this face and though she knows this is not someone to ignore, she can’t help the way her eyes flit over the woman’s shoulder towards the door, waiting for someone else.

The woman follows her gaze, unimpressed. She clicks her tongues and cuts back over to Juno. “Don’t tell me I’m not enough of a distraction for you, captain.” The duchess’s tone is playful, but the threat behind her words is not missed. The words press against Juno like a knife. Casey will not be slighted by someone like Juno. “Why answer my call if you aren’t interested, hmm?”

“I…” What the fuck is going on? Once again, Juno doesn’t remember how she ended up here. None of this feels right. She’s never been to a club with Casey. “You––”

Before the pirate (?) can finish that sentence, the duchess rolls her eyes and swoops down to crush her lips against hers, turning Juno’s sentence into a series of moans as she parts the pirate’s (?) lips with her tongue. Her hands find the duchess’s hips and run over and up her thighs, around her back––

“That’s better.” Casey grins as she pulls away from Juno, taking her bottom lip between her teeth as she does so. “Have you considered my proposal, Juno? I think this could be the start to a beautiful partnership–– I can make you a rich woman. I can give you your freedom. What say you?”

Proposal… Proposal… Juno struggles to remember what proposal the duchess could be referring to, partially lightheaded from the kiss and the headache forming at the top of her skull. ‘This isn’t right.’ ("I love to fly like that. I feel so free." Juno couldn’t help but to smile after hearing that admission. She did look so free and happy flying and Juno wished she could make her feel like that all the time.) Still, despite the jumble in her head and heart, her mouth opens and words pour out automatically. “I’m not going in the ring for you. I hate that shit–– now get off me.” The pirate begins to sit up, pushing the woman off of her lap. “I-I came here with someone else.”

("I know you had to stay off the ground to get by in Desdemonia... but do you like flying on Lady?" The question gave Juno pause at the time, surprised by it because it wasn’t something she ever considered. After thinking on it, she had told her, “I think I’d like it more if I weren’t a pirate.” She had wanted to tell her she would love it if she were to join her. Whoever she is. “But I got to travel a lot. I mean, even if Desdemonia is the same shithole no matter the name of the city you’re in… it was nice to have the freedom to explore. It’s given me a lot of stories, I guess.”)

“Uhhh,” Casey scoffs, pushing against Juno’s shoulder so that she’s pinned into place. The pirate tries to throw the duchess off of her, but the hold on her is surprisingly strong. Her efforts take her nowhere, only encouraging Casey to tighten her grip to the point where she’s convinced she might actually crush her shoulder. With her other hand, the duchess grabs the pirate’s face, forcing her to hold her gaze as she snarls. “You don’t reject me. That is not how this works. Need I remind you of your place, Juno? Need I remind you that your life is mine?”

The light in the room flickers from sparkly pink to shiny blood red and with the light, the duchess’s face morphs. Her features pale and turn ashen as her skin pulls back and makes her appear hollow and sunken; her nose flattens, becoming nothing more than two narrow slits set on a smashed wrinkled snout; then her bottom lip splits to make room for a mouthful of fangs. “Mine, mine, mine!” She shrieks, pressing Juno’s face to the side as she sinks her fangs into the pirate’s neck, easily piercing through her skin. She laves her tongue over the pouring wound, confusing the pirate with a shock of pleasure.

No. The pirate’s thoughts all start to blend together as her strength is pulled from her body. Weakly, she tries to push the vampire away from her, but her attempts are not even half of what they were earlier. “G-Get off me–– you’re fuckin…” She heaves, the very act of breathing becoming a labor. "Olette. Where. is she? Where's. my. fucking. faer..."

***​

Meanwhile, two figures make their way through the crowd towards the faerie. One of the figures has radioactive blue hair and green wings while the other has wisps of curly auburn hair and rich brown eyes. Though neither made it into adulthood, they are adults now. The boy is taller and less scrappy than he was as a kid, having shot up from the ground and filled out with age. The other faerie is still small, but tall for a faerie, and her change is not nearly as drastic as her companion’s. She glides through the crowd, keeping herself at eye level to the other.

They search through the crowd together, the man scanning the floor while the faerie looks above. “There she is.” When she spots the only other faerie in the room, Lina calls for her, flying up to the ceiling. She loops her arms around Lettie’s neck once she reaches her, pulling her in for a hug as she spins them around. “Lettie! James and I have been looking everywhere for you. Where have you been?” She points back down to the dance floor where James is standing; his neck is craned looking up at the two faeries and he waves, smiling at her with his usual warmth, like he’s relieved they found Lettie. “Never mind–– we need to go if we’re planning on hitting those other clubs tonight.”

“Yeah,” James calls from below. Though the music is still pounding and he’s on the dancefloor, his voice reaches both faeries clearly. “Juno just messaged–– fucking cheater is already at the second spot tonight trying to get a leg up on our competition. She’s still hella sore Lettie swiped from the duchess before she could.”

"See, we gotta go or team necromancer is going to win," Lina insists, pulling Lettie towards the exit.
 
Lettie glides through the crowd as one club glitches into another. (This isn't unusual. They’re hitting all of the clubs tonight. That’s what Lina and James said.) Cool colors shine over a smoky club full of brutes and thugs. Warmer tones reveal one full of towering demons and angels. Another is purplish and hosts an amalgam of both. She’s looking for Juno before she can win. Looking for Juno. Looking for… ah, snap. What is she looking for now? (She remembers Lina's hug, Jame's smile.) No. No, no, no. They're never coming back. She has to keep reminding herself before she hurts herself. And the club-- she works in the club. She doesn’t have the time to be looking for anything right now other than her pay check.

The faerie passes through the hall lined with private rooms, a window piquing her interest as she notices some... suspicious activity going on, if the red glow beaming out is any indication. A woman inside is climbing possessively all over someone in a chair. She inches in closer to suss out exactly what is going on here... and catches a trace of 'get off of me' and then... 'Olette'. (The voice is kind of familiar... no matter what, though, she hears the call and needs to help. A friend, stranger, or otherwise-- there's nothing cool about this and she needs to step in.) Lettie quietly opens the door and slips into the room, approaching the two. She inhales a sharp breath seeing the blood on the dark-haired woman's neck.

“Hey. I’m gonna have to ask you to get off of her now.” Lettie presses her hand to the cinnamon-haired woman’s shoulder and tugs. (What she really wants to say is 'stop or I'll wring your fucking neck.' This isn't right. She shouldn't be touching her... her... pirate? Pirate what?) The woman’s fangs shrink and her ghoulish face warms, reshaping itself into a pretty one that the faerie only vaguely recognizes (probably just a club regular) her bloodied lips scowling when she whips around to face her with a hiss. The faerie’s glossy lips smile pleasantly in response, her dazzling blue eyes and starry jewelry sparkling as if they’re being hyper charged under the club lights. She tilts her head, her pink and blue gradient hair swishing like a pastel waterfall over her shoulder, holding her bubbly demeanor intact despite the fact that she’s fucking pissed. “Like now. Or I’ll kick you out.” ‘Bitch’, an inner devil-horn Lettie with a knife adds. A reasonable angel-halo Lettie has to hold that one back.

“And what gives you the authority, you puny bitch?” The woman pushes herself up to stand and brings herself to her full height, specifically to look down on the faerie. (Lettie resists the temptation to glamour herself some platform shoes. She holds her chin high, never loses her easygoing smile, and that’s what counts.) “Do you have any idea who I am?” Pffft. She blows a raspberry in her mind.

“I don’t care who you are, Cathy.” What. What? (Cathy… that is familiar.) Lettie keeps going without missing a beat in spite of her initial confusion, needing to hold her ground on this one. Her amicable expression morphs into a glare sharp enough to cut. “She said no.”

“Excuse me? This is a ridiculous assumption! She said no such thing. She’s my guest.” ‘Cathy’ seethes. Lettie raises her eyebrows, unimpressed with this answer. “You faeries are all the same. Mischievous little tricksters. What… are you jealous or something?”

“She said ‘get off’, babe. I heard it. Same thing as ‘no’ in my book.” Lettie sighs and examines her nails. (She’s steaming, even while she tries to play herself off as disinterested. She can't go starting fights with her fists. That's not how it works here. Not like on the other worlds, where... other worlds?) Then she shakes her hand over her shoulder. “If you don't leave her alone I’ll call the authorities on you.”

“You work here or something? Because I’d like to discuss this matter with your manager.” Cathy snips haughtily. (Oh boy, here they go.) She smiles like a cat. “I’m the Duchess, bitch. You might just get fired for this.”

“Oh? But I am the manager.” Lettie bluffs with a wicked, kittenish grin to match. (Duchess, duchess, duchess… why does it sound familiar? Is she supposed to rob her or something? For the heist? No... no, she's on the clock. She's working. It doesn't matter. She just needs to chase this woman away. Her blood is on her face. She wants to punch her fucking lights out.) “So what’re you gonna do about that?”

“…No, you’re obviously not.” Cathy rolls her eyes.

“I am the Manager.” A neon cube (?) suddenly appears in that moment, speaking in a robotic voice that compliments the blasting club music. Lettie and Cathy exchange a bewildered glance before staring at the cube. “Get lost, bitch.”

“This won’t be the last you see of me.” Cathy warns like a cheesy super villain from a cartoon as her entire body begins to glow. “I’m going to mount those pretty, pretty wings of yours if it’s the last thing I—“ Then the ‘duchess’ simply blips out of existence. A small skeleton with a drum set appears on top of the cube and plays a smooth and triumphant ‘ba-dum-tss’ before disappearing again.

Lettie lifts a finger to poke the cube experimentally, but it flickers out of existence before she can reach it. Okay. That’s a thing that just happened. It’s fine. The faerie simply shrugs after that and then turns to the pirate (?) in the chair. Her heart clenches seeing her covered in blood.

“Ah, shit.” Lettie reaches into her bag for a handkerchief, leaning over her as politely as she can while dabbing it gently over her neck. (There’s a messy embroidered phrase surrounded by a border of blue flowers on the handkerchief, but the letters are all out of order. Probably because of the club lights going haywire or something. That sounds scientific enough.) She gazes worriedly into the other woman’s disoriented stormy eyes, searching for a trace of alertness. (They’re heartbreakingly familiar, like she knows them from somewhere. Maybe from a past life or something.) “It’s gonna be okay now. Apply some pressure here…” She says softly, guiding the pirate’s (?) hand over the place where she positioned the handkerchief on her neck, pressing down. Her concerned eyes smile when she’s all settled. “Good, just like that. Give me just a sec and I’ll get you a glass of water.”

“Olette! Get over here, you’re late!” The boss lady’s voice booms into the room and she flinches. Late again. She can't lose this gig.

“Coming, coming, coming.” Lettie mutters under her breath. She hurriedly reaches for the tall glass bottle of water on the table and fills an empty glass, leaving it at the pirate’s (?) side with a wink. “There. I gotta go now… are you gonna be okay? Do you want me to call anybody—”

“Olette!” The voice calls again, sounding more shrill this time. A track of familiar starting music begins to play over the speakers.

“…Fuck. Sorry, I really gotta go.” Lettie waves over her shoulder and hurries out of the private room and into the heart of the club. (Her heart keeps telling her to stay… but reason tells her she’s gotta make some dough. Time’s a ticking and time is money or whatever.) She glyphs herself into her cute stage costume as she runs, heels clopping, and lunges onto the stage just as the dance routine starts up and the crowd cheers loudly. She shoots a guilty little smile towards the boss lady, who shakes her head incredulously in response.

Lettie stretches for a second before beginning the routine, smiling and dancing backup to the other girls on stage before it’s her turn to make an appearance at the center to do her own bit— singing and dancing and making herself appropriately charming to the crowd. (She gives them all the flair, energy, and charisma she’s got in these moments. She’s got to keep this gig.) The crowd’s cheering becomes particularly loud when she finishes with a particularly sexy pose and blows them a kiss before strutting off.

Lettie barely steps off the stage before someone else is calling for her. “Olette, you’re late! Need your help in the workshop.” Boss man calls. Breathlessly, she gives a smile and a two-fingered salute in response before scrubbing her hands over her face. Get it together! Glyphing herself into something comfortably baggy, she pulls her hair into a messy bun as she steps into the workshop at the other end of the club. “Got some gadgets in tonight that could use your magic touch.”

The work plays out in a blur— like a movie montage— the twist of a wrench, the clatter of a hammer, the scribbling of notes, and by the time Lettie leaves the workshop her cheeks and hands are blotched with ink and oil stains. She walks sleepily through the club, searching for her apartment. (Her shitty apartment is not in a club, but she’s sure she’ll find it eventually.) She needs to go home and shower… and have a very important conversation with the ghost in her bathroom about boundaries.

“Olette, got some tables that need cleaning in the back room.” Lettie sighs as another boss lady speaks up. Oh. Shit. More work to do first. She doesn’t bother changing out of her workshop getup this time, gliding over to clear the table in one of the private rooms… not realizing at first that it’s the one she left the pirate (?) in. She grabs a tray and starts collecting empty glasses.

“…I don’t know what’s up with her lately.” Lina appears in one of the seat to Juno’s left, pouting as she leans over the arm. She talks about Lettie even though she’s standing right there... but it doesn't seem like the other faerie can hear her as she continues to clear the table. “It’s like she doesn’t have any time for her friends anymore.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing personal. Maybe she’s still bitter that team necromancer won that last heist? She gets real competitive about this stuff, doesn't she? Especially when Juno gets the upper hand on her.” James appears in the seat at Juno’s right, elbowing her arm playfully. “If you’re really so worried about it, you should ask her.”

“You think I haven’t tried that already?” Lina huffs and crosses her arms. She slinks back in her seat and stares at the changing lights on the ceiling. They accentuate the neon blue of her hair. In flashes, it really resembles the dust on...

“Olette, you’re on in five!” Another boss lady calls in through a speaker. Lettie rushes out again.

“...Lettie's been getting closer to you lately, hasn’t she?” Lina asks Juno, leaning in towards her with a look of curiosity on her face. She doesn’t seem mad or suspicious about this. Just concerned. “Sooo maybe she’ll tell you what’s going on. Won’t you give it a try? For me? Please, Juno. I’m counting on you.”

The room glitches, whisking Juno back into the booth she was in before. Where Lina was in front of her before rests a pile of that radioactive blue dust on the table. Loud music and suggestive whistling starts up at the other end of the club on stage, where Lettie is preparing to perform the same old routine.

“Now, no need to run off again.” Eliza presses her hand onto Juno’s shoulder as if that might keep her rooted there this time, clicking her tongue as she examines the wound on her neck. “We’re here to take it easy tonight, kid. I know you’re restless, but let’s not go picking anymore fights unless we need to, eh?”
 
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