Fantasy Cosmical Glitch ( ellarose & starboob. )

[starboob]

When Juno finally sees who this Olette person is, she’s entirely arrested by her. (There’s face of an angel beautiful and there’s Olette, the next level.) ‘There’s no fucking way she’s real.’ She doesn’t want her to leave. She wants to beg her to stay. She wants nothing more than to grab her wrist and pull her into her arms, struck by the idea that she’d fit perfectly there. Now that she’s found her, she never wants to let her go, but she leaves (she always will) and all Juno can do is watch as she goes; the click of her heels growing more distant until it's gone. All Juno can do is try to savor the memory of her hand covering hers; of her hand pressed against her neck; of her fire saving her from the duchess; of those dazzling blue eyes (her favorite color); of her everything. ‘Olette. I won’t forget that name.’ She’s too weak to do much more than commit her name to memory, but she wishes could do more than that, like actually get to know the woman behind the name. As it is, all she can do is sink further into the seat cushion and try to stay coherent.

Eventually, her hand drops from her neck, still holding onto the handkerchief, the only piece of the woman she has. She looks at the bloodied cloth and clutches it tighter, bringing it over her chest as she replays the moment in her head. ‘She’s so kind to me.’ She has to remember her. Even with the handkerchief in hand, she’s not so convinced the winged woman had been real at all and if she weren’t so weak, she’d be tearing this club apart to go and find her. ‘How can someone so beautiful be real?’

She sighs. Her eyes close just for a second and when she opens them again, she’s no longer alone. As if summoned by her thoughts, Olette glides back in to clear away the lone table in the room. She perks, ready to do something, but before Juno can sit up fully, call her name, get her attention, the blue woman comes back along with some guy. No, not some guy. Something about him strikes her as familiar and when she narrows her gaze to scrutinize him up and down, she stops at his eyes–– his brown eyes that she’d never fucking forget. Brown eyes she’d kill to see again. (Wait.) James.

The other faerie in the room is asking her something, but she barely registers anything she’s saying in favor of taking in her friend who is no longer the scrawny little kid she remembers. But of course he’s not; she’s not either. They’ve both obviously grown up and they’ve been pulling heists with the faeries since they were teens. (This isn’t right. She doesn’t care.)

‘Wait. The faeries?’ Again, confusion splits a headache over her skull as she tries to suss out how she could both be desperate to meet Olette and already know her at the same time. Her gaze pans over to the faerie cleaning off the center table; she’s supposed to be a stranger. This isn’t ri––

(A flood of memories come rushing back to her all at once–– meeting James and Olette at Gran’s, growing up with Olette, losing touch, reconnecting, anger, fighting, explosions, fixing her wing, sparring, late nights spent talking in the dark, almosts. So many almosts her head spins just thi––)

Olette. Olette, Olette, Olette.
Her one constant thought these days.
Of course. Olette. How could she forget?

Recognition and guilt wash over her all at once, guilty eyes going back and forth between both faeries, somehow knowing there’s something between them (or was?). Though it doesn’t seem that Lina is suspect of anything and that somehow makes this worse; especially since she’s now asking Juno to check-in on Olette and she knows that should be Lina’s responsibility. But it is true that herself and Olette have been growing closer and that Olette might share something with her. ‘Fuck.’ Slowly she nods along to what the faerie on her left is saying, more in acknowledgement than agreement, but that seems to be enough, because before she can actually clarify anything, she’s back with Eliza. A pile of radioactive dust sits in front of her and the memories from only moments ago, fade into the background, fade with the music that reminds her to forget herself. This is fine. This is how it’s supposed to be–– she came here with Eliza, she’s pretty sure.

Grumpy as ever, she shrugs off Eliza’s concern in the way any kid does a concerned adult (even if Juno is an adult herself) when she looks over her neck and warns her about causing trouble. “It’s fuckin’ nothing. The bitch was fucking on something.” Not that she remembers who the bitch was or who even came in to interrupt them. Not that she remembers much of that red room at all. It doesn’t matter. They left. It’s in the past. She’s with Eliza now waiting for the next thrill, because that's her life with Eliza. Cheap thrills. Distraction. Never having to feel a damn thing.

She sinks into her seat, arms crossed over her chest as she stares at the pile of dust sitting in front of her. It reminds her of someone, but no one she can place. (Why does it feel like losing someone?) Whatever it reminds her of must show on her face, because she can feel Eliza's concern without even having to look over.

“Look, kid, I know you're angry, but you gotta stop hurting yourself like that.” She sighs, her eyes reflecting an apology she’ll never voice because it’s not her business and, honestly, Juno never told her everything but she knows enough. She’s also the one person who isn’t afraid to remind her. “He’s part of the inferno. You can't dwell on the goners if you're gonna survive this world. I can’t afford you being in your head like that.” Her words are stern and well meaning; she's the only person who gets this side of Eliza. To anyone else, the older woman wouldn't bother. She'd let them rot on the ground, but she didn't have the heart to leave Juno.

Though she hadn't been thinking of James, the words bind her like a spell and remind her of her grief. (But didn't she just see him? He was alive. He was an adult. He was...) The pirate nods and despite the tremble she feels threatening to take over, she holds her breath and looks down at the pile again. Though something about it churns her stomach rather than entice her. “You got anything else? Dust is making me see shit, I guess.” That’s probably all that is–– just a bad batch and nothing something else can’t fix.

“Sure. Just don’t over do it. We’ve got a job tomorrow and I need you sharp, kid.” She hands Juno a pipe and other supplies and so begins the rest of Juno’s night. She takes a hit. She takes a bump. She takes a shot. When her face feels numb and she feels less like herself, assuming this must be a better version of herself, she stumbles through the crowd on the prowl for another distraction because this is her life with Eliza.

As she makes her way through the crowd, intent on getting to the stage where she knows there's a show, she tries to rub the haze from her eyes, trying to make sense of the blurry figures in front of her and when her vision clears again, she's somehow in a different part of the club. This room is lit green. A faceless blonde is with her, lips on her jaw. Juno gasps, eyes fluttering closed. When her eyes open, the room is now yellow and the blonde is gone. Instead, a faceless brunette lays beside her under bed sheets. She sits up and the room changes again; this time violet, this time another blonde. She’s pressed in between a wall and Juno, Juno’s lips on her neck. The woman moans and she closes her eyes to hold onto the sound. As is the pattern, when she opens her eyes again, she’s in another new bed. She gets up to leave and walks into another woman’s arms, lips eagerly seeking lips. She pushes this woman backwards into a bedroom and finds herself waking up with someone else. She tips over precipice after precipice until she’s nothing more than a pile of hot, melted limbs. It cycles like this for a while–– new scene, new woman, different position, same Juno. Over and over and over. She loses track of the rooms, the beds, the women (all of them faceless), but eventually she lands back in that booth from before, this time alone. (What the fuck?)

Her head spins dazedly around the club, looking for Eliza but the older woman has probably left with someone else. This is normal. They're thrill seekers. They’ll reconvene later. They always do. She rises from the booth just as an announcer welcomes a dancer to the stage. Though she rarely messes with dancers, something tugs at her to turn and when she does, she remembers what she's supposed to be doing. She’s supposed to check on her. She doesn’t remember why, the details slipping her, but she doesn't necessarily think that's important–– who cares the reason when she has an excuse to talk to her. After fixing her hair, the pirate gets up and is teleported a short distance to the stage, standing front row, right in front of Olette. ‘Fuck. What am I doing?’

Even with her uncertainties, her eyes can’t help but to trail up the faerie’s legs, though they quickly jump up to her eyes to meet her gaze. She loses her pulse staring into those dazzling blue eyes, remembering them from somewhere. They feel safe, like home. And while she knows that they’re in a club and that there’s a whole world going on around them, the second their eyes meet, she swears they’re in a world of their own. In fact, the background shifts around them, spinning, and when it settles they’re on a beach with the stars twinkling above. Glowing neon blue waves lap softly at the shore. (A sign in the background reads, ‘Mind the seashells. They're hibernating.’)

“Olette.” She breathes her name like it's sacred. A million thoughts race in her mind, knowing she's supposed to check on her, knowing she doesn't know her (and yet it feels like she does), and knowing that she mostly wants the chance to talk to her. “How do I know you? Why do you feel so familiar to me?” Since they locked eyes, she has the strongest desire to stay near her. Like she needs to stick with her. Like it’ll be safer if she does. It’s not even about how drop dead gorgeous she is–– but maybe there is some of that coming to play. “Can we maybe grab breakfast? Um, if you're not busy.” Even if they're at the beach now, she hasn't forgotten that Olette is also at work. They can still hear the faintness of the club music, after all. "Or can I bring you breakfast if you're, ah, busy? I just... you seem cool."

 

[ellarose]

Time whirls itself around Lettie like a tornado, a chaotic blur that blends every day into endless toil. And yet she's hyper-aware of every fucking second of it. (The cartoonish red clocks with devil horned frames and warped, laughing faces are a constant reminder, too. Assholes. Inanimate objects can be such assholes. She's not sure when she came up with this philosophy. Maybe the day she found out her bathroom was haunted, or... ah, her head hurts when she tries to think about it. Cubes?) The faerie stands in place while her uniform and workplace change. One minute it's her hands hovering above a cluttered workshop table as she tinkers with the broken wing on a kid's 'flying angel' doll. The next her tools are replaced with a tray as she's clears another restaurant table. Then the pumping club music picks up, the rhythm vibrating so fiercely it reaches her heart with the force of an electric charge. She pulls her strings and assembles a charming smile, just like mother taught her, as she dances for the crowd gathered in front of her. They break into a cheer and in a flash it's her quick fingers dancing over a keyboard in a dark room instead, clack-clacking away at the glowing keys. (With a 'blip', test answers appear on the screen and as she stares in dumb awe of herself as she scrolls through them. She can sell these Anything will help. Anything, anything, anything. She'll do anything, like entertain previously unwanted advances if it scores her a free meal and drink. And she has to justify her decision to stay in school somehow. School's the one thing she's got left... even if she's falling behind in her studies at an alarming rate.) On her rare free days, she takes Ariel up on her offer and takes a few shifts at the joint music and flower shop, heavy metal blasting in the background as she arranges them just so. 'Wow. You're a natural, Lette.' Occasionally the butterflies in her chest will stir when Ariel's gazes admiringly at her work. (She used to have the dorkiest, most obvious crush on Ariel, who would look after her and Ravan whenever their mothers were busy.) Then the butterflies fall again, listless and defeated, just like Lina into the abyss.

Swish. Lettie's in the workshop again, distraught. Now she's fixing a broken devil-clock that sneers up at her. 'That's right, the abyss. That's where you'll end up if you waste another second.' Anger flairs behind the perpetual dead-tired of her eyes, she takes a wrench and smashes the face in. Again, again, again. Glass sprays. Then she tosses it across the room at the wall. Clunk. It's mechanical innards scatter everywhere. The faerie breathes heavily, wanting nothing more than to drop to her knees and cry. Instead she hyperventilates because she there's no time to cry. She doesn't even have the time to entertain this pathetic breakdown.

The whipping tornado parts like curtains on a stage, clearing away as a crowd appears. Lettie's standing on stage at the club again. 'Smile. Smile like your life depends on it, because it does.' And so she does, because she has to. She fixes herself up like she would a broken toy, winding herself back up into the same routine. Night after night the faces of the people in the crowd have become an unrecognizable, featureless mass of applauding color. No family, friends, or allies exist in her audience. Tonight, however...

Tonight she's here. (Not Ariel. Someone else, someone she also... had a crush on. Has a crush on? What was her name? Did she ever learn it?) Hers is the one and only face she can see among the many, watching her from the front row. Alluringly mysterious with her dark attire and the scar that runs through her brow and down her face. Tall and so muscled it jellies her legs when she fantasizes about touching one of her arms. (Her imagination supplies fantasies so vivid that she has to wonder if they're memories she can't quite place. Have they met beyond one or two encounters in the club? If so, when?) Whatever the case, that's a strong, powerful woman if she's ever seen one. Ah. Her weakness. (She is just one gay faerie. What is she supposed to do?) The faerie is confident that she wouldn't have forgotten someone this striking. And yet... yet the world has become such a blur, lately. Can she really trust her own judgement on this one?

The woman gives off an air she ought to be intimidated by and yet Lettie is at ease around her. (Around anyone else she'd have been cagey and hesitant. She's dealt with one too many stalkers to know it's time to hightail it when someone finds and calls her by name.) Maybe it's the way she says her name. The way she wouldn't mind hearing it over and over again because it feels earned somehow. (Well, duh. It took, like, forever before she started calling me by my name.) With only a glance, it's like she bypasses this person's tough, intended impression and right down to her heart of gold. (I know you, I know you, I know you.) Those gentle storm-cloud eyes staring back at her promise 'you're safe with me'. They never abandon her as they gaze at her like she's the only other person in this club. No, this beach. Because they're on the beach now. That makes sense. How do I know you? She asks the same question that the faerie is thinking and all she can do is give a dazed little shrug in response.

"I dunno. Sorry." Lettie offers, the casually-spoken apology genuine. I feel it too, though. She wonders if that's a chill thing to say. Maybe not. Even so, she doesn't back away slowly or look at her funny for it. She's curious enough to give this conversation time that she doesn't have. Especially when she mentions getting breakfast of all things. (Not drinks, but breakfast. It's so unexpectedly wholesome.) Raising an impressed brow, she nods up at the starry skies above their heads. "Breakfast for dinner?" The faerie snorts in spite of herself and cracks a lopsided smile. "You have good taste. That's, like, my favorite."

...Shit. Tempting as the offer is, Lettie knows she shouldn't. There are so, so many reasons why she shouldn't. If not for her own sake then for this woman's.

"I'm always busy." Lettie offers with a lame half-smile and half-laugh. She rubs the back of her neck, for once appearing as tired as she feels. Like washing off her make up at the end of the day, she finds herself being real with this woman, seeing no need to resort to her usual song and dance. (That practiced charm is her own defense. And yet with this woman, she lays down all of her sparkly armor without putting up a fight. She's comfortable... to the point where even her glamours could falter and she'd remain unbothered.) Whoever this is, she knows her. She'll see right through her. (That's what the faerie's instinct tells her, anyway.) 'I'll be safe with her.' Her eyes well with regret as she looks at their feet in the sand. The club music grows softer, the lapping of the waves lulling her into a rare state of serenity. It's nice to be away from that place, if only for a minute. "I wish I wasn't, though." She keeps her smile, though it's somewhat embittered by fate. "In a world where I wasn't so busy I'd say yes."

In a world where I wasn't so busy? Lettie's head throbs painfully. In flashes she sees flying sharks, piles of candy on a diner table, and a cave full of junk.

"Olette... you're late." A slithery voice beckons to the faerie from the sea. A nymph with shining green eyes pokes her head out, her inky black hair coiling all around her shoulders like calligraphy in the water. Lettie flickers into her pink-haired teenage self, whirling around quickly to face her. All at once, the ocean flickers into a lake surrounded by plants that glow faintly in the dark. "What do you have for me?" She reaches for her wrist. "Have you changed your mind about the bracelet?"

"No. I brought you something better." Lettie promises. She snatches her wrist back from the woman's hands, protectively rubbing the bracelet. (Lina gave it to her. She's never giving it up.) Instead, she unfastens her necklace. She dangles it out of reach of the water to allow the nymph to appraise it, the crystal opal pendant on the end gleaming in the moonlight. "It belonged to my mother." She broke into mother's place to steal it. She isn't sorry. (Might've smashed a few things with her baseball bat and vandalized the place, too. And she might be a tiny bit sorry for that part.) "A piece that belonged to Titania Lycoris Radiata herself. That's going to hold a helluva lot more value than this bracelet."

"Hmm. Bring it closer." The nymph sounds interested and the faerie blooms with pride. Good. Good.

"No. I want to see the contract first." Lettie protests, bringing the necklace in towards her chest. "I need to see the contract."

"Intend to read the fine print, do you? Smart girl." The nymph waves her hand and the paper unfurls itself before her. Lettie brings herself onto her knees and pours over it for a while. She squints. Her vision blurs at the conditions she must fulfill to seize her freedom back. Mother gambled her life away and the only way to undo that is to reimburse the estate with everything she's worth. (...Come to think of it, she's not sorry for any of the smashing.)

"Wh-- But how am I supposed to..." Lettie wheezes. It's so much. She'll pass out if she stares at it for too much longer. "Is this the only way?"

"Indeed. It seems hopeless, I'll admit." The nymph sighs, perfectly indifferent to the little faerie's fate. "You lose nothing by trying, though. This is a chance to grant your wish. Are you going to take it?" She grins easily. "Or are you going to submit to your fate?"

Lettie clutches the necklace so tightly the pendant cuts into her palm. Lina died for this. For getting this close. They searched all across Avangeline's underground for the means to break the curse that has a hold over them. And she's finally found it in the form of this contract. Even if it's futile, she has to honor her death by trying. The faerie hands the nymph the necklace.

"So that's your answer, then. Well, this ought to be interesting." The nymph nods and the contract vanishes in a sparkling dust. "It's settled, then. Pleasure doing business with you." She holds the necklace up and examines it with greedy eyes. It's Lettie's mother's necklace... until it's not. It flickers and suddenly it's a silver, heart-shaped locked instead. Wait. The faerie glitches into her present self, jostled by the very sight of it.

"Wait! Wait, no! There's been a mistake!" Lettie cries out, lunging after the nymph. Her feet splash in ankle-deep water and she stalls before she can go any further. (Faerie wings and deep bodies of water do not mix.) She stomps her foot with a sploosh. "Give it back! That's-- that's the one Juno gave me!"

(Juno. Juno, Juno, Juno. That's right! Her name is Juno. Oh stars, how could she have forgotten Juno?)

The nymph snickers like a little shit and dives under the water, taking the locket with her. The faerie's heart drops with it. No! How could she have been so careless?

"Hey-- I know you heard me! If you don't give it back, I'll... I'll-- ugh." Lettie, in spite of her hesitation, takes a deep breath. "You know what? I'm coming in after you!" So she dives in. She hasn't thought this through. Like, at all. (But it's worth it. Juno gave it to her. It's just as important to her as her bracelet.) She latches onto the nymph by her shoulders, fighting to keep her head above water while also attempting to wrench the necklace from those slimy lake-monster hands of hers. She punches the top of her head, a tactic she learned to implement while roughhousing with... Juno? (Her head throbs painfully as more flashes of memory flare up in her mind.) The nymph hisses, annoyed. "Didn't think I'd do it, did you!? Well, you thought wrong! Now give it back."

The nymph succeeds in wrestling Lettie underwater. Neither of them comes back up to the surface. The lake simply flickers back into the ocean it was before and a few mermaids poke their heads out instead, swimming towards the shore with their seductive smiles. There's an assortment of blondes and brunettes present that the pirate might find somewhat familiar, if she can recall any of her hazy, thrill-seeking nights.

"Junoooo." One sings, reaching for one of Juno's calves. She strokes it with her fingers, tilting her head alluringly to the side. "Wouldn't you rather spend the night with us instead?" She smiles, rows of sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "We pwomise we won't bite."

"...Juno! there you are!" James calls out. He's towards the pirate from behind, concern written plainly in his warm eyes. "Catch!" With a heave that appears effortless for this older version of him, he tosses Juno her battle axe. "Don't let 'em get in your head."

"Ugh, you're one to talk." One of the mermaids asks with an exaggerated eye-roll. "Seriously, who invited him?"

"Tell him to get lost already!" Another complains, twirling a long strand of blonde hair around her finger. "That James is a fake and you know it. He's 'one with the volcano', right?" She stares at Juno through half-lidded eyes, strategically moving her hair to expose more of her chest. "Let us take care of you tonight. We can help you forget. That's what you want, isn't it?"

 

[starboob]

Juno confirms two things about Olette: she has a laugh she wants to hear forever (snort and all) and that she’s not lying to her when she says she’s busy. While the pirate (?) deflates, she doesn’t take it as anything personal. She even tries to offer an easy smile in return, but her fake smile isn’t nearly so practiced and it drops quickly. She tries to hide this by dropping her head, keeping her gaze trained on her boots. “S’alright…” ‘Guess I should just…’

The sand under her boots shifts into lush grass, the lapping of the ocean exchanged for the soft ripples of a lake. When she looks up, the pirate (?) has to do a double take of her surroundings, awestruck by the glowing flora. The ethereal woman in the water, however, causes her to take a half-step backwards, because, while beautiful, there’s something sinister in the air that surrounds her. Juno can’t explain it, but it’s something about her voice, the way she talks and how predatory it sounds. If she were able, she’d scream at Olette to not make this deal, because there’s no way this can end well, but her lips are sealed and her limbs are leaden; trying to move her arms is like moving through molasses. She couldn’t even knock her to the side if she tried.

And before the pirate (?) knows it, she’s watching the faerie give away the locket she gave her–– the fucking heart-shaped locket she picked out because she knew it would be something Olette would be into if they were girlfriends. She watches Olette lunge into the water after it, as her own hand reaches to clutch the locket hanging around her neck. (She hadn’t noticed or remembered its weight until now, but she clutches onto it like a lifeline.) The chain tugs against the wound on her neck, reminding her of that odd encounter from earlier, but before she can even do anything with that information, mermaids crawl up from the ocean and all that remains of Olette and that lake-bitch are bubbles. ‘Fuck.’

Given another second, she would have covered her ears, a vague memory resurfacing of the last time she faced mermaids, but her name is sung before she can do anything to defend herself. James’s pull at her attention only gets her to turn halfway, but it's already too late. Juno is already a goner and the axe splashes into the water next to her. The manipulations gripping her head remind her, too, that this can't be James. (His image down the beach flickers, showing her his brutalized self; his actual self.) Memories flash through her mind, unwanted, but burned into the backs of her eyelids–– the forever guilt of knowing she's the reason he's dead. That it was her idea to find the Shrike; her idea to stay; her idea to see it through. It was her fight response that bludgeoned his skull (even if he had been dead before she even turned). The guilt, the anger, the regret, the grief swirl through the pirate (?) and pull her down to her knees. 'You did this. You fucking ruined him. You ruin everything.'

"What happened to James?" one of the mermaid's coos, slithering up closer to the kid. "You can tell us. We don't judge."

Juno presses her eyes shut, jamming the heels of her palms into her eyes to try and stop the flow of tears; a flow that's so endless, it's starting to fill the ocean and the tide rises to her waist. She shakes her head, whimpering, because the words will never come even if she wanted them to.

"Let us take that pain away, Juno."

She whimpers again, nodding her head even if she knows that they’re not going to be any good to her and wanting it anyway. “I just want it to stop.”

“We know.”

“We know. You humans live such dreadful and tragic lives.”

“We'll take care of you.”

The mermaids nod sympathetically and tug at Juno's clothing, pulling her into the water until she’s submerged. Their faces morph under the salt water, becoming shriveled and corpse-like, but Juno doesn’t struggle. In fact, she seems to nod, like giving them permission to tear her apart. (A few feet away, she can sense someone else thrashing in the water, but she can’t make them out and doesn’t care to.) ‘I don’t care what you do, just make it fucking end.’

One of the mermaids wraps her arm around Juno’s torso, then rips her claws across it; blood blooms in the water like poison, but the mermaids laugh merrily and inhale from the wound. Another grabs her face and flashes her a sharp toothed smile. ‘Do it.’ She unhinges her jaw impossibly wide and shoots towards the Juno's throat.

Juno closes her eyes and braces herself for what is to come, but what is to come never does. The water pulses around her, the arms that had been holding onto her all release at once. When she opens her eyes, confused, there’s a dead mermaid floating up to the surface and the rest are scurrying into the depths of the river. A hand grabs onto the collar of her shirt and pulls her out of the water, tossing her onto the bank. Before she can see who “saved” her, the figure dives back into the water and a few minutes later comes up with a tiny human–– no, faerie. (But faeries don’t exist on Desdemonia?) The faerie is hurled carelessly on top of the kid.

The figure who pulled them from the water heaves and tosses her spear to the side, looking down at the heap of kids. Her dark eyes cut into Juno and Juno–– small, starved, and in no position to be defiant–– shoots her a glare. Well, as best she can with one eye swollen shut. (A few days prior she ran into this woman, her supposed savior, and took a shiner from her after a brazen attempt to rob her. She thought that would have been the last she'd ever see of her.)

“The fuck? You tryna get yourself killed, kid? You’ve lived fuckin’ long enough to know those ones were too fuckin’ evolved to be lost in the water. Fuckin’ idiot.”

“I know. Don’t fucking care.”

“Fuck…” Eliza sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. A war battles on the older woman’s expression and she sucks in a breath between her teeth, resigned. “Get the fuck up. Both of you.” She nudges the heap of kids with her boot. “You’re comin’ with me.”

Juno doesn’t move and instinctively wraps her small arm around Olette protectively.

“I’m not a fuckin’ creep.” (“Fuckin’ creep would say that.”) “Let me get you dinner. You can’t make this fuckin’ decision on an empty stomach.”

The mention of food causes Juno’s stomach to growl, the sound echoing off the canyon, causing it to ripple and change into a seedy bar where Eliza takes to the back booth. The booth originally had been full of burly figures and cleared the second Eliza nodded her head, wordlessly telling them to vacate. She pushes Juno and Olette into one side of the booth and takes the opposite for herself. “Your parents dead or you runaways?” The way she asks the question makes it seem like it’s not so uncommon an occurrence. (It's not.)

Juno shrugs in response, not meeting Eliza’s gaze. The older woman nods and doesn’t push anymore than that. She gets the attention of the staff and orders them a few bowls of gruel with a sprinkling of roast wasp on top. They eat in silence. No one says a word. It’s not weird. Juno quietly simmers in her seat, head down, glowering at the bowl of flavorless mush. Eliza pretends she doesn’t notice and happily eats her portion.

This is their first night as a duo trio. The first week traveling together is mostly Eliza following Juno (and Olette) who tries to get away from her at every turn. But every time she thinks she’s lost her, the woman turns up to pull a nightmare off of her, knock a weapon from her wrist, or wrestles her away from a cliff. Each time, the kid struggles and fights against the older woman, but Eliza never leaves and stays with her arms wrapped around Juno until she’s calm again and the storm in her eyes has passed. When Juno asks her why she doesn’t leave her alone, why she cares, why she won’t let her just die, the older woman frowns. It doesn’t last, however, and it passes so quickly that Juno still doesn’t know if it had been a trick of the firelight. “‘Cause I don’t think you actually want to die.”

“Then you’re a fucking idiot, because I do.”

“No,” Eliza shakes her head, pushing back against the kid. It infuriates Juno how assured she is in her assessment. However, when her gaze cuts across the pile of corpses they’re burning, it breaks through the sharpness in Juno’s own. “Juno, you’re not gonna quit. You’re gonna become the baddest, scariest motherfucker out there.” She walks around the burning pile and approaches the kid, grabbing her face between her palms. “Make the wolves 'n shit bow to you.” She drops her hands to Juno’s shoulders, then rubs them. “You’ve got a fire in you I haven’t seen in anyone else. Even at this low you’re at, I’ve never seen a kid fight with such Hell inside them. Be a shame if you left too soon." She takes a step back, giving the kid her space again. "And, look, I know you’re going through some shit right now, kid, but it’ll pass and I don’t want you regretting your choices from the goddess’s eternal flame. You don’t have to tell me shit, but I know about that stripe in your hair and I don’t think that’s how you want to honor them. But if it is, fine.” She shrugs, pretending that it’s nothing to her but it is obvious that she cares. “After tonight, I won’t fucking stop you from doing whatever the Hell you want with your life.”

The kid doesn’t respond. She just turns her head away and remains quiet the rest of the night. After that, Juno’s life (and Olette’s) rolls in rapid fire. She sticks with Eliza after that night and Eliza sticks with her; their partnership isn’t perfect, but it’s perfect for Juno (and Olette). They fight and scream at each other; Eliza throws her hands up like an exasperated mother; Juno storms out angrily like a bratty teenager. But Juno always comes back, they always make up, and they continue their journey together, wandering aimless through Desdemonia, doing odd jobs here and there, smoking carb, snorting dust, and seeking thrills. It's not good or perfect, but she's alive on the outside.

Then, suddenly, she's seventeen with bloody knuckles and she's alone. Well, alone with Olette and the bottle in her hand, wandering through a neon wasteland. The saturated lights reflect off of slick, grimy streets in a city that's not quite on Desdemonia and not quite on Avangeline. Juno tilts the bottle back and then passes it to the faerie. "Screw Eliza. She always fuckin' said we'd hate the city, but fuck her. I fuckin' love it here." A few beats of silence pass, Juno kicks a can down an alley way, and then she shoves her hands deep into her pockets. "James woulda liked it here. You think Lina would have, too?"

 

[ellarose]

"Do you really?" Lettie asks dubiously, stepping over a thong floating in a puddle on the curbside. The faerie at seventeen continues to wear her hair defiantly pink (her favorite color) though her clothes are all black and her makeup look is shadowy, making her the perfect picture of teenage rebellion. While her knuckles aren't bloodied like Juno's (she's not as prone to punching faces) she's covered in bruises. Her stomach pinches and she averts her eyes before it can twist all the way. (Questions prod her like knives. 'Why have you taken so many days off work? Why aren't you working? Don't you realize if you don't work, you're going to--') She peers out at the lights and ponders Juno's question, her vision slightly unfocused as the colors off the signs all blend together in a neon wave. Lina. The sound of her name is a punch to the gut. Ah. So she's not just a figment of her imagination, is she? It's been that long since she heard her name spoken aloud that she honestly has to wonder. Someone... other than her still knows Lina? Of course. The necromancer and faerie duos were inseparable as kids. And now it's just them. Juno and Lettie, looking out for each other. (And Eliza? From their time together, she can only wonder if Juno is only praising the city specifically to disagree with Eliza. She doesn't ask, though, because Juno typically only needs some time to cool down. She always comes back. Or... they always come back? Either way, she doesn't harp on it.) Anyway, right. Juno asked her a question. Can she even talk about Lina without her throat getting tight these days? "No. I've had enough." Her voice is raspy, as if she spent the night singing. She gently waves to indicate that Juno can keep the bottle. (Alcohol will burn her throat even more.) "Lina..." She flashes to the last time Lina ever looked at her, that blank look in her eyes, too disoriented to fear her impending death. "We always wanted to get out of the city." Playing with her bracelet, she fidgets, seeming somehow younger than she is. (No. Maybe she seems as young as she's supposed to be. It's confusing. She knows the city but she's never been here before. Not in this lifetime, anyway.) "Too many creeps hanging around."

Speaking of creeps. "Wanna race? The prize is a million bucks!" A figure shapes itself from a shadowy pool at the mouth of one of the alleyways they're passing. Gradually, darkness drips away in a flowing cascade to reveal a seven-foot-tall demon with wispy white hair and scraggly black tree branch wings that look like they belong in the yard of a haunted house. His shadow creates a looming, threatening shape on the brick building behind him and he smiles with a mouth of too-sharp teeth. Ugh.

"Fuck off, Jasper." Lettie waves her hand at him dismissively. He doesn't have that kind of cash and even if he had it, there's no way he's sharing it with her. Not even if she wins. He'll throw up his hands, say 'sike' and strategically back away to blend into the shadows like the creepazoid he is.

"Aw, no dice? What if we raced for this little thing instead?" He nonchalantly dangles something sparkly and silver from his finger, slinging it around in a circle in front of her face before catching it in his palm. Wait. That was... the locket. The locket Juno gave her. "I know you like shiny garbage like this."

"Dude, that's mine! Give it!" Lettie snaps, patting her hands to her neck to find that it's missing. (When did she lose it again? Ah, never mind that! She needs it back.) It's not garbage. "Where'd you even find it?"

"Then you must race for it, sister!" Jasper cackles as his motorcycle appears underneath him. He revs the engine tauntingly with a 'rum, ruuum'. "I know you want to."

"...I really don't." Lettie pinches the bridge of her nose in response. She isn't inclined to compete for once, but she's got to get that locket back. Her pink bike blips into existence. "Fine. Hope you're ready to lose." The faerie rolls her shoulders, flips her hair, and then mounts her bike. She flattens her wings against her back and gestures for Juno to get on behind her. "Hold on, Juju."

Lettie leans forward and drives after her asshole brother. Wind whips around them as the city gradually melts into a snowy landscape, the tires leaving a line-trail behind them. She swerves left and right to avoid baby snow demons wandering about. Before long they're submerged in the darkness of a cave, the deeper they go the warmer it gets, and when they come out the other side they're passing pools of magma instead. Gotta get ahead somehow. She smirks as she approaches a haphazard looking rock to use as a ramp, speeds towards it and sends them flying over a field of spikes. If she were riding solo she might've been extra and done a backflip just to show off as she glitches them the rest of the way across. Hehe. (The fact that she pulls off this jump elicits a sour look from Jasper, who doesn't have the gall to try such a stunt and is currently eating their dust.) "We're totally winning now! I'm getting that locket back, damn it." She casts a glance over her shoulder to stick her tongue out with a classy 'bleeeh' as they ride off onto a road made of clouds where aquatic animals swim around in the sky. A familiar shark winks at her as they pass. Then they're splashing through the neon-lit puddles of the city streets and she's parking in a lot, deeming that their finish line.

Lettie snickers before playing it totally nonchalant, filing her nails as she waits for Jasper. When he pulls to a stop next to her, he gives a big dramatic sigh and leans against the handle bars. "You and your theatrics."

"You're one to talk." Lettie puffs her cheeks and holds her hand out. "Now hand it over."

"Tell me what happened to Titania first." Jasper says smoothly, swinging the locket idly as if it's nothing more than a yo-yo. "Then I'll give it back."

"That wasn't part of the deal." Lettie says tightly.

"And you know all about deals, don't you?" Jasper rises from his bike, towering over her. Lettie stands as well, resisting the urge to fly so she can glare at eye-level. He grips her harshly by the chin. "I told you where she lives now! Or lived. 'Cause now she's missing and her place is trashed." The faerie struggles to free herself from his hold. "I don't think that's a coincidence, do you? If she's dead and this comes back to bite me in the ass--"

"It won't! I haven't told them anything!" Lettie cries, finally managing to break herself away. She breathes heavily, massaging her jaw and blinking hard. (It's been so hard. She's always been alone. Hasn't had anybody to depend on. Except... Juno and Eliza? But...)

"But you know something. You can trust me." Jasper examines the locket closely before continuing to play with it, like a cat playing with their food. (Nah. Maybe she'd trust him a little more if he gave back the locket he promised.) "We need to look out for each other. If Titania's really dead then I might as well be the only family you have left." He presses a hand emphatically to his chest while she scoffs and rolls her eyes. (Finding her father came with the unexpected (and somewhat horrifying) revelation that she has twelve older half-brothers. Not exactly what she bargained for.) "I might've accepted you, but the rest think you're the little hellspawn that ruined our family."

It's not news or anything. Lettie doesn't care what they think of her. Fuck them! (It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that it wasn't her- hell, it wasn't even mother who ruined that family.) She just wants the damned locket back. She punches Jasper in the gut, catches the locket when he drops it, and quickly gestures for Juno to join her on her motorcycle again.

Lettie speeds off, driving down the city streets for what feels like hours. She's not really sure where they're going-- she's just going as fast as she can so they can be anywhere but there. (The wind dries the tears off her face, the sorrow morphs to anger and then to relaxed as the scenery changes to roads lined with cherry blossoms, pink petals floating all around. It's a comfort to have Juno's arms around her waist. To know she's there. She's got her.) Running away with Juno... wouldn't that be nice? After winding down a few secluded roads they end up riding by the seaside at sunset. Gasping at the view, she stops the bike so they can appreciate it. The sky looks like it's on fire.

"Help me with this?" Lettie hands Juno the locket. (She kept it clenched in her hand that whole time since getting it back.) She brushes her pink hair aside to give her better access to the back of her neck so she can fasten it. "...To be honest, I was kinda pissed at you back there." She pauses, biting her lip as she tries to puzzle out how to phrase it. It makes her chest tight. Juno kept trying to throw her life away like it wasn't precious... and meanwhile, Lettie was fighting just to have a chance at life. She does get it, on some level, the desire to be self-destructive, but... "Mostly 'cause I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want to lose you, too." (Ah. Why is this so familiar?) It's easier to confess these things when she has a reason to avert her eyes. "That fire that Eliza was talking about... I see it in you, too. There's still so much you need to see and experience." She nods at the beautiful sky stretched out before them. "...Lina would've liked it here. She needed the sky like I need the stars."

Lettie turns around, looking up at Juno. Touching the locket (now safely fastened around her neck) her gaze flits to her lips briefly before flicking back up to the storm cloud eyes she knows so well.

"It's gonna get dark soon. What do you want do, Juno?" Lettie asks, her cheeks rosy. (The evening air is chilly. That's it. That's totally it.) Eliza might worry if they don't go back tonight, but... they're teenagers and they've got a motorcycle. They could really do anything or go anywhere if they really wanted. She grabs the nearby lamppost and swings herself around in a circle. She smiles, feeling the thrill of being as young as she's supposed to be when she's with Juno. "I'll take you anywhere." If only just for tonight. The cameras, the questions, the deals, the work... they're all problems for her alternate self.

 

[starboob]

“Oh, shit.” Juno stumbles over to the side when the demon materializes from the shadows and has to catch herself on Olette’s shoulder to prevent from falling over. Even when she tilts her head back to look up at him, she has to keep herself attached to her or else she’ll tip over completely. (This is partially because she is drunk and partially because she is so unused to meeting people who are a fucking foot taller than her.) Her expression immediately sours when she realizes that he’s not someone her faerie likes and, honestly, Juno is getting major asshole vibes from him even before he dangles the locket she got for her in front of Olette’s face. ‘Prick.’

Juno’s fists are already flexing. She doesn’t care that her knuckles are already raw (she can’t really feel them), any asshole who messes with Olette deserves to have their face smashed against the curb. The kid is fucking set on this, already lifting the bottle to her lips to down the rest of its contents so that she can use it as a weapon and take this guy’s lights out. You don’t fucking mess pirates and their faeries. (What the fuck? She’s not a…) Olette, however, decides that she does want to race her brother–– a fact Juno is still trying to wrap her head around–– and summons her pink bike. Juno tosses the bottle to the side and sets herself down behind her, wrapping her not-yet-but-almost-stupidly-buff arms around her. It’s too bad that she only realizes she fucking hates motorcycles when on the back of one; but it’s not like she’s going to bail and cause the faerie to lose the race. Fuck no. She just holds on tighter and presses her face into the top of her head, closing her eyes and just counting the seconds until this is over.

When it is over, the kid can’t even congratulate her or keep herself straight as she keels over, clutching her stomach while it settles from all the somersaults it’s been doing. She doesn’t even get the chance to see Jasper grab Olette’s chin, something that would have easily landed him in the hospital and her, no doubt, in jail. (So it’s probably for the best. She still has three months before she’s supposed to end up in jail. Wait.)

…But apparently it’s not fucking over and for as much as she doesn’t want to get back on that fucking bike, she’s not going to leave or ditch Olette. This time, she braces herself from the start and hugs onto her companion while she steers them through the city. The kid keeps her eyes closed for the most part, at least up until they hit the seaside and the salted air hits her and encourages her to look. (Though she never grew up around beaches, she certainly has taken to them since meeting Olette on one.)

She steps off the bike once it’s stopped, tempted to trip forward to get closer to the vista but Olette asks for her help before she can and she happily assists. Though the task is simple, she does fumble a few times with the clasp, at first because the clasp is so fucking tiny, then again because she’s drunk and can’t aim properly, and one last time when she talks about being pissed with her. ‘Is it ‘cause I didn’t sucker punch your stupidly tall brother?’

Oh.

Her fingers linger on the fixed clasp for a minute before she pats it against Olette’s neck then drops her hands to the side. That feels weird, so she shoves her hands deep into her pockets and looks up at the sky. ‘She doesn’t even know that that wasn’t even the worst part.’ She doesn’t know that the worst is still to come. (Juno doesn’t question how she knows this, but she does. It’s been written in stone already and nothing can fucking change that her first night in the city (tonight), is going to be last good night for a fucking while.)

Memories, flashes to the future, or something start to play in her mind and remind her of everything that led to the ring, the academy, the pits. She shuts her eyes tightly, stamping out the visions, and then brings her gaze back down to her companion. “It doesn’t get better for me from here.” She admits this, even if she can’t explain it. “But I’ll live. You’re not gonna fuckin’ lose me.” She wraps an arm around Olette’s shoulder and pulls her into her side. “I’m here to stay. I’m, like, sleepin’ more ‘n shit.” The bruises under her teenage eyes say otherwise, but it also doesn’t feel like a lie because she has clear memories of sleeping underneath the faerie.

She lets go of Olette and looks up at the sky, thinking of the few memories she has of Lina; even despite that, the other faerie's loss still feels significant and weighty on her chest. (Maybe because she knows what it’s like to lose someone whose existence in her life has shaped the very core of who she is.) She follows the gradient of colors to the patches of ever darkening blue and points at the last stripe of bright blue, right before the sky turns dark-dark blue. “That bit reminds me of her.” On some level this feels weird to say, but the part of her that believes she knew Lina thinks this is normal. They can talk about this because they both knew her. Just like they both knew James. “I miss him like you miss her.” Her gaze is still on the sky, with her back still turned on the faerie while she swings around on the lamppost. “Honestly, I change my mind. I don’t think James would have liked the city. He would have seen that fucking thong and cringed, but he woulda liked seeing me like it.” A bitter smile cracks across her lips at his memory. “I used to get so fucking angry with him for never telling me what he actually liked. It was fucking annoying. We’d even get into fights and shit over it, you remember that?” Because, technically, in this version of her life Olette would have been there for those fights; or at least one of them.

Her brow furrows together and she finally turns to face the faerie. “But maybe you don’t because we didn’t meet until…” The beach? No. When Olette was being cornered by all those photographers? No. When Eliza pulled them both out of the river? No. And definitely not at Gran’s, now that she is thinking about it. “When did we meet?” Still, even with her confusion, she is not suspicious of Olette. In fact, her confusion only brings her closer to her companion, knowing that through all of this chaos in their lives, she is a constant regardless of how or when they met. She is her stable point, her homebase.

As Olette swings in a circle around the post, Juno comes up to catch her when she comes back her way, wrapping the tiny faerie in her arms as she looks down at her, removing a strand of pink hair from her face. With her dark ensemble to contrast the brightness of her hair, the pirate’s (?) heart skips a beat, reminded of how she looked on that candy currency world (?). (Though she would never say this out loud, knowing the subject is sensitive, she thinks her white eyes would really make the look even if she likes her blue ones.) “You look nice, by the way.”

The pad of her thumb brushes over the sparkles on Olette’s cheeks, her eyes locked on her glossy lips. ‘Do they taste like cherries?’ Though she knows they’ve kissed before, she doesn’t recall what her lips tasted or felt like; she also isn’t certain their lips smashing together thanks to the fucking cube really coun––

Her eyes widen as recognition comes over her like a tidal wave. “Olette, I think… I don’t think this is real.” Of course, the second that she says that, none other than James and Lina (who they were just mourning) come running up after them.

“Juno–– dude, what the Hell?” James looks scandalized seeing how Juno is embracing Olette and even Lina looks wounded by the sight of them within kissing frame of each other. The kid/pirate swallows hard, looking between the two ghosts. (They’re ghosts. They’re ghosts. They’re ghosts.) “Are you seriously cheating on Terra?”

The beautiful oceanside sunset ripples and morphs into a bar. The lamppost they had been near stretches out into a wall, making it so that Juno is pinning her against it. Again, she can only look over her shoulder between the two ghosts, her face drained of all color. “I-I–– no. This isn’t–– we’re not–– I’d never––”

And while it is true, she’d never, her positioning doesn’t look good–– it doesn’t look good for either them. Immediately, she backs away from Olette and looks to Lina, an apology already written in her eyes. (Of all the things she learned from Eliza, it is that loyalty is the only currency that matters. Even if she weren’t friends with Lina, she would not want to make a move on anyone’s girl. That’s just not her thing.) Though before she can voice the apology, before Lina can even say anything, a woman with the head and arms of a lioness bursts through the doors of the establishment, wild bloodshot eyes searching the room for––

“Juno!”

Terra. The kid, the pirate, the burnout, she doesn't know, shifts through so many different versions of herself at once that she cannot place herself or what’s going on. Taking advantage of the state Juno is in, the lion-woman makes her way to the kid/the pirate/the burnout and grabs her by the collar of her disheveled gray military uniform. “How could you!? You were supposed to be the one person who doesn’t betray me, you fuck!” She bares her teeth and growls, then hurls the kid/the pirate/the burnout across the bar.

Juno's back hits the wall, black stars exploding across her vision and when it returns, sands whip through her hair, the echo chamber of a cheering stadium thunders around her, and rather than a lion-woman in front of her, it’s a lion with the rear and horns of a water buffalo. The animal eyes the prisoner, entire body tensed and waiting to pounce.

From high above, in a private viewing box, the duchess sits on a plush chair like a queen. Olette and another woman sit on either side of her, seeming to be her equals. “This is getting rather tired, wouldn’t you say?” Cassidy asks, resting her cheek on her fist. She looks to the woman on her left, a blonde with a wild mane of curly hair. “Should I have them release the wolf-bats, Terra?”

“Does anything keep you entertained these days?” Terra isn’t even watching the arena match herself, either uninterested or put off by it. Instead, she’s flipping through an old novel that seems so fragile a sneeze might undo the bindings. “I really don’t care, Cassidy. Do whatever pleases you. You’re making money off of this fight either way.”

“Boo, you’re no fun.” The duchess crosses her arms over her chest and then turns her attention to Olette. “What do you think, Princess Olette? Should we feed the prisoner to the reaper? Or should it be that radioactive punk?” In that moment Lina appears in the arena, bound in magicked chains and hanging from a storm cloud over a sealed mouth on the bloodstained sands. “The audience wants to see someone die today so, as the guest of honor, I am allowing you to make the call.”

 

[ellarose]

Juju. Lettie remembers the comforting warmth of being pulled to her side, the caress of her thumb over her cheek as if it had only just happened. (It just happened.) Lina. The soft press of lips on lips, their last embrace. (That happened years ago. It was the last time. Because Lina is dust. She's not coming back. Never coming back.) And yet there she is, hanging up in chains again, the misery of her final moments paraded before her as well as a cheering audience. The faerie wants to scream at them, all of them, but no noise comes out. Whoever orchestrated this is a sick, sick fuck. She doesn't comprehend what the women around her are saying with blood roaring like twin waterfalls in her ears. Juno. Lina. Who was it who decided to put the most important people to her in this situation? And why is she being made to choose between them?

The duchess isn't bluffing, gazing down from her throne with pretty, pretty eyes that sparkle delightfully while she contemplates bloodshed and death. (Lettie's seen eyes like this before.) She's been told she's the one with the nightmare eyes... but at least she hasn't lost her heart. (And she wishes with her whole heart that the spectators and players could trade places, for them to for once feel the pain they so joyfully inflict upon others.) The faerie wrings her shaking hands to keep them still.

The 'logical' choice is to sacrifice Lina. Because she's not really there, is she? She's been dead for... for... it doesn't matter how long. She's dead. And Juno's last words to her seemed important. 'I don't think this is real.' What isn't real? Lettie wants to know, and stars, she hopes it's not the thought of them together. That she insinuated that what they have isn't real. They may not have anything concrete yet, but she doesn't want to see that dream smashed to pieces. it's one good thing that she has-- no matter what burns up when they move from world to world-- and she doesn't want to lose it. Most importantly, though, she doesn't want to lose her. She can't lose Juno.

"Well. If it is my call to make," But of course, she is Olette Lycoris Radiata. And she's prepared to throw logic out the damned window. "And someone must die today..." Her smirks has a razored, wicked edge. "Then I think it should be you, your grace."

'I don't think this is real' could also mean quite literally that none of this is real. It's a gamble... but couldn't Lettie take that to mean that throwing logic as well as the duchess out the window won't have any consequences? If not, if Lettie's going out this way, then at least she's going out without any regrets. It'll be dramatic. Cinematic. And this horrible woman is not going to force her to make this horrible choice for something as meaningless as boredom. It's like something straight out of a-- a nightmare.

A nightmare. Something about that strikes a chord with the faerie.

Lettie grabs Cathy by the shoulders when she scoffs snootily with disbelief, leaning all of her weight into throwing them through the window of their private viewing box. "You can't be se--" SMASH! (She totally is, though.) They burst outside as if in slow motion, shattered glass gleaming in midair with them like crystalized daggers, and she delights in the way the duchess's eyes widen with rage and fear. "You fucking bitch!" She makes a last-ditch attempt to wring the faerie's throat, but her fingernails only leave desperate scratches. Above her, Lettie makes a proper show of unfurling her wings and flapping them behind her, offering the duchess a coy little wave with her fingers as she plummets down into the sandy arena below. If she thought she could threaten her crew and get away with it she's got another thing coming.

The bloody sands aren't enough to break Cathy's fall. (And they shouldn't be. That might sound heartless, but she's not sorry. While Juno suffers the duchess makes a profit. It's not fucking right. It's not fucking fair. Just like it's not fair that she-- she's--) The audience stills and it's as if Lettie broke the world by breaking the rules. The sound of the body on the sand attracts the beast that had her cornered, giving her an opening to approach.

Lettie flies to Juno instantly, landing at her side and offering a hand to help her back on her feet. She smoothes out her gray uniform with a frown, checking her up and down for injuries. 'The prisoner'. That's what the duchess called her. Her heart clenches in her chest. How did this-- what happened to her? No. No, that doesn't matter now. What matters now is that they escape unscathed. They need to make it out of here alive. 'But I’ll live. You’re not gonna fuckin’ lose me. I’m here to stay. I’m, like, sleepin’ more ‘n shit.' Juno made a vow. They're going to take care of their mission and reach that future where the pirate (future pirate?) won't have to fight like this anymore. She doesn't actually like to fight. Nightmare. Mission? The faerie's head throbs painfully.

"Juno... is this real?" Lettie squints up at her. The version of Juno in the uniform and the one she recognizes as the Juno of the present flicker back and forth. Stars, her head is killing her. The truth is just beyond her reach, smeared about in a haze. "It's... it's not, is it?"

"Lettie." But Lina's brittle voice sounds clearer than her own thoughts. Lettie whips around to see her, still dangling in chains above the sealed mouth. The ground is beginning to growl like a hungry stomach beneath her. Oh. "We always said we were gonna run away together. Don't you remember?" Ghost-pale, her gaze pans down as the seal on the mouth begins to craaaack. The circles under her eyes dark and even more prominent than her smoky makeup. The look on her face is all wrong, hollow and lifeless, like something out of a nightmare. (Nightmare.) Lettie doesn't want to see it but she can't seem to tear her gaze away. "I don't want to die."

It's not real. But there's a mouth full of gleaming, sharp white teeth opening wide underneath Lina's dangling boots. The sand around the teeth scorches to an inky black which then spreads across the entire arena.

Lettie's not sure if it's the fear that roots her in place, if it's because she knows that's not the real Lina, or if it's because she sees a flash of her future self reflected in Lina's eyes-- her body locked in chains while Juno is left on the sidelines to watch as she falls. She wanted to run away with Lina. Now she wants to run away with Juno. Is history just going to repeat itself?

"I don't want to die. You knew that... you had a choice and you rushed to her side." Lina's saying something Lina wouldn't say. "You chose her."

"You're not Lina." Lettie's certain of this. That doesn't stop her from trembling while she speaks. (Lina's face, looking at her with those eyes, speaking to her with that voice. Like she's hurting. And she doesn't want to see her hurting. Even if it isn't real.) "Lina is..." She blinks hard, her eyes misty and hot. "She's..." She's gone. But Juno's real. Juno's the present and maybe even the future. They've got each other.

"Dust." The reaper says in a choppy voice that doesn't sound like an actual voice. It sounds like it's being processed through several dimensions and layers upon layers of static. The mouth smiles, opens wide, and-- snap! Once more, Lettie stands deathly still as she watches Lina get snapped up in the entity's jaws. "We'll be waiting for you, Olette." It coughs out a field of blue gladiolus flowers, which then dissolves into dust... and the dust dissolves into the soft blue carpet of Lettie's room in the estate. There are bars buzzing with magic barred over the windows and the door.

Lettie falls to her knees, still trapped within that memory. The torturous scene plays over and over in her mind. Lina. Where there was a pile of glass from where she shoved the duchess out the window, there are now shards of a broken mirror scattered all around. The bedroom cell seems to flicker back and forth between the one she's familiar with and one that looks a whole lot more rundown.

"Juno..." Lettie calls her name to make sure she's still there with her. (The tears have her vision swimming. She can't tell anymore... she just hopes she's not alone. She doesn't want to be alone right now.) "How are we gonna break out of here?" She's not quite sure if she means their prison cell or this nightmare they've been trapped in. Either way, they're not going to get anywhere by sitting around in here.

"Ah, ah, ah. There's no escaping this." None other than Cassidy speaks up, rising up from the 'dead' like it's nothing, peering through the bars at them. "...Well, there might be hope of escape for one of you. It depends on who survives this next tournament." She winks at Juno and Lettie's blood boils. "My bets are on you. You won't disappoint me, Juno, will you? Terra will be watching, too."

 

[starboob]

Juno stares dazedly at the animal before her, all the strength from her body gone as she slumps back against the wall it had tossed her against. Her breath comes out in jagged wheezes and it takes everything in her to keep her eyes open and searching–– searching for something that will save her from becoming this beast’s fuel; she doesn’t care if it will upset the audience, who are only here to watch prisoners get torn to shreds by monsters and nightmares alike; she’s Juno and she’s not a fucking quitter (not anymore, at least). Belabored, she scoots her body along the wall, trying to get herself back up and, ultimately, falling into a heap of limbs. ‘No, no, no…’ She sucks in a breath and tenses every muscle she can, struggling to get herself just an inch closer to the skeleton of another ring victim. It calls to her like a golden promise, like salvation, because if she can just get one finger to even brush against it, she can end this and go back to her cell. It might not be home, but at least she’ll be breathing and she owes it to Eliza to keep breathing. She owes it to James, too.

Her fingers desperately reach forward, as if they have the strength to pull her closer. The growling becomes louder, more agitated the more she moves. Its front paw scrapes at the ground, ready to launch when a shrill scream interrupts its focus and pulls its attention (and Juno’s) to look behind it at the center of the arena, just in time to see the duchess break across the sands. (This isn’t how it happened.)

Juno, too stunned to even feel relieved, lets her cheek fall against her arm, content with giving herself a few more seconds to recover before she undoubtedly has to get back up again. Except a winged woman–– a princess?–– swoops down and lands in front of her. It takes her scattered memories a few seconds to place her, but she comes around the second the faerie offers her hand and then says her name. ‘Olette.’ Memories and not-memories flood her in painful supercuts as timelines that never were try to make sense of themselves in her head. “It’s… not.” She confirms, leaning against Olette before she feels stable enough to stand on her own and survey the ring.

Her eyes follow a trail that leads to a sealed mouth at the center of the ring and travel up to see Lina, chained and dangling over it. Her heart drops, not needing the story to play itself out to know what is going to happen next. While the two faeries talk, the necromancer’s eyes search the arena once more for anything that might be able to stop the tragedy from happening. (“I don’t want to lose you, too,” she had said. And, at another point, “Don't you know how helpless that'd make me feel? Don't you dare put me through that, Juno. I don't want you to die, either.”) Even if logic tells her that she can’t change the past, some part of her still believes that her will is stronger than what has been set in stone. (She just doesn’t want to see Olette sad.)

But it’s too late, because Juno isn’t quick enough, strong enough, savvy enough to change the course. The black sands stretch into a disturbing smile that snaps around the other faerie and she’s just. Gone. ‘What is that thing?’ Vaguely, she recalls an approximation of that entity chasing them on some heavily infected world. (Heavily infected world?) Maybe the same world where Olette begged her to use a bit of her magic? She doesn’t know, her brain too scrambled to decipher the timelines, her mind too stuck on the entity’s threat. “We’ll be waiting for you, Olette.”

What does that mean? (She knows what it means, on some level.) ‘No. No, no, no. No fucking way.’ She presses her eyes shut and shakes her head like she can shake away the vague pieces of information she’s just gathered. ‘It’s not real–– none of this real, remember? This is just… just your fears.’ She pauses for a second, her eyes cracking open to stare at a vibrant blue carpet. ‘Fears?’

At the call of her name, she turns, relieved that her faerie is still here with her. She doesn’t have an answer to her question, doesn’t know how exactly they’re going to escape any of this, but comforted by the fact that they will because they’re the homicidal pirate and the fucking faerie. Nothing has stopped them before.

Though her brief moment of clarity is ripped from her when the duchess appears outside the barred doors, reminding her of who she is (supposed to be). Her image flickers, as it had been before, cycling between her prison garb and her academy uniform. At the mention of Terra, her clothes settle on a mashup of her pirate clothes and pieces of her uniform–– like the gray pants and thick black boots. The pirate approaches the bars, brows furrowed together. “She is?”

“Indeed.” Cassidy smiles her vampire smile as the pirate now takes a cautious step back from the bars. Juno’s confusion is plain on her face, for a number of reasons, as she looks over the room, at Olette, then back to the duchess. “Why do you look so shocked? Her betrayal was nothing personal.”

While that is true, both that Terra betrayed her and that it wasn’t personal, it isn’t true that such a betrayal landed her back in prison. (Once she got out, she made sure she’d be out for good.) Also, no way would she ever try to crawl back to Terra when Olette is right here with her. (Olette who is her entire world.) She searches around her chest for the locket, making sure that it is still there, and once she has it in her fist, confirming that it and all the memories associated with it are real, she is set in her decision.

“Then you and Terra are going to be fucking disappointed. That little faerie,” she jerks her thumb over her shoulder, “is going to kick my ass if you try to fucking pit me against her.” A television screen opens up behind Juno as she says this, playing back reels and reels of footage from their days of fighting each other instead of their enemies, roughhousing, and eventual sparring. It shows cuts of Olette pinning (a red faced) Juno down; glitching out of her stupidly buff arms; throwing bomberflies and knives (pre-Marjorie’s rules); and so on. While the duchess considers this, the pirate puts her hands in her pockets and searches for her stash of bones; as she does this, she looks over her shoulder and winks at Olette. ‘Trust me.’

“You really are an idiot.” The duchess shrugs, not noticing or caring about the pirate’s clenched fists. “You should have taken my deal when you had the chance, Juno.” She waves her hand through the air, dismissing the pirate while she turns her back to leave. It’s as her back is turned that Juno throws out her hands and hexed shards jump out of her fists to form the skeleton of a three-headed giant. Its transformation is explosive enough to shatter the magicked bars keeping them captive, filling the dreamscape with a thick cloud of dust. While this happens, Juno helps Olette to her feet and ushers them both out of the cell, running past the duchess who is crushed beneath Juno’s bone construct. (She doesn’t count on her staying down, however, and pushes herself forward, as fast as she can manage.)

"You fucking pirate!"

Yeah, she definitely doesn't sound like she's staying down and her cry only inspires Juno to pick up her pace. As they escape from the prison, from the duchess, the walls along the hallway start to glitch into static, changing between the aesthetics of Desdemonia and Avangeline in predictable intervals. Up ahead, a bright white light appears, growing as it approaches them. When it's a few feet in front of them, it flashes, and engulfs them in its brightness. Once the light dims and Juno can open her eyes again, they're in a room (?) that is covered in static, making it difficult to determine just how large this space is. Then, similar to when Juno had been talking earlier, portions of the static walls turn into television panels, showing glimpses of their lives.

One television shows the Shrike’s place–– filled with thick white fog and haunting whispers that count between one and two (the suggestion that only one of them would survive). The milky fog obscures the kids sitting on the altar from view. The whispers become louder, more disjointed, and Juno’s young self screams, “James!” Repeatedly, her young self calls for her friend until her voice is raw and hoarse with worry. A loud snap, like a bone breaking, echoes in between Juno's cries, followed by the sound of shoes scraping as they whirl around in dirt, then the impact of a fist slamming into someone's face and a light body hitting the ground. The screen flashes from white to a cracked image of the Shrike, in her billowy shadow robes and bloodied plague doctor mask, looming over Juno who stands shell shocked over a mangled fallen figure.

Another television shows blurred and hazy scenes from Juno’s teenage years, things she doesn’t quite remember. The parts that are clear reflect her time with Eliza, traveling Desdemonia together up until Juno stormed off, bloody knuckled, for the last time. Some screens show glimpses of her happier memories, but for the most part they reflect everything she had to do and become to survive; from fighting nightmares to fighting others to just plain fighting. The later scenes of her life play out with a vengeful red lens over them.

But as they’re watching different scenes of their life play out, the televisions start to break off of the static wall and collect together at the center of the room. Thick cables shoot out from the backs of the screens and click together with the others to form a towering technological beast with six sparking cable arms; the screen that serves as the face shows a blend of both of their features intermixed with James, Lina, Cassidy, Jasper, Titania in a dizzying way that makes it difficult to focus. "Get lost," it says in Eliza's voice and then it continues in her first mother's voice, "Can't you tell that you're unwanted?"

 

[ellarose]

Lettie dazedly stares at the carpet while Juno speaks with the duchess through the bars, her aching heart shuddering like a wounded animal in her chest. The room is blurry through her damp eyes. They’re saying something about ’Terra’ and while listening and being in the know are her instincts for survival, she can’t focus. While trying to shove Lina’s tragic death in the past where it belongs she only succeeds in replaying it over and over again. Lina. She’ll never forget the expression on her face before she fell. (That wasn’t how it happened. That wasn’t Lina. But that was Lina’s face and it haunts her to her core.) Nothing about the altered memories changes the fact that there was so much she wanted to see and do. There was so much she wanted to be. But she didn’t get to live past seventeen. The faerie hasn’t given herself time to think about this since the last time she was locked in this room. (With Juno?) No, this isn’t right. She never shared a cell with anyone. The duchess never appeared, never organized a tournament.

What a mess. Lettie’s mind resembles a tangled clump of necklaces in an abandoned jewelry box. It’s too daunting to try picking it apart. She notices Juno reaching for the locket around her neck and instinctively reaches for hers own, ensuring it’s still there after she fought to have it back. Slowly, she blinks her tears away as the pirate begins talking her up, bringing her highlights from their sparring sessions onto the screen. Yeah… she went hard for a while there, thinking the skeleton crew’s tally had been measuring their sparring sessions. (The ache in her heart eases ever so slightly when Juno winks at her. She’s got her.) The faerie’s not sure she deserves the praise right now… but it’s strangely refreshing to hear a pep-talk from someone other than herself for once. With non-stop working, being unable to vent to anyone, she’s been her own cheerleader for years and years. She sniffs and dries her eyes with the backs of her hands before she’s helped back up onto her feet.

Gotta keep moving forward.

Juno takes her by the hand and takes the duchess out. Lettie’s too numb to process the danger they’re in, to fully process what they’re running from, but she trusts the pirate to guide them where they need to go. (They’re going to be okay. They’re together, they’re going to be okay.) As messy as her life has been, it led her to Juno, didn’t it?

…But what if it’s not? Lettie’s resolve falters as they run. The screens, the ominous counting, the fog, the sound of a younger Juno’s cries and screams as she loses James. No. She knows all too well what it’s like to lose someone. The faerie demanded that Juno not put her through that. So what if she ends up putting Juno through that? Again? No, make it stop. She cannot stand to hear the sound of her screams. Agonized. Pained. The screens flash a violent red, showing her fighting, fighting, fighting to survive.

Lettie’s screens don’t look the same. They show scenes of her working, mostly, tinkering at workshop benches, clearing tables, dancing in clubs, flirting with awful fucking demons. Surviving in her own way, yes, but it doesn’t compare when she sees them side by side. Especially those with her lying flat on her floor with the curtains drawn and the mirrors covered. Avangeline wasn’t affected by Cerise and Cressida’s mistake in the same way Desdemonia was. Even so, this strengthens her resolve to keep moving forward. Regardless of what her future might hold, they need to help these worlds. They need to do this for the people living on them. For Juno and for others like her. The possibility of Juno living on peacefully is worth fighting for.

When she really pays attention, there are some cutting scenes to glimpse among the mundane of Avangeline. The dark side of the cities below. Demons leeching off of their faeries in petty street fights, reducing them to dust. Those rooms where faeries are meant to lounge around like objects, as though they’re part of someone’s decor. There’s another of Lettie sitting in the room they just escaped, viciously tearing petals off a rose before dumping them into the trash and setting the remains aflame. Make it stop, make it stop. She clutches Juno’s hand in one hand and her locket in the other. Feeling the heart shape causes an epiphany to take shape in her mind at the same time. Nightmares. Mission. Heart.

“The heart! We need to…” Lettie’s head is aching, but she’s starting to remember what they’re here for. However, her thoughts are rudely interrupted when the monitor head leans in towards them, taunting them with faces and voices from their pasts combined. 'Get lost', they say, 'you're unwanted', they say. On some level the faerie knows they need to help, but she can't help being a little sassy. It's been a long fucking night. "...We are lost, thank you very much! And I hate to break it to you, but you're not all that much fun to be around either."

“...Will you ever forgive me, Lette?” Titania’s face melts through, then, clearer than the rest. Lettie drops her attitude in an instant, her face draining of color. Shit. “I can't stand for things to stay this way between us. I made a mistake. Please, please, say you’ll forgive me. Come home and forgive me.”

“You’re… not real.” Lettie steps back and mistakenly of Juno's hand when she presses her hands over her ears. She’s so distracted trying to shut out the sound of her voice, the encroaching memories of their last conversation, that she doesn’t notice the wires slithering up behind her. They wrap around her ankles before snapping them together, hoisting her into the air, leaving her to dangle for only a moment and then toss her towards the wall of screens. Rather than collide with them, the surface glows faintly as the faerie slips right into one of the screens as if it were nothing more than a pool of water.

Lettie blinks once, twice, and finds herself in the memory being projected on that screen. She’s in a club full of flashing lights, lost and disoriented. Where the fuck am I? She sort of recognizes the place, but the sudden change is undeniably jarring.

From the outside, Lettie simply appears in the environment as if she's an actress on television. From the darkness behind the monitors, more wires lash out and wrap themselves around Juno this time. Her legs, her waist, and even her stupidly buff arms. Rather than throw her towards the screens, they simply tighten and hold her in place. The screen acting as the monster's face leans in from above as if to scrutinize her more closely.

“See? She went back home and left you behind.” The faces and voices are a dizzying blend of people from Juno’s life. James, Terra, Eliza, Cassidy. The static builds, making them sound all the more robotic, and the color of their eyes mix like watercolor paints before finally blazing a threatening red. “Will you ever learn? Everyone leaves you. Everyone.”

As the voices say this, Lettie’s in the process of figuring out that she can glitch from screen to screen on the countless monitors. She ends up in one of the red-tinted Desdemonia memories and helps the Juno inside with her fight unhesitatingly, throwing a few bomberflies at the beast chasing her. (Even if it's not real, there's no universe that exist where she's going to make Juno fight alone.) Once she's sure the monster there is taken care of, she glitches over onto the next screen. She seems to be gradually making her way to the upper center screen.

“You've got nowhere to go home to, do you? I’m not lookin’ to take you back, runt.” Juno’s mother’s voice bulldozes over all the others. "Me neither." Cassidy takes over, then, wearing her vampirish smile. "I'll make sure you're running for the rest of your life."

Meanwhile, Lettie glitches herself into a monitor showing one of her workshop memories. With this brief moment of peace, she plops down at the other end of the bench as her past self to works unalarmed with her headphones on. The present faerie examines the screen that allows her to see into the space where Juno is. (She’s been able to glimpse inside all this time-- it's like looking through a window. But glitching has only allowed her to pass through the monitors on the wall— not back into the real world.) Juno’s in danger, though, and she needs to make her way back to her. This only works when they're together. She steals a piece of her past self's gum and chews it furiously as she brainstorms a solution.

That’s when she notices something flickering on the ceiling above Juno’s head. Her eyes widen. A steel-gray skeleton dangles there, electric blue and red wires threaded through its ribs and eye sockets. In the place of a heart, there’s a cube tucked within. The sides flicker erratically. It seems to be busted with a dented, sparking side. Nightmares. Mission. Heart. Cubes.

Lettie can’t do anything from her side. But Juno might be able to. The faerie jumps up and down frantically, waving her arms to try and get her pirate's attention. (Her brain may be fried, but she also glamours herself into her sexiest swimsuit to help accomplish this task. There aren’t mermaids around to distract her this time, so… maaaybe it'll work. Just maybe!) Then she draws out a neon cube and desperately points ‘up, up, up!’ with hopes that she might see it, too.

 

[starboob]

Though she watches these clips with a stone face, unwilling to give the beast an ounce of satisfaction, the wounds she thought had turned to keloids open as she’s reminded that everything she saw in Gran’s eyes has come true. The momentary cuts of joy are laughable in comparison to the sea of red screens that make up most of her life–– a reminder that her life has never known peace and will never know peace. (Even if she thinks she’s found it in Olette, how long will it last?) She’s damned. She’s cursed. Rest isn’t for her. Safety isn’t her guarantee. When Olette leaves her, because she will, all the happiness she brings will leave with her too. It’s the single fear that haunts her in the middle of the night and keeps her up when the faerie isn’t resting on top of her. And this technological demon has latched onto this like a vampire would a throbbing vein.

It all happens so quickly that Juno doesn’t immediately process it; she just watches, like a passenger in her own body, as the faerie is thrown back to Avangeline, leaving her alone. Except she’s not really on Avangeline and Juno knows this. She can tell just by watching Olette move through the scenes of their lives. But the beast reminds her, using the voices that are knives to her skin, that this is her fate regardless. That fact hammers into her heart, leaving it with a crack as she slumps against her bonds like a prisoner. (Her clothes glitch to tatters.)

The monitor then crackles and warps to show Gran’s face–– her thin cruel lips, a mouthful of missing teeth, wrinkles set in her skin like a map, and those haunting nightmare eyes (not to be confused with Olette’s dreamy ones). Her smile is like a scythe and Juno instinctively tries to back away, but the bonds around her only tighten and root her in place.

“Did you really think you could escape?” The screen zooms in on those cloudy eyes, the fog in them swirling around hypnotically and parting to reveal the future Juno saw for herself at nine. Back then (and right now) Gran’s eyes had shown her her older self, tall and strong. (She remembers not minding that.) They also show her older self alone, shrouded by darkness, wandering a callous world where abandonment is her only constant. People come and go from her life; some leave knives in her back as they go. It never matters how kind or cruel Juno is or what intentions she has, her touch sets everything aflame until she’s on fire, too. No matter what she does or how strong she becomes, she’s always set to become monster food. It’s a future where she lives in the saltwater of her misery. It’s a future she has grasped and tasted for herself over and over again like a prison meal. Being with Olette has her hopeful that maybe Gran’s foresight was wrong, that maybe she can have one nice thing, but this reminder keeps her grounded. Olette won’t be a constant, because no one in her life stays. (“We’ll be waiting for you, Olette.”)

“This is your lot, Juno. You are not so fucking special that you can change the way the river runs.” The taunt is punctuated with a shock of electricity that causes her to seize, eyes shutting closed, jaw clamping shut, as a groan scrapes against the back of her throat, barely restrained. The monitor cackles then statics to reflect her nightmares–– showing her the ones that plagued her constantly; that plague her constantly (at least when Olette isn’t safely on top of her while she sleeps). However, these nightmares mirror the scenes behind this techno-beast, the ones of Avangeline’s underbelly society where assholes burn up faeries for no reason. Juno, in this case, is cast as the asshole, ignoring the three squeeze warning and getting drunk off of faerie magic. She would never risk her, but the monitors on the wall also remind her of all her selfish indulgences and maybe part of her fears she isn’t capable of changing; maybe some part of her fears she won’t be quick enough to stop herself. The prisoner turns away from the beast as best she can, her heart as choked as her lungs.

“Are you ready for this reality?” the layered voice asks as a reel of the faerie burning up plays itself over and over and over again. “Because the path you’re on guarantees it, sprat.”

She bites down on the inside of her cheek to distract from the suffocating fact that she is always going to lose. It doesn’t matter how hard she fights or how fast she runs, none of it will ever be enough. So why does she even try? How come she keeps fucking trying after everything in Gran’s eyes has come true? And it will continue to come true, too. Even if she knows that Olette isn’t really gone–– she can see her flickering through the different scenes of their life behind the beast–– that doesn’t mean that she won’t leave. (“We’ll be waiting for you, Olette.”) She’s a goner.

When she opens her eyes again, head sunk, her vision is blurred with tears she can’t stifle. Her head lulls back, ready to accept the hopelessness of her fate, when she catches a glimpse of Eliza on that amalgam’s face. Even if her voice is layered with the other taunting ones, Juno knows it’s not her. (Yes, she once told Juno to get lost, but there is context behind that and she never meant it like that.) Even in a nightmare, the pirate can’t imagine Eliza ever turning on her. Even after everything, she knows Eliza is there for her, wherever she is. ‘Make ‘em bow.’

Emboldened by the memory of Eliza and what she said, what Olette confirmed, and then by the vow she made, the pirate snaps out of her reverie and blinks away the tears. Olette might be a goner, but like fucking Hell is Juno going to abandon her. Like Hell will Juno stop fighting for her; she promised to protect her and she will–– she’ll go further than her initial vow, too. Whatever is waiting for her, Juno will be right by her side, holding her hand. Where she goes, Juno will follow because no one deserves to despair alone or in silence. And if it comes down to it, goddess forbid, she’ll walk backwards into that void just to make sure someone is watching Olettes’s back.

“Yeah, I’m not anything special,” she looks straight into the monitor’s dizzying amalgam of faces, her eyes burning. “But I don’t fucking give up. That’d be a fucking lame way to go.” She smoothes her tongue over where she bit the inside of her cheek, tasting blood. “Even if this ends bad, at least I gave it my fucking all.” Her eyes search the screens behind the beast for her faerie, having lost Olette’s position when she let herself falter. However, when her eyes land on her, she has to do a double take–– a triple take, even–– to make sure that the scantily clad Olette she’s seeing is the actual Olette and not the one who wasn’t able to break the mermaid’s spell. Either way. Fuck. ‘Shit. I’m an idiot.’ And she continues to be an idiot as she stares dumbly at the faerie, watching her bounce (ooh-la-la) and not fully realizing this isn’t supposed to be a distraction from the techno-beast’s game of emotional warfare. ‘Nice.’ In her admiration, she entirely forgets the point of what she had been saying and the half-baked plan she had been forming. She gulps, lips slightly parted as she imagines how much better her life would be if her mouth were exploring Olette.

It only occurs to her that she isn’t supposed to be ogling when the faerie draws out a neon cube. (Admittedly, it still takes Juno an extra minute to figure out how a neon cube might be sexy, because everyone knows that cubes are the least sexy and most annoying shape in the geometric arsenal, but once she realizes that this isn’t part of a show and that Olette is trying to communicate with her, she snaps out of it. Sort of.) She blinks, shakes her head, and tears her eyes away from Olette (reluctantly, with great effort), following the direction of where she’s pointing.

At first she only sees the metal skeleton, but when she squints, she can make out a broken cube tucked behind the ribs. (Vaguely she remembers a neon cube appearing when Olette saved her from the vampire duchess. But that was weeks ago? Or, it feels like it was weeks ago with how much she’s changed since snorting dust and ending up in that red room. Wait, is that where she met Olette? Or was it on her ship? The beach? This doesn’t make any fucking sense.)

And that’s when it clicks (again).

‘I’m such a fucking idiot.’ Unfortunately, when she makes this realization (not that she’s an idiot, but that a cube is above her and they’re in a nightmare) the techno-beast understands what has been discovered and the wires and cables wrapped around the pirate tighten, threatening to strangle her. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ With the way that she’s bound she couldn’t reach her bombs or her bones if she tried, but she now remembers the plan she had been forming before getting distracted. While Olette might berate her for what she’s going to do next, she has to understand that her pirate won’t quit until her body does.

She finds the spot on the inside of her cheek that she chewed into and bites into it again, letting blood pool in her mouth and coat her tongue. (She’s never actually used her blood magic like this, but she supposes there are plenty of necromantic accolades she has been forced to achieve since the cube ruined her life.) Though it’s odd to bend the necromantic energy without the touch of her hands, she can still feel it and, with a force of concentration, manipulate it. With the blood enchanted, she throws as much of her weight forward as she can and sprays it from her mouth, willing it to transform into razor edges that slice through the main monitor, shattering its screen-face and cutting through its internal wiring. The beast’s head is thrown backwards, sparks erupting from its broken, glitching face and then it stumbles to the side and collapses, its grip loosening around the pirate.

Juno wriggles out of the wires and cables, stumble-running towards the opposite end of the room to create distance from herself and her foe, not trusting it to stay down as the cables are still moving. More than that, the shattered glass on the floor turns into static. While Juno fumbles around for her whip, the static pieces pool together, forming an amorphous mass of buzzing black and white. Just as the pirate is about to snap her wrist, the static pool rises from the floor and glitches into the vampiric version of the duchess. “Shit. Fuck. Are you fucking serious?”

“Surprise, bitch.” She flashes her fangs in a smile while her fingernails turn to claws. “I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.” Her body then becomes a streak of cinnamon as she rushes towards Juno.

The pirate barely has time to move, but manages to throw herself to the side just as the vampire is about to clip her. She tumbles over on the ground, but this doesn’t stunt her–– her body works automatically to get herself upright again, her legs moving like egg beaters as she pushes up. The duchess, having missed her mark, glitches out and phases into one of the screens, moving through them faster than Juno can track her.

While part of Juno wants to make sure the duchess doesn’t enter Olette’s scene, she knows that ensuring both their safety means getting to that fucking cube. Plus, she’s the fucking faerie. She can handle herself. (She hopes.) The pirate reaches for her whip again and, once more, aims to pull the skeleton (and cube) down from the ceiling.

At the same time Juno does this, all of the scenes that the duchess speeds through flip to a channel that shows Juno and the duchess’s first meeting. It takes place inside of a red carpeted living room at the duchess’s estate. The walls of this room are covered floor to ceiling in preserved paintings and taxidermied animals. A younger version of Juno sits in a plush leather chair beside a fire. Her hands are clenched over her knees and her eyes are downcast as she waits for the duchess who isn’t yet there. This younger Juno has chest length hair and no scar; she also appears freshly groomed and in fine clothes, though she’s covered in small injuries and her wrists and ankles are shackled. It could be the firelight, but it’s also possible that this young Juno is shaking.

While this scene spreads across the screens, the pirate secures her whip around one of the ribs and yanks to pull the metal skeleton down into her arms. Just as Juno closes her arms around the skeleton, checking to make sure Asshole XIII (?) is still there, the cables from the fallen tech-beast start to thrash around erratically, knocking all over the place and not seeming to have a particular target. One of the arms sweeps towards Juno and she almost misses it trying to dodge another that would have taken out her head. Then another almost gets her ankle before she hops away, narrowly avoiding stepping on one that tries to wrap her from behind. Trying to track all of the cables at once is impossible and eventually one of the arm sweeps into Juno’s stomach, forcing the air out of her. Though rather than let herself get knocked over, she holds both herself and the skeleton (and cube) to the flailing cable. It whips around the chamber, flinging the pirate into the upper center screen where the duchess must be (or have been) since it has also changed from the workshop to the living room.

The skeleton is forced from Juno's arms as she collides with the floor, skidding across the carpet until she hits the leg of the chair her past self had been sitting in. The neon cube tumbles out of the rib cage and settles near the center of the room and the image of the past Juno puffs to smoke with the present Juno’s arrival. The pirate pushes herself off the ground and immediately begins searching the room for Olette. When she finds her, she rushes over to her, checking her out for injuries. “Are you okay?” she asks, somehow forgetting about all of her own injuries. She also entirely forgets about the broken cube and the threat of the vampiric duchess, adamant that the faerie's well being is top priority.

 

[ellarose]

"Now that's what I call strategy," The devil on Lettie's left shoulder nods with salacious approval. "More like cringe. It was totes shallow! And weren't you trying to cut back on your glamours?" The snooty angel on the right chastises. (Haha, turns out she's still got it after all. Take that, fish bitches!) Meanwhile, Lettie doesn't pay them any mind, her fingertips fanning over the apple red of her sparkly cheeks, because... "Did you see the way she looked at me? You guys think it's possible she might like m--" "Oh stars, give me a break." The little angel rolls their eyes at the faerie's hopeless gay antics and vanishes in a puff of smoke. She blinks. "...What? It was essential for our mission that she look at me. I mean, the hint." She draws another cube and does a little ditty to give the butterflies sweeping through her body something to do. Naturally her pirate received the message, too (after an admittedly flattering amount of staring) because she's captain fucking Juno and she's a survivor through and through. She's got this. And she gets her. They can do this even if these demon-screens are trying to keep them apart. "You get it, right? Strategy." The faerie tilts her head inquiringly towards the little devil.

"I think you've got it bad, darling." They sigh, nodding where the angel used to be. Lettie blows out a puff of air and waves in their general direction, already turning her head towards the screen again to watch Juno. If she can't be there in the flesh then she's got to cheer her on, right? (She's left half-swooning and half-terrified that Juno might try one too many times to block with her face. But she believes she's going to fight like hell-- she made that vow and she's been taking it seriously ever since. She remembers the big grin on her face when she worked her first-ever negotiation, the way she announced it to a fucking deity that she made her a promise. She's got this, she's got to got this.) The devil taps her and she (very reluctantly) tears her gaze away. Juju, be safe. "But you should probably look out for yourself now."

Lettie blinks, turning her head to get a better scope of her surroundings. As far as she's concerned, she's safe in this workshop memory. But now it's starting to flash red, like the memories of Juno fighting all of those monsters. And she acknowledges that the devil has given her some top tier advise when she sees none other than the vampiric duchess rushing towards her through the red like an angry freight train sent from the depths of hell. "You again--!?"

The faerie flickers out of the way, her form sweeping across the room like a ghost on acid. Damn it. Relying on her glitches again. ('You need to find another way to fight.') Yeah, that'd be awesome if Cathy-- Clawthy-- wasn't so fucking fast! It's either glitch out of the way get torn to sad little faerie shreds by those grossly long claws of hers. No one said this adjustment was going to be easy, though. It's not something she can consciously change once her instincts start kicking in. Glitch, glitch, glitch. The screen they're in projects red and white lights flashing like two dancing wires of electricity. The duchess leaves the faerie with a few scratches whenever she wisps past her while Lettie manages to clock her with a few punches. She nearly captures a handful of Clawthy's dress before she tears herself away. The duchess's light swirls around and vanishes into the dark space under one of the nearby doors. The faerie lands in a heap on the carpet (carpet?), gasping for breath. With her cheek pressed to soft carpet fuzz (the workshop never had a carpet) and lying in the heat of a crackling fireplace, she blinks heavily. She's tired enough to nap. Wakefulness smashes into her like a wave of ice-water, though, when she realizes that she's not alone. There are two shackled feet nearby. Feet belonging to...

Lettie's gaze pans up and she has to do a double-take before realizing that it's Juno. Juno with long hair, dressed up in clothes that don't remind her even remotely of the pirate she knows now... trembling. It's not the way she looks so different that necessarily makes her stomach drop, though. It's those bindings. (A fighting energy fires up in her arms. The desire to sock whoever is responsible for whatever it is that she's witnessing right now.) There's a chance it's not real, right? Just another figment there to distract me. But, no. No, probably not. Her gut tells her that there's at least a kernel of this that's rooted in reality, like everything else they've been witnessing. (Relying on her gut, on instinct... it got her this far. But thinking back to all the magic she's spent, she knows she needs to be better than that now. Hm. The goggles.) Briefly, she recalls the night they met. When Juno spoke of selling her off to the duchess... could it be that she--? Ah. There's too much she doesn't know. Lettie knows she'd have been mounted up on the wall. A pretty decoration to admire and no more, just like the faeries back on Avangeline. Juno, though, survived her world tooth and nail. The duchess could've easily found a use for her that way. Their dinner had been stressful, she'd been focused on so many things, but she had said things about fighting for her in that arena... her head throbs again. Just how much of a sacrifice was it for Juno to chose her over the duchess? Will she think it was worth it when she realizes that Lettie's been a lost cause this entire time?

Stop. Lettie admonishes herself, drawing her magic circle and grabbing her goggles. She climbs to her feet, about to ask if the past Juno is okay, when...

'Are you okay?' The present Juno beats her to the punch, with her impossible-to-imitate voice of someone who smoked too much carb in their teens. A voice that warms her when she hears it, one she could listen to all night long. The other Juno is gone and her Juno is back. (Well... that Juno was her Juno, though. Or at least she thinks so. But now's not the time to bring this up.) Lettie stares searchingly into the pirate's storm cloud eyes, her gaze flicking down to her lips. They're stained ruby red. (And no, duh, it's not lipstick. There might've been a knot in her stomach at the concept of Cathy forcing her lips all over Juno's... but it unwinds quickly and makes room for concern when she realizes what it really is.) Brow knitting, she lifts herself to her tip-toes and gently uses her thumb to clean the blood from her lower lip.

"Fine." Lettie manages with a guilt-edged voice, lowering her heels back to the floor and hanging her head. The worst of her wounds are all on the inside. This is apparent when she glances down at herself, in her swimsuit and covered in only a few measly scratches. Looking back up at Juno, it's visibly apparent that she's had a gnarlier fight up to this point and the faerie's heart clenches. Juno doesn't like to fight. "I'm totally fine. What about you?"

Remembering the angel and her need to be better, Lettie drops her glamours. (...At least she picked an actual outfit for herself this time. She doesn't mind wearing Juno's shirts around, but they're not exactly ideal for fights. There are times and places for everything-- she'd prefer to wear them in bed as pajamas, or in the kitchen, or just chilling around Lady in general.) Gingerly, she holds her goggles up. "The swimsuit, uh, it doesn't go with my goggles." That's true, even if it's deeper than that. (It's a common belief on Avangeline that faeries are silly and frivolous. Isn't she just affirming that every time she acts that way?) She clutches them tighter between her hands, her gaze wandering briefly to the wound on the pirate's neck. "Be careful, Juno. Clawthy's hiding somewhere in this room. I'm gonna test these out, see if there's anything I can do."

A door swings open with a slow 'creeaaak'. Lettie turns, pausing midway through holding her invention up as she immediately feels smaller (smaller than usual) when all of her fears mash together in the angelic form of Titania Lycoris Radiata walking into the room. Not the one with the unicorn face, but her mother. Those are mother's white-blond locks, mother's sky-blue eyes, mother's soft feathery wings. But it's not her. It's not her. It's not, it's not, it's not-- but--

"Lette. You know the rule. You mustn't leave your room without your glamours." Titania stares her up and down appraisingly, her annoyingly dreamy blue eyes growing horrified while looking into her daughter's nightmarish white eyes. 'Demon spawn.' She doesn't have to say it. Her faces says it clearly enough. (Mother never said it to her face. But she overheard it one day through the walls, while drinking and wallowing in self-pity to a friend over the phone. Demon spawn, demon spawn, weighing her down.) "What happens if we receive an unexpected guest? Do you have any idea what they'll call you if they see you in that state?" (By that, she means what they'll call her if they see her daughter the way she is. But Lettie was never the sort of daughter to talk back to her mother. At least not until...) "And what are those garish things? Don't tell me you intend to wear them."

Mother reaches for the goggles and Lettie quickly steps back, holding them beyond her reach like they're the ledge of a steep cliff she's hanging onto. No. The faerie needs them. She's forgotten why, exactly, but she knows she needs them. Titania rolls her eyes and tilts her head, as if to say 'really?'

"This 'phase' of yours is getting out of hand. Setting the Belladonna's playhouse on fire... and now this? Do you know how hard it's been to support you on my own? I'm trying the best I can, Lette, the very least you could do is help me." Titania holds her forehead and sighs deeply, the sound of her disappointment cutting through Lettie like a knife. "I'm doing everything I can to protect you. The truth is that you're going to look like a creepy little fly wearing those things. Is that what you want?" She gently cups Lettie's cheek in her hand. Then she pinches it. (Affectionate on the surface, but it's hard enough to hurt. The sparkle of her freckles dim as a result before vanishing entirely. Just the way mother likes it.) "I know it isn't. Now, give yourself your mother's blue eyes and change your hair. Put those things away. You'll feel so much better afterwards."

Lettie pulls away again, taking a few steps back, cradling her cheek in one hand while hugging the goggles to her chest with the other arm. The child in her considers listening to her mother, applying her glamours and putting on a smile. It makes this easier. It makes mother nicer. But there's something in her that keeps stopping her. ('You need to conserve your magic.') There are more important things in this world-- the worlds-- than her mother's approval.

"Gracious. You're bringing your poor mother to drink." Titania says it like a joke, pouring herself a glass of wine. It doesn't feel like a joke when she twirls the stem and starts sipping it down. She waves her hand towards Lettie dismissively. "Now do as I say. I won't have you walking around looking like that." She laughs again, her words light and airy as a joke. "Otherwise I'll have to resort to locking you in your room. Don't make me do that, Lette. I hate fighting with you."

Fighting. Briefly, Lettie remembers mother reaching out after Lina... after Lina died. It was their worst fight. Maybe their only actual fight, because Lettie was finally mad enough to fire shots of her own instead of backing down. Watching as her words reduced her mother to tears and continuing on and on, spurned on by the morbid desire to see her cry harder. She wanted to make her experience just a fraction the grief she inflicted on her. I hate you. I never want to see your face again. I will never, never forgive you for what you did. The faerie gazes down at the goggles in her hands. The goggles she worked so hard on. Don't get distracted now.

Lettie takes a deep breath and slips the goggles on.

"Olette! What did I tell you!?" 'Titania' roars. But through the lens of the goggles, she's an inky cloud of shadows and fangs with a grid overlaid on top. It's not her. Of course it's not her. It's this nightmare infested world playing nasty tricks on her. Seeing through it, she deploys a bomberfly and her 'mother' bursts into flames. Quickly, Lettie removes her goggles to checks the outside world for a comparison.

It worked. Without the goggles, mother burns. She burns and shrivels into a battered rose that continues to burn. Lettie trembles seeing it. (Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't--) They worked. But victory in this moment doesn't taste so sweet.

"It's not my fault, Juju." Lettie whispers shakily. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't. It wasn't. (It was.) She doesn't want Juno to see it like this, so she hands her the goggles. They shake in her hands and she can't stop them. (Don't think about it, don't think about it.) "Look."

 

[starboob]

Juno unknowingly holds her breath when Olette steps up to her tippy-toes to wipe her lip. She knows that she’s not doing it as an excuse to touch her, that there is blood on her from her fight, but she loses herself in the sensation anyway. The gentleness of the stroke and imagining the faerie always using that kind of softness with her. (She wouldn’t have to, of course, but Juno likes that she probably would because she’s always so damn considerate of the pirate now. It’s nice.) She resists the urge to ghost her fingers over where Olette had touched her and pointedly keeps her hands at her sides, smoothing them over her pants to distract herself.

The faerie, upon closer inspection, seems to be doing well; the scratches she’s sustained shouldn’t scar at all. (And Juno knows she doesn’t like scars on herself and that only some people can pull them off. While still uncertain if certain recovering homicidal pirates count as some people, she has caught the faerie staring at hers–– the one on her face specifically–– a handful of times. She only hopes when she stares that she isn’t wondering what she’d look like without the disfigurement.) Juno doesn’t even consider that she’s sustained more injuries, primarily just relieved that Olette is safe. She’s used to it and she’s promised to fight for her. It just comes with the territory. (She doesn’t like fighting, but she doesn’t mind it so much when she knows it’s for someone who is worth it and Olette is worth it. She’s worth it.)

She nods along when the goggles are brought up, recalling that they had been Olette’s latest magic-science project and that she had been relatively close to perfecting them. She’s entirely unphased by the glamour drop, only seeing this as one of Olette’s typical aesthetic changes. She looks nice. But apparently she’s the only one who thinks so as the door opens and an angel walks in. Juno immediately recognizes her from the cover of that magazine, recalling something about a scandal–– a disappearance? (A mother daughter disappearance?)

The woman begs her daughter to change, to lose everything that makes her special, and Juno scowls at her in return, tempted to step behind Olette and wrap a protective arm around her. (She also remembers a unicorn asking something similar of Olette all those nightmares ago. She remembers how rabbid she got when the faerie went glamour-less, diamond eyes and all. An uncomfortable connection settles in the pit of Juno’s stomach, slowly becoming molten.) Her requests may be made with a smile and given like a choice, but Juno knows a thing or two about those kinds of requests demands. They’re nasty, underhanded illusions–– just like the fucking nightmares swarming Desdemonia. (Just like the nightmares currently haunting them.)

Heat creeps up the pirate’s neck, her hands rolling to fists as she eyes Tinnitus, ready to knock her out for even daring to think that Olette looks like a creep; for being the reason she used to disappear when her magic was low and she couldn’t hold her glamours. (How can she even spew such obvious bullshit when anyone with working eyes can see that Olette is a fucking stunner?) While she ordinarily wouldn’t hold back, this does seems like Olette’s fight and she’ll only intervene if she asks for back-up. (And she’d fucking love to set this bitch straight.)

Juno doesn’t even flinch when the faerie snaps the goggles on and shortly thereafter sends a bomberfly over to her mother, naturally agreeing with the choice. The pirate covers her eyes against the flare and then watches the angel burn down to a rose. She doesn’t watch for much longer when the tremor in Olette’s voice hits her and her gaze pans down to the shaking woman. It’s not even a question or doubt in her mind when she impulsively pulls the faerie into her arms and tries to still her tremble by holding onto her snuggly. One arm is securely beneath her wings at her waist and the other is positioned so she can hold the back of her head and keep her close to her chest. While she does take the goggles from her, she doesn’t put them on. Olette’s well-being is her top priority even if she doesn’t quite know how to navigate tears as well as she does physical injuries. She does recognize that it probably isn’t the best choice to point out that the bitch deserved it, seeing how distressed Olette is over the action.

“I-I know. I believe you.” While Juno doesn’t understand her reaction, doesn’t know the story behind this clip, she does remember that asshole, Jason, asking about Tinnitus’s fate. Then there was that magazine cover. And a faint memory of a unicorn referring to Olette as a demonic minx. She squeezes her just a bit before letting go and giving her some space to breathe. Though before taking a full step away, she tucks a strand of white hair behind her pointy ears (not weird), and caresses her sparkle-less cheek as she pulls her hand away. “This is shit bananas. It’s… It’s different.” She clutches the goggles in her hands, looking at the eternally burning rose then back to Olette. (Why does that imagery strike her as familiar?) “I only need to look at you. I’ve got you, no matter what.”

The bedroom of Olette’s past disappears in puffs of smoke, save for the eternally burning rose that hovers over the ground and becomes their only source of light. All that surrounds them is cold air and the smiling abyss. The flame around the rose brightens, growing in size until its light is enough to reveal a dirt floor, covered in broken skeletons wearing tattered, shredded gray uniforms. Panning her gaze up, she finds herself suddenly standing in front of an undead abomination–– the combination of stitched together corpses made mostly from hulking men and the head of a half-rotted wolf. The beast huffs, its breath puffing out in a green noxious fog that warms the air around them. The flaming rose bursts apart behind the beast and each flaming petal lands on the candles that line the walls of the sealed training pit. The scar on Juno’s face glitches, appearing and disappearing but also bleeding, as if fresh.

The recruit stiffens, taking a step back from the hulking thing, remembering exactly what happened here. Her entire body itches where old scars linger, like a screaming reminder of everything she endured while affiliated with the academy. (But if she has scars from what is to come…)

Instinctively, her hand raises to feel for the scar on her face. When something cold and hard touches her in place of her hand, she jerks her hand away, looking down only to see a pair of nerdy goggles. Then the small faerie in front of her. ‘Olette, right. I won’t forget her.’ She won’t forget her and she needs to remember that she has faced this monster before and she has already survived it (much to Clay’s dismay). She needs to remember that it’s not real. She grips the goggles in her fist before snapping them around her head, not even able to think about how fucking dweebish she looks wearing these things. Just as Olette had experienced looking at the image of her mother, this beast, while definitely the stuff of nightmares on its own, appears as a smoky figure covered in gnashing mouths, overlaid with a grid.

The figure screeches and lifts its warhammer over its head, just as she remembers it had all those years ago, and she grabs onto Olette’s shoulder to pull her to the side. (Of course to Juno it only looks like the shadowy nightmare is stretching its figure into a vague warhammer-ish shape.) When the “hammer” comes down on the ground, while she can feel the reverberations with her feet, the tendril it had used as a weapon scatters across the pit. ‘Right. They’re only as real as you believe. Never as strong as you think.’ (Though even seasoned defenders on the ground succumbed to their own fear–– it never seemed to matter one’s experience, it could happen to anyone.)

With this in mind she starts to reach for her whip, but, with the aid of the goggles, spots her discarded axe beneath layers of decay on the ground. (She somewhat remembers losing it earlier. Even so, it surprises her to find it here because the instance on the beach or river or wherever felt further away.) Pivoting, she rolls under the nightmare’s next attack. As she tumbles, she scoops up the axe and then comes up in what seems like one motion. She then rushes back towards the nightmare and swings, twisting her hips through the motion to slice it in two. When she lifts the goggles up, the beast is severed at the torso and, with enough concentration, she’s able to see through the fog on her own, especially now that it’s down. She swipes the goggles back down just to compare and sticks her lips out, impressed.

She hoists the axe over one shoulder as she makes her way back to Olette. On her way over, she spots the discarded cube and picks it up from the ground. “These are rad as fuck, Olette.” She tosses her the sparking and battered neon cube, followed by the goggles. “And I’m not sure what the fuck to do with this. I feel like we fucking skipped a step––”

One of the broken panels on the neon cube coughs, sputters and then blows a smoke ring that forms into the shape of a partial glyph. "What the fuck."

 

[ellarose]

Lettie's hopeless attempts to steel her heart only end up molding it into a morning star's ball of spikes, stabbing her insides all over. It'd be nice if she could reach inside her chest, rip it out, and throw it across the room. She doesn't want it anymore. She doesn't want to feel like this. (There's no one in the worlds who would want to hold a heart like hers once they've laid eyes on it. They expect it to be as sparkly and magical as her glamours when it's really a sharp, bloody, messy thing.) But then a pair of arms wraps her in close and she automatically melts against the warm of Juno’s chest like she's always belonged there. Thump, thump, thump. The sound of her heartbeat vanquishes the voices and the memories. It’s salve to a wound, a lullaby that chases nightmares away. Pushing back against the silenced cries aching in her throat, the bile, the tears, she crumbles with surrender after years of fighting it, allowing herself to express just a bit of it while her face is hidden safely against the pirate's chest. The tears that trickle down her face get mopped up by Juno's shirt and she nearly cries harder from embarrassment. 'I--I know. I believe you.' And just like that, her trembling eases and stills beneath Juno's touch. (...She's already seen her a wreck. Screaming and wailing while she healed her wing. She never treated her any differently for it, never used it as ammunition against her when they fought. And her not saying anything said a lot.) Hastily, the faerie sniffles and reigns it all back in. If she truly starts to grieve the past she may never stop. She became so busy that she never had the time to feel. The grief is numb, though it still hits her in waves, draining her of energy, persuading her to become one with her bedroom floor on days when she has nothing more to do. Now there's still work to be done. There always is. And the memories are there to distract them from their mission. She wishes on the stars, wherever they might be, that she could stay with Juno. Her arms are covered in battle scars but they hold her steadier and gentler and safer than any arms she’s ever known. Somehow, she knows just how tightly to squeeze to hold her together. Keeps her from falling to pieces. (They've done a lot of falling since meeting... and Juno has broken a lot of her falls.) The pirate knows what it's like to fight for survival. Knows what it's like to lose someone. She gets it. And she's got her.

The faerie lowers her gaze, uncharacteristically shy when Juno steps back to give her space. Especially when her hand brushes over her tear-stained cheek. (Ah, geez. What a mess she is! White eyes are freakish enough as is without becoming all red and puffy from crying.) She sniffs again. Then Lettie looks up with a glimmer of amusement shining beyond the tears in her eyes when the pirate mentions 'shit bananas'. Heh. That's so quintessentially Juno. Scrubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, a small smile appears along with a few of her freckles. It's fleeting, though, as she stiffens while following the pirate's gaze to the still burning rose.

Juno's... not wearing the goggles. That means she sees it, too. The sight that was once burned into Lettie's memory and Lettie's memory alone is seen by the pirate as well. Instinctively, the faerie reaches for her throat. It's burning. She's not sure if it's because of the dagger-sharp cries she's been swallowing down or if it's because of this. She's terrified to test it, to break down that door to secrets she's never been able to share with anyone. There's no telling what that amount of force would do. She might just reduce herself to a pile of dust with a single thought.

The flames crackle softly, so peacefully despite being so violent. The petals and leaves curl and scorch. Lettie can imagine its silent screams of agony all too well, they might as well be her own. ("I brought you a gift. I thought it might cheer you up." A low voice 'soothes'. "No one wants a desolate faerie, Olette. Remember your place.") Hate breathes flames down Lettie's arms and she closes her hands into fists as if that might contain it. (She'd screamed, tried to punch him in the face and the golden collar was fastened tight around her neck.) Her wrist aches beneath her bracelet, a reminder of all the things she'll never be allowed to do or say, and she tries to control it before it can control her. It wasn't my fault. It was. It wasn't.

'I only need to look at you. I've got you, no matter what.' Lettie finally steels herself with a deep, deep breath. She pries her gaze away from the rose to look at Juno.

"I know." Lettie whispers back sincerely, her voice a throbbing ache. "I trust you." And she trusts that Juno will do everything she can. Even if she can't physically stop what's coming for her, even if there's so much she doesn't know, that doesn't matter in this moment. In this moment, Juno's intentions are real and they matter. They have a whole other world to prioritize, a mission to focus on. She needs to set this aside for now. The faerie blinks her eyes clear of tears and nods firmly.

Lettie tenses and clenches her eyes shut when they're submerged in darkness and a chill drafts over them. (Shit. She's always hated the dark. The subtle glow from only the rose, lit by reminders of what she did, makes it that much worse.) It may seem like closing her eyes wouldn't change anything, but at least this gives her the illusion of control over the darkness. She chooses to listen instead, to focus on the contact of the earth beneath her feet. That's when she hears the huff of air, the warmth that clouds around them. (And it's not the comforting sort. Especially when she senses the pirate taking a step back.) Slowly, the faerie looks up at Juno-- who is in turn looking up at what she assumes is a monster standing behind her. She watches perplexedly as the scar glitches on her face, a knot tying itself in her stomach. The pirate reaches for it, possibly caught in the throes of a reverie... but then she startles at the goggles and looks back at her. 'I only need to look at you.'

Those words ring true as Juno snaps the goggles on (um... and who gave her permission to look that cute in them!?) and launches herself into the fight. Her heart clenches as she's moved safely to the sidelines as, yet again, the pirate moves in front of her to take care of the intense fighting. While it'd be easy to lose herself in a fantasy watching the pirate fight like a badass, her blood chills instead when she truly gets a look at the beast she's dealing with. (It's horrifying. Worse than a majority of the creatures they've faced on their travels. She's fought this thing for real before, hasn't she? That's why she reacted the way she did. Maybe it even... maybe it even gave her that scar.) Guilt squirms in her stomach while she watches on. She can't be of help without her magic. Tossing a knife may be no more effective than a bee sting to a beast like that. But she's already used some magic... and she needs to conserve it for what's to come. Or else her 'almost two squeezes' might become a full on 'three squeeze' and Juno will be left with nothing but a handful of dust. Useless.

"You..." Lettie's cheeks and wings glow apple red, her heartbeat fluttering. Juno defeated the monster like a boss and also-- "You think they're rad?" Ah. Just like that, just with a single phrase, suddenly she doesn't feel like such a burden anymore. Maybe she didn't fight with her fists, but she still did something.

Lettie's freckles reclaim their usual sparkle at the same time that the cube starts sparking. She squeaks, juggling it between her hands like a hot potato. Once she regains control of the situation and her nerves, she bites her lip and glances from the cube to her goggles before fastening them back on over her head. Through them, she sees the other half of the glyph that was coughed out.

"I see, I see." Lettie taps her chin with her forefinger. (She must look like such a nerd. But right now... she doesn't fucking care.) She reaches her hand out for Juno to hold. "I'm going to draw the rest of this glyph. If this is like all those other times..." The faerie looks at the pirate. She doesn't have to say it because they both know that it's about to get intense. She nods firmly instead and gives her hand a squeeze. "And... Juno? Thanks."

There are a whole number of things Lettie should be thanking her for at this point, so she doesn't specify. (For holding on. For believing in her. For fighting so hard. For everything.) In general, though, it's worth saying. (In case she never gets the chance.) But, no. She's sure as hell not going to let it come to that. This little faerie isn't going down without a fight. She takes another deep breath and slaps her cheek with her free hand.

"Let's rock and roll." Lettie doesn't just look like a nerd. She sounds like one, too. Geez. But the faerie's too focused to get too caught up on that now, determinedly drawing the rest of the glyph. Once it's complete, the glow emanating from it extends to their surroundings, which are burned up with the distinct white-hot light of a cube's light. Even with her goggles on, she has to shut her eyes tight against it.

Then the curtain of light is drawn wide open, revealing a world that immediately reminds Lettie of the shiny robot world. Top-notch tech sparkles everywhere she looks, it's as active and bright as a dazzling city at night. Screens display peaceful sceneries from all over the worlds, beep-bopping bots whiz past them, and people walk around them as well... though upon close enough inspection looking at their twitchy eyes and movements, it becomes apparent that they're actually androids. All bolts and wires instead of flesh and blood. (The faerie sees this, too, through her goggles. She can see right through them to the mechanical skeletons underneath.) Hm. Her frame glitches and sparks, but she fights to keep herself present as the sensation sends bolts of electricity through her soul.

This is the world they're dealing with. And, for whatever reason, she can see it. Unlike all the others before, she can actually see it. Oh shit! Wait a second...

"Pay attention. They've hidden the Matrix in one of these vessels." Two figures who clearly don't belong in this world walk by them, speaking to each other in a businesslike manner. They're demons, Lettie notes, tall and colorful with jagged claws for hands. One is loading up what looks like a high-tech laser gun in their hand. "Hiding it in plain sight. They think they're so clever." (Vessels... the 'Matrix'... Lettie remembers how the cube had been trapped within a steel ribcage and realization sparks in her eyes. They're going to try and off whatever android is hiding the cube in their chest.)

"Juno. Question. Do you think your necromancy would the same on androids?" Lettie breaches the subject with an anxious feeling in her chest. (She knows that Juno wouldn't know, that she probably hasn't seen anything like this before.) Better to ask and gauge whether she can sense anything from them, though. "Because, uh, that's what we're dealing with here." She tilts her head. "...Do you wanna use the goggles? They might help."

Suddenly the screens all around them turn red one by one, painting everything in sight in shades of it, all while blaring out an earsplitting alarm. "Intruders, intruders! Exterminate!" A robotic voice commands. All at once, the androids eyes glow red and they turn on the demons, approaching with their fists raised. Seeing them as outsiders as well, they also turn on Lettie and Juno by extension. Shit!

 

[starboob]

Juno hates this part the most. Of all the things the cube has put them through–– throwing them into endless battles, forcing them to watch and fight through their most painful memories–– this is the part she hates the most. At least when they’re fighting Juno has a sense of control. She knows how to handle herself and can trust her body to work automatically to defend her. When she has to hold onto Olette’s hand and heal an entire world’s source, when she has to risk Olette’s life just so her own heart doesn’t give out, she wants to bargain with the dead goddess for them to switch places. That it can be her who risks being burned up, because she selfishly does not want to lose another person. …Though she doesn’t necessarily want to put the faerie through that either. She promised she wouldn’t do that to her and Olette trusts her, just as she trusts Olette. If anything happens, it won’t be anyone’s fault, she knows, and, still, she hates this part.

But she cannot let herself despair. Olette needs her with her head in the game. She can’t be distracted by her feelings or worries. She’s got to got this, because Olette has already done so much for them so far–– from souping up her ship to teaching Juno about magic (and the difference between salt and sugar) to caring about her to making those goggles. She needs to do her part.

She steels herself and grabs onto the faerie’s hand, eyes flitting over her face to take in her sparkles, lingering on the one by the crease of her eye. ‘All there.’ As the cube brightens, Juno uses her free hand to block out the light, keeping her eyes pressed shut until she is sure that they are in the clear. (She’s burned her corneas enough times by now to know the timing of that bastard light.) She blinks around the changed scenery, noting that what she’s seeing is a glimpse into the past of this techno-metropolis. This techno-metropolis and its electronic people. Her brow furrows together and sweat starts to form in her palms as she realizes this is a world of robots. (Ah, fuck.)

Olette and herself seem to have this same realization as the faerie asks the exact question lingering in Juno's mind not even a second later. The necromancer doesn’t immediately reply as she doesn’t immediately have an answer, entirely unsure of whether or not her magic can affect technology. (She supposes she can see a thread of logic if she were to expand her definitions of what it means to be alive and dead, but even if she can conceptualize technology as a living thing–– after all, how many times has Olette had to fix Lady’s dead engine?–– she isn’t sure her magic will necessarily respond. Though with her connection to Olette and the more nebulous possibilities with raver magic… maybe?)

Before she can admit that she isn’t quite sure if it’ll work, the two out of place strangers, who Juno had previously ignored, trigger the world’s alarm. Everything glares red, like she’s looking through those android eyes herself, and the past and present blend together as they have so many times before on these corrupted worlds. All eyes are on them. The two demons, businesslike and experienced, tilt their heads to share a bored side glance. The one carrying the souped-up gun points it to the sky, fires, and a ball of concentrated energy strobes as it forms above their heads. Its effect isn’t immediately known, but when one of the androids starts to rush towards the demons, the ball brightens then shoots a blast towards it. The neon beam goes straight through its head and pushes the android backwards onto its back. A few more androids try this same tactic and meet the same fate. Meanwhile, the demon with the raver-gun shoots three more laser-balls, forming a triangle around themself and their partner as they stroll through the androids, continuing their search as if this is a mere promenade.

While the demons have taken care of themselves, Juno and Olette remain defenseless and the androids slowly shift their attention away from the demons and turn towards the easy targets. Their red eyes glare into the duo, their fists sparking with electricity.

Juno lets her axe fall from her shoulder then shifts it into its sword form, eyes scanning the robots shuffling towards them. “Fuck.” Reflexively, she squeezes the faerie’s hand as worry runs through her veins, joining with the buzz of adrenaline. (Though the pirate captain likes to pretend she can do it all, she very much cannot. And in this instance she realizes that she won’t be able to fend off the androids and focus on a revival at the same time–– and even with the faerie there as back-up, she also understands that these revivals take just as much from her as they take from herself.) “Fuck.”

Even if those demons are unwittingly taking out some of their assailants, it’s not enough. It might not be enough. (It probably won’t be enough.) She can’t dwell on this. ‘Pull it together. It's not over until it is.’

She notices that a cluster of androids are gathering around something in a circular formation, like they’re defending something. The demons are also heading towards this cluster and Juno guesses that’s also where they need to head. Even if she doesn’t know how the fuck they’re going to make it out of this one (part of her is concerned they won’t), this at least gives them some semblance of a direction. She squeezes Olette’s hand to get her attention, gesturing with her chin towards the density of androids. Without further explanation, she clips the heavy weapon to her back and then passes the faerie three bombs to use in place of her bomberflies. (They really should fill Olette’s magic circle with bombs, now that she’s thinking about it.) A path maps itself out in Juno’s mind and she begins weaving through the crowd before it can disappear. “Follow me,” she grunts out, dodging an incoming punch.

As Juno leads them towards the cluster, the androids fidget and track their movements. The ones focused on stopping them pivot and rush them, most likely observing they don’t have the same defenses as the demonic duo. She squeezes Olette’s hand, then let's go, making the impulse decision that protecting them is more important than maintaining their connection. (While they have spun theories about their connection, noticing that it's stronger each time they join hands, they have yet to actually practice maintaining it while not touching.) Juno doesn’t notice a discernable change–– the bots are still coming towards them, the cluster remains, the demons are still unbothered–– though her assessment might not necessarily be accurate as she is more so focused on raising her arms to protect her face from an incoming punch.

The mechanical fist connects with her forearm, spreading a bruise over it; another hit comes in and she takes it just the same. When an opening presents itself, she lowers her guard and lands a punch against the android’s jaw, breaking it, but it barely even rears back; it’s as if the hit is nothing. And it might as well be nothing to a hull full of bolts and wires, she realizes. Scoping the fallen androids, she recognizes that the demons have been taking out their adversaries with headshots. She looks over her shoulder at the faerie. “Go for killshots.” She pauses to gather one that’s charging towards her, lifts it, and then slams it into one of its partners, taking them both out. “They won’t stay down if you don’t.”

Everything has turned to a blur of reds for Juno, the androids coming in from all sides with little reprieve. The little gaps in fight that she is given, she uses to check on Olette and, at one point, grab her sword from her back–– this, at least, allows her to create a wider radius around herself to defend as she hacks through their opponents. All the while, the two demons have mowed down the androids that had been defending what appears to be just another android, though Juno guesses there might be more to it than that. However, before she can figure out what they’re after, another takes advantage of the pirate's distraction and nearly tackles her. At the last second, she sidesteps the attack then kicks the android off balance so it falls forward. She clips her weapon to her back with one arm and the other reaches to yank the android off the ground, wrapping her arm around its throat. She then clasps her hand around its jaw and jerks it to the side with enough force that the head breaks off, revealing the sparking circuitry underneath. She tosses the head to the side but keeps the body in her arms, in part to use it as a shield and in part to test out her necromancy on it. As she does this, she backs herself closer to Olette, knowing that the faerie will have her back while she tests out her magic on the freshly fallen foe. Though this is a tech-based world, she understands that the fusion of science and magic is possible–– she saw it in Desdemonia's past and she has witnessed it thousands of times with Olette's upgrades–– so she starts by figuring out if she can pick up any trace of magic and...

Her heart drops the same moment one of those demons utters, “Oh, fuck.” When the pirate looks up, she sees a fallen android with its chest ripped open and where there would have been a heart (or cube), a time bomb is ticking down from 0:05. “Oh, fuck.” She drops the robot, pivots towards Olette, and launches herself over to her. She reaches for the faerie, hand searching for hers and once she feels her fingers brush against hers, she pulls the faerie into the safety of her chest, keeping their fingers intertwined as the bomb detonates.

A cloud of fire blooms, spreading across the room and covering everything in deadly orange. While Juno tightens her embrace around Olette, as if that might be the shield that protects them both, a yellow electric barrier forms around them, similar to the orb that protected them on the fish-bitch world. When the flames settle, the screens are no longer red. The androids only exist as charred metal skeletons and the demons are nowhere to be seen. Though, odd as it is, the remains and this chamber are not smoldering. There are no fires or embers hinting at the explosion that just occurred. The air is stale, actually, and smells of nothing more than centuries of collected dust. She figures this might mean they broke through this world’s defenses, but the pirate doesn’t have time to investigate or confirm this as a blue glow distracts her.

Where the ripped open android had been, a blue holographic grid shaped heart floats above the ground. At the center of the holographic heart is a cube shaped hole. The android skeletons that lead up to the heart have glyphs etched into their skulls that have a slight blue glow to them.

While she can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they don’t have anymore androids to fight (she hopes), the necromancer’s shoulders drop as she stares at the beckoning heart, thinking on what she discovered while testing out her necromancy on that android. “I…” She bites down on her lip before Olette can see it quiver. The explanation piles together in her throat, refusing to be voiced, refusing to be made real. At first, she can only give her one hard squeeze to communicate her distress. Then, as tears start to form, she has to shut her eyes, tensing to still the tremble that threatens to spread from her lip; holding her breath to still the ache in her chest. She can’t bring herself to look at the faerie when she says this, so she stares stubbornly forward, glaring holes into the heart. “I can do it. I sort of felt something taking out those bot-people, but it was faint.” Ordinarily, she would have said that it’s going to be impossible; that there isn’t enough for her to grab onto, but she knows that with the faerie’s help it is feasible. They’ve been able to combine their magic before and create entirely new things from it (whether that be demon bugs or enhanced bomberflies). It’s just that… “It’s going to take a lot. From both of us, but especially you.” Her grip on Olette’s hand loosens, wordlessly telling her she can let go and she wouldn’t force her to give so much. (Possibly too much.) “I wouldn’t… I don’t… Marjorie’s rules?”

 

[ellarose]

Their fight against the androids leaves Lettie little room for reprieve. Sweat beads at her brow as she kicks and stumbles her way through the horde of them, distracted and stressing over how much magic she's used up thus far, ensuring that she doesn't slip and expend any more of it. Her options are limited to wielding her winged butterfly daggers and the bombs that Juno had given her to work with. (It was kinda a shocker. After all this time, it hadn't occurred to her to steal any of them today.) It's those weapons and her own fists against the androids... and if getting clocked by captain fucking Juno and her battle axe isn't enough to keep these bastards down, it's pretty much a gimmie that the little faerie's punches aren't going to do anything. Her fight is embarrassingly ungraceful, a lot like it had been in their early sparring days with all of her gasps, ducks and lunges. But her stance is firmer and surer than ever, a result of the training they've put in at the gym and during their sparring matches. Sometimes when she's certain she's about to stumble away from an incoming punch, she surprisedly manages to right herself with a well-timed step and holds her ground instead. Guess I just need to trust myself a little more. A punch connects with her jaw and she bares her teeth. She's running out of breath and this red sea of androids is endless. Focusing on herself and Juno surviving the fight leaves her unable to nerd her way out of this. (The pirate is studying one of the bodies now-- she needs to trust her and watch her back this time.) Deep down, she knows they've got to have a kill switch. There's got to be something-- like a frequency or signal-- that could shut all of them down at once--

"Ju--" Lettie pipes up questioningly when she hears the pirate's 'oh fuck'. One of the androids manages to take advantage of her distraction, lodging a fist into her gut, and she hacks out a pained gasp before kicking it away. She doesn't see the android, doesn't see the bomb. She only sees Juno launching herself towards her, taking her hand and pulling her in close. "Juju?" With her face against her chest, her voice becomes muffled as her embrace tightens around her. Automatically, she melts against her warmth again. It's becoming so familiar. She's becoming so familiar. The pirate trusts her but her first thought in any crisis lately is her safety. The faerie listens to her heartbeat before the explosions overpower it and her own heart drops. Is she trying to act like a human shield for her again? What if she-- what if-- "Juno." Her voice is urgent, but it can't possibly be heard now over the deafening ringing in her ears. It's gonna... it's gonna be okay. Because she promised. Swathed in darkness, pressed against her chest, she focuses on their combined energy and the vibrations from Juno's pounding heart to remind her that she's making it through this one and not being burnt to a crisp around her. It's okay. We're okay. She's okay.

Okay in the physical sense, at least. When Lettie sees the fear and sadness bleeding through Juno's defenses, she feels it as her own. With everything she's dealt with, everything she knows with perhaps too much clarity now that she's dealt with, it's a telltale sign that they maaay be fucked. The faerie lowers her goggles so they're less of a headband and more of a necklace as she gingerly fixes her hair from all of the fighting. (Not a cosmetic choice, mind you, but rather a means of getting it out of her face.) She pushes them up in headband position again, gazing warily at the electronic heart. The busted cube is in her pocket, burning a square-shape against her upper thigh. The haunted energy wafting around this place weighs heavily on her shoulders. It smells of mothballs and death, the way a particularly gruesome end to a story might smell. So, is that it? Is this where it ends?

"...Hey. Look at me." Lettie tightens her grip when Juno's loosens. She's not letting go. I'm not going anywhere. The faerie hovers above the ground just a bit, lending herself the height she needs to tuck a rouge strand of Juno's hair behind her ear. Then, with a steeling breath, she gently caresses her cheek as the pirate has done to her on numerous occasions now. (I'm touching her face. Oh stars, I'm touching her face. Sh-shut up! Be cool!) Eventually, she settles it on her shoulder. (So buff.) "We've gotten this far by winging it. We're really fucking awesome like that." She beams at her, as if that might be enough to chase her sorrow away. "But not every wound heals the same way."

Lettie brings herself back down onto the ground, her heels clanging against the aluminum floor. With her free hand, she rummages in her pocket for the cube. Still busted. She squints and holds it up (still from a distance) over the cube-shaped hole in the heart. Then she tilts her head, allowing herself another look at their surroundings. The screens are shattered and empty. Between them, though? Without all the flashy neon lights, she's able to see the faint glow of stars in the spaces between them.

"Breathe, Juno. Nothing is trying to attack us right now. It's not like there's a giant countdown in the sky." Lettie says, pointing up. "We have time. Let's take advantage of that." Then she closes her eyes, building a scene in her imagination. When she opens them again, they're still staring at the metal skulls and heart-- but now they're looking through a window instead of standing right in front of it. They find themselves in the middle of a sleepy little bar. The lights that align each surface emit a faint neon glow and a a busted, janky robot scrubs the counter down with a washcloth. Neato. She remembers them impacting this place with their minds before... so why not give themselves a place to settle down? The faerie squeezes her hand reassuringly before letting go and perching herself down on one of the conjured bar stools. She pats the seat next to her to invite her over.

"Our lives have been totally out of our control since the cube started bossing us around. You've figured out that we can do it. Now, rather than rushing right in, let's take, hmm... a strategic break to collect ourselves and our thoughts. We're not giving up. Just slowing down." Lettie nods resolutely. She knows the pirate is still warming up to the concept of breaks... but there's a benefit to them, just as there has been a benefit to training and sparring. "In my experience, things can be a lot less scary once you understand them. Heh... kinda like you, now that I think about it." She blushes as the words slip past her defenses. Averting her gaze, she chokes one of her fingers by twirling a moonbeam-white strand of her hair around it. "Like... remember the way I used to call you a mean, homicidal pirate?" Duh! Surely she remembers. It wasn't that long ago. (Was it? How much time has really passed? At some point she lost track. Sometimes it feels lightning fast, others it feels like an eternity.) "That's how I used to see you. But that's not true anymore. You've had to fight like hell your whole life just to survive and it puts all those homicidal tendencies in perspective. I didn't get that before 'cause I didn't know you yet. The worlds we come from are so different." Lettie leans over the counter, pressing her forehead to the cool surface to hide just how flustered she is. Then she tilts her head to the side to look up at Juno again. "But you're really a softie, aren't you?" She grins and lightly flicks her bicep. (So buff...) Then she quickly offers reassurance to let Juno know she's not calling her a wuss for her openness. "I totally mean that in a good way. No, like, the best way! In my book, there's no one cooler than a badass softie." Rare, beautiful, using her awe-inspiring buffness for all the right reasons-- the faerie's head falls flat to the counter again. Shit. Is she making it too obvious that she's got it bad?

"Where I'm going with this is... okay. Let me explain something about faeries." Lettie pushes herself back up to sit taller. A few screens blip to life behind the bar counter. They show Cerise burning to dust alongside footage from before, with faeries being used up by demons. "We're sorta like robots. They have batteries that need to be charged so that they can function. Meanwhile, faeries need their sources in order to charge their magical batteries. And, uh... sometimes on my world..." She shifts uncomfortably in her seat. She doesn't want to let on that this has happened to her and Lina. "Faeries are deprived of their sources as punishment. They're locked up in cells designed to drain their energy rather than restore it. Cerise... do you see how sickly she looked? I can tell just by looking at her that she was deprived of her source."

The screens darken along with Lettie's expression. She shakes her head sadly. "My magic source comes from the stars. We live on Lady, up in the air, so I'm constantly soaking up the energy I need to keep on fighting." She reaches for Juno's hand, offering another reassuring squeeze. "I'll admit, I was feeling tired from fighting back there. I used up some of my magic, too. But look outside." She nods towards the window, at the star-filled sky beyond the desolate metal town. "Lucky, right? As we speak, I'm regaining my strength." She snaps and starry sparkles rain down from her fingertips, her eyes and hair glowing a faint white. Butterflies flicker like strobe lights in her ribcage.

"I don't know what Cerise was thinking back there. But I'm sure she had doubts. I'm sure she felt it in her gut that she wasn't ready for whatever task she was taking on. She didn't tell Cressida... and they both suffered for it." Lettie steels her expression determinedly. (I would tell her. She thinks. I would tell her if I could. This is the next best thing.) "I'm not giving up on our mission. But I'm not going to rush into anything I'm not completely ready for, either. I wouldn't do that to you, Juno. Even if the truth is hard to hear, I'm not going to hold back." She smooths her thumb over the back of Juno's hand. "Three squeezes, right?"

Lettie adjusts her goggles over her eyes and then reaches for the busted cube with her free hand, taking a deep breath. "...I'm ready now." She turns her head and nods at Juno. "We got this, okay?"

 

[starboob]

Juno’s entire life has been defined by movement, the incessant need to keep going. The fear that if she ever stops, she won’t be able to get back up and start again. That if she falters for even a second, something will bring her to her knees and feast on her flesh. A moment to pause, relax, breathe is something of a luxury to the pirate; something she’s never fathomed for herself. (Despite every horror and tragedy of her life, she has long since stopped trying to satisfy her misery with death. Survival is the marrow in her bones, making her blood.) Even in her recent years, with the most freedom she’s ever had, her guard has been up and her instincts cutthroat. A soft life isn’t for someone like her, born on the ground, traded for scraps, and most often left fending for herself. This life with the cube only reminds her that this is her lot and she shouldn’t bother dreaming of something better. (Because even if she lives and returns to Desdemonia, she will be alone again. She will be hunted again. The duchess will haunt her and if she is ever caught, she might as well shake hands with the goddess because even if she’s kept alive, she won’t be living. She’ll never regret choosing Olette over the duchess, and she knows she’s numbered her days in turn.)

So when Olette squeezes her hand when she tries to wordlessly beg her to let go; when Olette tells her to look at her; when Olette tells her to breathe she doesn’t know what to do. She stares at the faerie, a scared look in her eyes, as if she’s asking her to jump off the ledge of a cliff rather than just asking her to take a moment. And, maybe, she’s scared because she’s touching her and she’s not so used to being touched. Still not so used to being handled gently. A blush trail follows where Olette caresses, soon spreading across her cheeks. Her heart continues to pound in her chest, finding herself more amped than relaxed the more she tries to reassure her. (It’s not that she’s being stubborn. It’s not that she doesn’t hear her. It’s just that she doesn’t know what to do with all of this. All this kindness feels a lot like drowning for someone who can count on one hand the times she’s been cared for so sincerely.)

Juno hardly registers that Olette has created a new setting for them, one that is familiar and comfortable to her. Even when she sets herself down on the edge of the barstool, she remains ignorant, much too focused on her. The badass pirate is grateful that she’s sitting when Olette assesses her character, knowing full well that her legs would not be able to support her since Olette has turned them to jelly. (How can one person be so cute? How can one person be so kind? How can one person even think all of this about Juno?) Her blush returns with a vengeance when she flicks her bicep, staring at the spot for a second before returning her attention to Olette. ‘She really thinks this?’ And, honestly, no part of her questions the faerie’s honesty. They’ve always been honest with each other–– even in the beginning. Especially at the beginning. Olette already knows her worst parts and has thrown it in her face before; she has no reason to make up what she thinks of Juno now that their relationship has irrevocably changed. ‘Why though?’

She sets her question to the side in favor of listening to the faerie–– her voice is one she will happily lose herself in–– and avoiding the nightmares that show up on the screens behind her. (Another reminder of the ever-present possibility of where this mission could end for Olette. For Juno, too.) The mention of being deprived of a source and there being special cells designed for this purpose, makes her wonder about the blue-carpeted cell from before. Her fists clench over her knees at the possibility. The likelihood. Heat pools in her chest and she has to focus on Olette, her favorite freckle, to calm down again. She even counts the butterflies in her chest to take her mind off of everything Olette’s world has put her through. (She swears if they ever end up on that fancy ass world with those fucking demons, she’ll punch everyone’s lights out.)

It also helps when she squeezes her hand and smoothes her thumb over the back of hers, reminding her that they are still joined together. Slowly, she nods, acknowledging everything the faerie has said and feeling somewhat more assured of their situation. She still has her worry, it probably won’t ever go away for as long as they’re tasked with this endless mission, but she knows that Olette isn’t bullshitting her. She believes in them and Juno should too. Olette is smart as fuck.

Overtaken by some unstoppable desire, the pirate leans forward and rests her forehead on Olette’s shoulder, letting her own shoulders drop. “Yeah, okay.” She sucks in a breath and holds it for three counts before releasing. “Just give me a minute.” ‘I want to hold onto this. Just in case.’ And she does take a sweet minute resting her head on her shoulder. Even if her fears haven’t been chased away, she knows where the faerie’s head is at and that makes all the difference. She pulls away and stares at the be-goggled faerie, managing a small smile. “Okay, I’m good. We’ve got this.” Then, after a short pause, her smile turns playful. “Nerd.” Who knows if she'll ever get to tease her again.

She pushes herself off the barstool and wills the setting to collapse as if it had been made of smoke, clearing the path for them to approach the holographic heart. Each step they take towards the haunting thing fills her with trepidation, though she doesn’t shake, tremble, or falter. This is not even because she is trying to front, but because she’s got the faerie’s hand in hers. They have the three squeezes. They trust each other. ‘It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay.’

Once they’re in front of it, Juno takes the asshole box from Olette and places it at the heart’s center, phasing through the hologram as she does so. The heart and box both brighten a touch, then dim once the cube is securely in place. Crackles of electricity race along the cube’s edges and it starts to rotate within the hologram, blinking a few times. The heart itself doesn’t react much, but it does blink in rhythm with the cube and it appears much like a heartbeat. With a held breath, the pirate places one hand against the holographic walls and, this time, rather than phase through, the heart responds to the necromancer and provides her with a solid foundation for her hand. She squeezes Olette’s hand, then shuts her eyes.

The remnant pulse of this world is different than that of other worlds, worlds that had flesh hearts, but there are similarities. It’s more electric, feels more volatile, but it’s there. She has to force her concentration to find it, but once she has it, she attempts to grow the feeling in her own chest. (Already, her nose is starting to bleed and she’s so focused on latching onto that pulse, that she can’t even sniffle to cover it up.) Knowing that it’s not going to be enough on her own–– it never is–– she draws on Olette’s magic, creating a channel between their chests for one of those butterflies to follow rather than using the pathway forged between their connected hands.

The heart responds and the hologram shutters as it’s pulled up from the grave. The cube at the center whirrs and the speed of its rotation increases as the necromancer concentrates on the pulse. (Red beads sprout from her pores. Not just over her brow, but they bloom along her neck as well.) Juno feels her own heart squeeze, like it’s being strangled and she might’ve choked on that stutter if she weren’t so committed to staying attentive. A headache also splits across her skull, feeling like someone is hammering railroad spikes all over her head. She bites her lip on a yelp, but eventually she has to let it out as the pain becomes unbearable. It pulses in her veins, filling up her lungs until it’s everything that she’s breathing. (She doesn’t think she can take it.) She squeezes Olette’s hand, a combination of trying to stay focused and giving her the only indication she can of where she’s at.

This entire time she doesn’t hesitate in draining more and more of the faerie’s magic. She can’t afford not to and she’s well aware this is the most she’s ever needed and they’re only half-finished. At one point, the pulse tries to escape her and, desperately, she pulls in three butterflies at once to stop it from leaving. It’s so automatic that she can’t even be careful about it. (If there were room for worry, she’d imagine scenarios where a desperate move like that turns the faerie to dust in her fist.) The cube at the center shakes like its unstable, but then it settles and the dents over its surface begin to hammer themselves out. Each of its sides starts to blink at different intervals, but Juno doesn’t see any of this. All she sees are stars scattered across the backs of her eyelids as a piercing sensation stabs through her chest, causing her to gasp out. Though there is nothing actually impaling her, a swell of warm liquid spreads over her shirt from the spot where her heart is at. Another squeeze, this one accompanied by a bloody cough. 'Fuck...' She shivers, her breathing coming out in staccato wheezes as she focuses on this last tug. "A-almost there..."

 

[ellarose]

It’s going to take a lot. From both of us, but especially you. Damn. Turns out Juno hadn’t been bullshitting her. (And it's not as if Lettie had expected bullshit for even a second, especially with the gut-wrenching reaction this realization had garnered from her. The pirate has seen some shit and if there's anything in the worlds that's capable of imbuing her eyes with terror, she knows this heart is gonna be too heavy to take lightly.) She said she trusts her and she does trust her. But she's also trying to trust in herself after all of this time. She might be a little faerie, but she can totally grit her teeth and get this done. (Right?) The... the cubes wouldn’t have brought them here if they weren’t ready yet. (Right?) They've grown so much. Combining their magic, discovering new potential every day they fight together. They were even able to maintain their connection without touching before. The pep-talk gradually dismantles itself as her bones are alight, shining through her like branches of lightning. It's too overwhelming to try clinging to coherent thought while her soul is dragged through the equivalent of a field of razor blades.

It truly hits her when it hits her, when Lettie is more light than she is faerie. It is... a lot. Her body barely maintains its shape as she flickers erratically, showing off flashes of her skull and ribs. Her wings sway back and forth like holographic triangles, reflecting rainbow fractals everywhere. All of it is drawn in towards that cube. (Is it working? Maybe she'd check to see if she could bear to open her eyes for even a second.) On the inside she's all sharp zaps of electricity, she's pure energy. A source. A battery. Her magic is being siphoned from her, swirling in a vacuum towards the heart, which gives her a floaty feeling that's about as frightening as being pushed off the side of the world without knowing how far she has to fall before she hits solid ground. Even so, she accepts this willingly, offering herself over so that Juno can take as much as she needs from her. (Yes, she's falling... but at least she's falling with her. There's no one in the worlds she would rather fall with.) More than that, there’s no way she’s going to force the pirate to shoulder this alone. It’s taking a lot from both of them. In return for her magic, Lettie is given samples of the android's anguish at losing their home... and in flashes, she's able to see that this world acts sort of like a security room for the rest of the worlds. (She sees monitors that give glimpses of worlds they've been to and others they've never laid eyes on before.) Those demon guys... they'd been searching for the cube, yes, but why this cube specifically? Hm.

Through this endless onslaught of sensation, the faerie tries to focus on the patch of heat between their palms. Juno gives her a squeeze, she yelps out and Lettie seizes up with panic. (That's only one. Or has it been two? Ah fuck, she needs to pay better attention than that! She's losing touch with reality, losing herself to the galaxies behind her eyes.) She offers a squeeze in return as fistful after fistful is taken to prevent the heart from fading. What are they going to do if 'a lot' becomes 'too much' for them, anyway? Are they going to bail or are they going to--? Well. If this is it, Lettie's not bailing if Juno's not bailing. 'A-almost there.' Almost. They can do almost. No. Whatever it takes, they've got this. (Right?)

Lettie cries out as she gives more than she's ever given before, squeezing Juno's hand again. Her form stutters, collapses, and the glitching worsens. She can't control it, to the point that she even glitches through Juno's hand, beyond her grasp, and falls to the ground with an echoing 'clang'. Her goggles are knocked askew and her eyes bleed. A ringing bursts in her ears. Her throat is on fire. There's a faint pitter-patter like rain on a tin roof as glyphs from the metal skulls are peeled off like stickers and slapped onto the newly formed orb around them. They press inside, burning through the surface, before the orb pops under the pressure and spreads outward from the place where they stand. The faerie forces herself to peek and she immediately regrets it. It's like the golden sun is reflecting off of every metal surface at once out there. Stars, her eyes ache so deeply she wishes she could claw them out. Did they do it? Was that... good? She's not looking, it's too painful to look, but everything is quiet now. Does that mean--?

If Lettie's not dying right now, it seems the answer to her question will have to wait as her consciousness slips away.

***​

Lettie wakes again in a feverish haze. Five minutes could have passed... or five years, for all she knows. There's a soft, glow pulsing all around her that alternates between moss-green and white. Wha--? When she tries to move her arm, it smacks against something hard. A wall? Gazing around blearily, she could swear that she's trapped in something like a test tube in a dark, creepy lab. Nope. Nope, nope, nope! It's got to be another weird fucking dream. Go back to sleep. She resolves. Ah, geez. Hopefully she's not saying anything strange in her sleep again. Juju's gonna think she's a total weirdo.

'Nerd.' Except Lettie doesn't mind being called a nerd so much when it's Juno calling her a nerd. With a little smile, she goes back to sleep.

***​

What the fuck...? When Lettie wakes again, she discovers with a sinking stomach that her situation hasn't changed even slightly. She's still stuck in that fucking tube. Even if this is a dream (she's genuinely not sure anymore) she's got to break out of here and figure out what the hell is going on. The faerie tries to glitch her way out and only manages to batter herself against the glass. Pouting her lips, she throws a punch in retaliation and cries out softly when it's just as ineffective (and bruising.) Stars. What does she do if this is real? And where is Juno? Juno. Please be okay, wherever you are. Her breathing becomes hollow and erratic as the reality of her situation sets in. (Fuck. Fuck, she hates confined spaces like this.) The glass only allows her to see out into a very limited section of the lab waiting outside... it's dark aside from some of the computer monitors. There's also the shine of something green and white gleaming across the obsidian tiles, indicating the presence of another tube on the left side of the room. Could Juno be stuck inside of that one?

The last thing that Lettie remembers is healing the heart. Did they both fall unconscious (not dead, Juno's not dead, and she refuses to accept that as a possibility) and get captured by some kind of mad scientist when they weren't paying attention?

Lettie looks up, finding air holes at the top of the tube, and wonders if she could find an alternative way out of this. While her wings are cramped inside, she flutters them and begins to lift off the ground... only to be halted as the sound of a chain rings out. (A shudder courses through her entire body.) Her ankle is shackled, preventing her from flying too high. "Juno!" She tries calling out, realizing this may be the only thing she can do for now while they're alone. (Unless she's all alone. In which case... shit!) "Are you there!?"

There's a 'hiss' not too soon after as a metal door slides open. The lights flicker on and some creep in a white lab coat steps inside, hiding most of their face behind a clipboard. They look up, glance between the tubes, and then drop it to the floor. "Ah, you're finally awake!" They rush to Lettie's tube... tapping on the surface of the glass (kind of like a child harassing a fish in a tank) they bring up a screen with a tiny figure and a set of text the faerie has never seen before. (She can only assume it's some sort of status report.) Vindictively, she punches the glass while they get absorbed in their notes. (She knows it won't do anything, but she does take some pleasure in the way it makes them jump.) "Let me out, you creep!" The lab coat rolls their eyes (she gets a glimpse through their goggles from this distance) and points at their ears. "Can't hear you, darling. So sorry!" The faerie flashes them the bird and they pretend not to notice as they rush across the lab, presumably to the other tube to run another status check. Is Juno in there...? That's the only other person it could be, right?

"Ahem. At least you're both... lively. You were in rough shape for a while there. I might as well have brought you back from the dead." The scientist walks back into view again, heading towards one of the monitors in the center of the room. "You've done well so far... but my superiors have expressed concern over how volatile the two of you are. I can see now what they meant."

They pull up a screen that shows an accumulation of their wanted posters and footage from all across the worlds and click their tongue scoldingly, as if to say 'need I say any more?'

"So we've decided to take things from here." They wave their gloved hand and a cube surrounded by a beam of light floats towards them. "We're going to harvest your combined energy... and all you need to do is exist!" They clap their hands together jovially. (What the fuck!?) "Worry not. Neither of you will be dying on our watch. These tubes have been specifically designed to sustain you both."

There's no warning for what happens next. It just... happens. A shadow rises in the doorway and the scientist, none the wiser, is pierced through the chest by a long claw. Blood sprays all over the glass of the tube Lettie is in, obscuring her vision of the lab outside. (One second they were standing there, and the next...) The overhead lights flicker and spark erratically before going out entirely. The only glow comes dimly from the monitor. The cube is snatched up and the shadow entity, which decides they're not worth fighting this time as they quickly slither out through the door.

Lettie wraps her arms around herself. She's... scared. It's cramped, dark, and she can do nothing but watch blood slowly drip down the sides of the tube with wide eyes. They can't let the entity get away with the cube. Not after... not after they worked so damned hard to heal it. (Those other demons sought it out for a reason. The shadow entity booked it out of there because it wants to get away.) Desperate times. Lettie tries the one thing she hasn't tried yet. She shrinks herself down into her smaller form, slipping free of her ankle shackle, and flies through one of the air holes at the top of her tube.

Oof. The faerie's still really tired. She slaps both of her cheeks to keep her wits about her, pointedly ignoring the gory mess in the room and the way the stench assaults her nose. She flies towards the other tube. It's also splattered with blood, but not quite as much as her own was. Because of that, she can see Juno inside. "Hold on, Juju!" The second she sees it, she launches herself at the button on the side... and thankfully the door slides right open. Immediately, Lettie hugs onto Juno's shoulder, pressing her tiny cheek against her. "It's always something, isn't it?" She asks, winded. The faerie backs up a bit to look her up and down for injuries. "...Juno, are you okay?" She bites her lip and then nods reluctantly at the doorway. "I dunno where we are... but we can't let the entity get away with the cube."

 

[starboob]

Juno’s memories are blurred together in a confusing haze, but some come through sharper than others. Olette collapsed on the ground, for example, is burned in her mind. It's so clear in her head she could convince herself it's real and still happening. The sight of her bloody eyes. Her form flickering so erratically that she was nothing more than pulsing light. (She looked so dead. She looked so dead. She looked so dead.) Juno remembers wanting to crumble to her knees; she remembers wanting to pull her into her arms; she remembers not doing so because she hadn't wanted to risk their progress. She couldn't let all of the faerie's sacrifice go to waste.

Her memory is fuzzier around the heart. While she knows they were successful in healing it, she has no clue what actually happened. She hadn’t been looking, too worried Olette hadn’t been able to give her a third squeeze in time. (Her cry is a perfect echo in her mind, playing like a song on repeat.) The second her knees hit the floor, she almost didn't have enough to get back up again. Aside from being a stubborn pirate, she remembers pulling herself together, clinging to her last threads of consciousness, because Olette still needed her. She was still relying on her. In that moment, more than ever before. She did eventually collect the faerie into her arms. The weight of her felt so much like James had, she almost lost herself to the globe-sized tears in her eyes and the ache in her chest could have (should have) sent her backwards. She doesn't know how she pulled herself out of that one, only that she did.

The rest come in flashes. Stumbling around the chamber. The echo of her heavy footfalls. Trying to find her radio so she could call Marjorie. Then figures–– mercenaries–– rushing into the chamber. (She doesn’t remember where they came from, just that suddenly she could feel the pulse of a small army as opposed to the emptiness.) Hiding. Trying to still her breath, silence her heart. (It was pounding so hard she worried it would stir Olette.) Squeezing herself and Olette into a dark corner, surrounded by a cover of debris. (Even then she knew she couldn’t fight them and that she shouldn't.) Hugging the faerie. Rocking back and forth as she waited for the mercenaries to leave. Fading in and out of consciousness and praying they would just leave. (Even then she knew it was over.)

She remembers someone shouting, “I found them!” Stomping boots. A rough hand grabbing her shoulder. Another trying to pull Olette from her arms. Juno remembers grabbing onto the mercenary's wrist and crushing it with her last dregs of magic. (Even then she knew she shouldn't have done that.) She had growled at them to keep their hands off of Olette, but a blunt force to her skull turned everything black.

Her memories are especially blurry after that. Most of them are just flashes of white and green lights, some person muttering, “This one won’t stay under,” and a milky fog clouding around her head, trying to choke her. She would have screamed if the gas (not fog) hadn’t knocked her out shortly after. This, she knows, happened a few times and it hadn't mattered how hard Juno tried to resist, she’d always be pulled back into an abyss of frightful nightmares. She remembers the nightmares clearly. (Most of them involved Olette as a pile of dust. She's used to these ones by now, but others included the duchess. A few times she hallucinated and imagined herself in a secret lab belonging to the duchess. A few times, she had dreams of the duchess cutting her open and pulling out the tiny version of Olette from her chest. Then she'd swallow the faerie whole and laugh to a backdrop of lightning. Another recurring nightmare had the duchess sawing off her limbs and replacing them with monstrous ones from creatures they've defeated, turning her into a nasty behemoth.)

She has vague memories of figuring out she’s in a tube; that she’s in a lab; that another tube is next to her. She knows that the only word she's uttered since her capture has been Olette's name. It has been the first thing she says each time she tries to fight through her exhaustion, just before the gas can knock her out again.

The sound of her own name breaks through the light layer of sleep she had been starting to shake off. Immediately, she places the speaker and stirs, a weak automatic moan escaping her as she tries to lift her heavy eyelids. "Olette?" Her voice is low and hoarse from lack of significant use. Though hopeful that Olette will be the first person she sees, will provide her with clarity, will tell her that she's built this lab as an elaborate prank to mess with Juno, she is instead met with that same pulse of white and green light. Her head falls against the glass with a low thud and she pinches her eyes closed. This isn't a joke. Or a dream. It's real and that's worse than any nightmare. ‘This is your fault. Your fucking fault. You could have fucking taken them.’ Though somewhere deep within the pirate, she knows it had been out of her hands by the time the mercenaries stormed the chamber. Somewhere she knows that fighting could have meant her death, maybe even Olette's, and, either way, breaking her vows. Still, even in spite of the current aches rippling through her figure, she wishes she could have done more and imagines scenarios where she does better. 'That was a stupid fucking hiding spot.'

Too caught up in her own self-criticism, Juno is none the wiser to the conversation happening just outside of her own tube. She can hear muffled voices and she could easily make out the words if she were to pay attention, but the only voice she's listening to is the one telling her this is her fault. The one reminding her that Olette isn't here and daring her mind to wander where she went.

A wet sound, like an object piercing through mud, does manage to get her attention, especially since it's accompanied by a red splatter streaking across her tube. Startled, she backs against her tube as if that will protect her or help her get away from whoever is outside. She barely catches the glow of familiar red eyes before the lights go out and she's left alone, unsure of what happened, who died, and if she's next. (Like this, she's an easy target.) Her lower lip trembles. She crushes her teeth over it to prevent herself from going into a full blown panic.

"Hold on, Juju!"

That faint call pulls her right back to the surface, whipping her head to the side to try and spot the speaker to confirm who it is. (She's scared it's not real.) Before she can go too far down into the dark recesses of her mind, a semi-circle opens up in front of her and a small person hits her shoulder, immediately flooding her with relief. In the back of her mind, she thinks about how she almost lost her; how close she had been to losing her. Tears would bud in her eyes if she dwelled on this for too long, but the thick, distinct smell of blood fills her nose and a waft of necromantic energy assaults her all at once. In spite of that realization, she just wants a minute. (Doesn't she deserve a fucking minute?)

She slumps against the reinforced glass once more and weakly reaches over to her shoulder to cover the faerie, to make sure she’s real. Assured none of this is a dream, she finally dares to look down at Olette and an easy, albeit exhausted, smile tugs at her lips. "Olette." She sighs out her name for no other reason than needing to say it and, again, confirm the faerie in front of her is real. "You're... you're still... still... you know." Alive. Not dead. Here. Real. Her eyes flicker around the lab, still mostly undisturbed even if a body lingers near the giant monitor in the center. She looks back at Olette, thrilled the faerie is still there and hasn't vanished. "I should've kept us from this... I'm sorry. There were just so many––"

Reality reminds her of what's most immediately important when waves of fresh death roll in from outside, reminding her of the entity and the last thing Olette said to her. (It's eerie how quiet the facility is–– apart from the struggling back-up generators buzzing in the background, everything is still. Yet Juno can feel as each body is laid gently on the ground after its been slaughtered. The shadow is working carefully, she can tell, but she doesn't know whether or not she trusts the trail they're leaving. The thing knows she's a necromancer. They've proven they have access to information on them; it stands to reason they know how her necromancy works.) "Right." Like flipping a switch, her eyes are set to steel. She grasps the frame of the exit, pulls herself to a fully standing position, and gingerly steps down from the tube. It takes her a few seconds to build her confidence before she lets go of the frame and takes a baby step forward, trying not to push herself too hard. Her body groans in protest with each movement, sore and aching from being kept in that cramped space and still recovering from the last resurrection.

As she regains her legs, she shuffles over to brutalized corpse and nudges it with her foot. Barefoot. What? She looks down at herself and realizes she's in a teal jumpsuit now. When she looks up, she sees Olette in a matching one. Even though it goes without saying that they probably don't have their belongings on them (i.e., Juno's survival weapons), she checks anyway, feeling her hands over her hips for anything. She takes a step back (and almost throws herself balance with the sudden, jerky movement) and spins around (again, she almost falls), searching for their belongings. But they aren't there. Just monitors and more fucking monitors. (Were Lady and her crew captured, too? Are they being kept in this facility?) “Fuck.”

She sucks her teeth and levels with Olette. "Honest? I'm still fucking recovering from that heart. I'm still weak." At this point, she knows she can't hide anything from the faerie and that she shouldn't bother. She needs to know this anyway. It's important if they're going to have to face the entity once more. She doesn't need Olette worrying about her more in the middle of a fight. "But not drained. I got a bit in me and these corpses are so fucking fresh." She doesn't elaborate on what that last point means, believing her genius companion already knows that necromancy works best on new death. "It's gonna be okay. We got this."

She then drops down to her haunches and places her palm over the hole in the scientist's chest, finding that it has the highest concentration of energy pulsing out of it. The necromancer barely has to do much else other than lift her hand and encourage the corpse to follow as she stands back up to her feet. Though it does rise in time with Juno, it also bends in an admittedly inhuman way until she's able to snap and get it to straighten out. The former scientist stands in front them now with a slightly hunched over posture, but its dead so it's not like Juno is going to fix that. She does will the corpse to stick out its arms so she can search it for anything useful and only finds a keycard and their high-tech goggles. By holding them up to her face she can see a tiny map of the facility in the corner of one lens, messages scrolling along the bottom, and more. All the script is unknown to Juno and the tech itself feels like magic, so she offers them to Olette. "I dunno what to do with these, but they seem useful."

Finally, before leaving, Juno dips her fingers into the pool of blood on the floor and casts a few wards around them for protection. The neon-glowing discs, about the size of serving platters, hover around them at their front and rear. However, using her blood magic does cause her heart to squeeze painfully in her chest and she has to massage her fist over it to quell the sensation. "Shit–– okay, not gonna do that again." She winces and coughs before she's able to finally shake it. "Still good though."

Satisfied that they're as prepared as can be, she leads them–– meaning herself, Olette, and the corpse–– out into the dimly lit hallway. Most of the lights have gone out and the few that remain are sputtering, only able to keep steady for seconds at a time before they return to gasps. While Juno is uncertain about where the killer's death trail will lead, it's the only lead they have at the moment. The closer they get to the epicenter, the more bodies they find lining the corridor, all of them torn open by claws. Juno only stops to check on the fallen mercenaries, pulling grenades, knives, and other tools from their bodies to build them a small stockpile of weapons. She does also raise a few of them to assemble a small squadron, believing that they're going to need all the extra help they can get. That belief only reminds her of her crew and ship, though she doesn't have a way of reaching them and she is unsettled being separated from them. "Hey, can you feel the demon bugs at all?"

 

[ellarose]

A shiver rolls down Lettie's spine at the sound of her name in Juno's mouth. Olette. As much as she tries recreating it in her imagination, there's nothing that compares to actually hearing her say it. (Although she still hasn't tried to call her 'Lettie' yet. They'd been drunk when she brought it up, though, so maybe--) 'You're still...' The faerie frames her face with her hands as she magics herself back to her normal size. "Gorgeous?" Her mischievous smile turns into one of her signature cheek-puffs, though, when the pirate starts to blame herself for the mess they're in. The pirate always keeps her from getting in her head, so she needs to make sure to return the favor. She whacks her bicep lightly. "Hey! I don't wanna hear any of that 'should have' business. With that logic, you could just as easily blame me for passing out back there. We both gave it our all. It's not our fault that a bunch of dorks ambushed us."

Lettie backs up a bit to give Juno space, spotting her to make sure she's there to catch her if she starts to fall. She's got it (naturally) and then busies herself with the corpse (classic Juju)... it's then that the faerie looks down at her new jumpsuit and her expression goes from surprised to downright offended. 'What the fuck?' The pirate curses and the faerie immediately agrees with her. The faerie lifts a finger to glamour herself a new look... then she lowers it again. Tired faerie. Conserve magic. Save it for things that are actually important. Ugh, damn! Why does she have to make so much sense? Of course, their weapons disappearing is also a big deal. Especially her goggles, considering she only just perfected them. (They were her contribution... and Juno called them rad.) At least she's got her magic circle. Hm... magic circle.

"...It's understandable. That one took a lot out of us." Lettie nods thoughtfully when Juno tells her where she's at, her eyes big and empathetic. "I'm the same. I've got some of my magic back, but I'm tired." She pops her fist against the palm of her hand and nods again to agree with the pirate's assurances. They've got portions of their salvaged strength and each other. "We totally got this." Just gotta make sure they're working smarter, not harder. The faerie considers that, looking down at her outfit again as Juno busies herself with the corpse in the center of the room.

This won't do. Lettie grumbles softly to herself, her self-control intervening once more when she considers how burnt out she is. No glamours. Those were some of her only actual clothes, too! (And Juno told her she looked nice in them. In fact, she'd told her so on a dream-induced loop.) Ugh. That doesn’t mean she can’t try to salvage this atrocity. She summons up her ‘magic circle’ instead, retrieving her emergency silk scarf, a hair tie, and one of her butterfly daggers. She rolls up the sleeves of her jumpsuit, adjusts the zipper in the front just-so, and even goes as far as to cut the legs of the pants into shorts. Then she creates something of a belt with the silk scarf to better define her waistline. With a resigned huff, she piles her tangled white hair back into a high ponytail. (She would totally brush it out with her emergency comb— but she can’t take too much time for primping here. They do have an important mission to attend to.) However, statistically speaking, looking hot makes her fight better. It’s science. The skeleton crew have records and everything! Well… if they’re recording what she thinks they’re recording, anyway.

"Look! It's called 'conserving magic.'" Lettie says with a playful wink, casually twisting her hips to the side and raising her arms in a deliberately sexy pose that masquerades as a stretch. "What do you think?" Then she deflates a bit at her own antics, accepting her goggles back when Juno takes them off their newly deceased captor. (She's not oblivious-- she gets they're in deep shit. That's why she didn't brush her hair!) Awkwardly, she checks herself in her knife as a mirror and then disparagingly rubs a hand over her cheek. It's darkened with a bruise that's sensitive to the touch. "Geez, I totally ate shit back there."

Huh. This is kinda bringing her back to...

"Oh." Lettie reaches in her bag and finds her bedazzled knife, turning it over in her hand once-- almost reverently-- before handing it to Juno with a crooked little smile. "Here. This is the one you gave me the night we met."

In return, Lettie is given the goggles off the corpse and a key card. All business now, she nods and fastens the goggles on securely over her head. Once she's sure Juno is okay, they head out into the creepy lab. Occasionally she checks the map in the lower corner of her goggles to get an idea of where they're going-- though right now, following the trail of death (the shadow entity) is their main priority. While Juno gathers more weapons, Lettie (with great disgust) salvages the least bloodied white coat she can find from one of the lab rats, draping it over her shoulders to disguise the telling glow of her wings in the dark. There had once been a time that she judged Juno for stealing coats off of corpses. Surviving and living a glamour-less life, though, she finds she can understand on a level she didn't before. This place is a maze... but already, she finds herself routing shortcuts they may be able to use to escape or corner the entity.

"...Not really. They're probably too far away." Lettie frowns when Juno brings up their army, closing her eyes briefly as she tries to focus on them. A high-pitched ring explodes in her ears and she takes that as a warning sign to stop. "Admittedly, I get kinda lightheaded when I try. I won't push myself to reach out to them unless it's totally necessary." Then she shivers, creeped out all the more when she considers that these dorks took their clothes. This sketched out feeling runs even deeper yet as they pass a room with a giant saw affixed above an operating table. "...Ugh. I feel sick. I hope these freaks didn't run any weird experiments on us." She wraps her arms tightly around herself. There are no sore spots or fresh scars that she didn't get from battle. Maybe she can rule that one out. But still. (If not them, then who do they use such a devise on?) "And seriously? Where do they get off, stealing one of my only outfits!?" Deep down, though, that's just a cover for what she's really upset about. She worked so damned hard on those goggles. And... and...

"Honestly. The more I think about this, the more pissed off I get. Keeping us in tubes, harvesting our energy? So we've gotten into a little trouble, yeah... o-okay, we've gotten into a lot of trouble. Even so, we've been taking our mission seriously lately. Risking our lives for it and everything." Lettie's voice shakes. Being used like tools without having any choice in the matter. Hits too close to home, doesn't it?

"...The cubes owe us an explanation. Don't we deserve to understand what's going on here?" Lettie continues to lash out, peeking into another room that they pass. This one is filled with empty tubes... only instead of green light, it emits a bluish light. Did they grow something in them? Oh stars. She hopes they haven't been cloned. "We've had to fight that shadow creep over and over and we still don't know exactly what it wants the cubes for. Something bad, for sure, but what?" She shakes her head with disbelief. The faerie picks up a cracked (but not broken) tablet, squinting as she flicks quickly through different files. There are more pictures of them alongside logs and data. (There's information about the cubes, too.) Maybe she can try her hand at translating it? That way she'll get answers... one way or another. (Unless the cube burns it up, that is. Shit.) It's worth a try, though, so she stuffs the tablet into the deep pocket of her stolen lab coat. "And now we've been forced to find out in the worst possible way that we've been researched and stalked by some kinda powerful, high-tech organization for our association with the cubes."

Fucking stalkers. Lettie can't outrun them, no matter where in the worlds she tries to hide. She lifts her goggles briefly, pressing the heels of her hands over her eyes before she can cry. "Sorry, I know I'm having a total freakout he-- oh." This is, of course, when she notices the view outside of one of the first porthole windows they've seen since ascending to a higher level of the facility. She stumbles and falls onto her backside before scrambling herself back against the opposite wall. "Oh my stars. The stars. Look at the stars!" She blinks incredulously, rubbing the side of her head as her heart pounds against her chest like a sledgehammer. "Juno, we're in space." Motherfucking space! Even in the star grove, she's never been this close to the stars before. Nor has she ever seen so many at once.

"I've seen other faeries do this before, let me... let me try something real quick." Lettie scrambles to her feet and presses her hands against the window. "Um, don't freak out. I'm gonna be in kinda a trance for the next minute or so. I promise I'll be right back." Closing her eyes, she focuses drawing their energy towards her, her hair glowing a faint moonbeam white. Faeries connected to nature can easily do this, drawing from the winds, from bodies of water, flower petals or the trees. The stars, though... they were always unreachable. Occasionally she could draw from the stars reflections in water or in mirrors. (Vaguely, she thinks about Juno mentioning fresh corpses... the saw blade... and the scientist mentioning cultivating an environment to 'sustain them'. They were really trying to use them to create some kinda cube-healing machine, weren't they?) 'Course, they failed to record their awesomeness in their data and that's their loss.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you guys doing up here!?" A man demands, his voice processed and grainy through his high-tech helmet. He sets his hands on his hips as he looks from Juno, to the corpses and then to Lettie with her glowing hair. "Fuck, Jerry. Did you authorize this? I knew you'd get drunk with power the second they put you in charge of the subjects." He's looking at the first corpse again... evidently not putting together the fact that 'Jerry' is a corpse. "They might seem cool and all, but hanging out with them is strictly forbidden. Take 'em back to their pods or I'll have to report this to boss." With that, he holds up his radio and clicks the side as a warning.

 

[starboob]

Is Juno surprised that Olette found it necessary to upgrade her jumpsuit? Not in the fucking slightest. It’s classic fucking faerie antics and, this time around, it amuses her, having accepted this as Olette’s way of looking her part. Just as Juno likes to appear as a badass homicidal pirate who no one should ever mess with unless they’re looking to have their skull exploded, Olette likes to look like a dazzling faerie / the hottest babe in the room. (Juno already thinks this about her, of course. She doesn’t need her glamours or flashy outfits; she could be in one of Juno’s destroyed shirts, looking like she’s just come back from a fight with the inferno itself, and Juno would still only have eyes for her.) It’s like a layer of armor or a warning and, while Juno isn’t going to go around and find wherever this facility stashes their inkwells to do a quick dye-job of her jumpsuit, she understands the faerie’s motive. And she thinks it’s a very distracting motive with her zipper undone enough that she can get a better eyeful of her front, her newly exposed legs (she can see Olette Licorice’s legs), and defined waist. The homo pirate wouldn’t be able to fight her and she honestly doesn't know how she ever had.

But now is not the time to be appraising her partner (it never is). Sneaking through this facility and ending that shadow fucker is their top priority. Second to that is locating her ship, her crew, and their belongings (their lockets). Olette can’t reach the demon bugs right now, so they’ll have to wait on leads for their secondary goals. (She swears if there is so much as even a new scratch on her ship she will let Inez unleash hellfire on this place. She guesses that if anyone in the crew is missing skeleton parts or is just outright missing she’ll make them pay for that too, but the ship is more of her baby than her crew.)

Anyway, she grips the bedazzled knife in her hand (she knew it looked fucking familiar) and listens to the faerie’s rant and, at the same time, realizes the full scope of the fuck-shit scenario they’ve been wrapped up in thanks to the asshole army dictating their lives. Though Olette keeps reducing their adversaries down to dorks–– an assessment Juno can get behind–– passing through these corridors and peering into the other labs gives her a sinking feeling about all of this. The saws and operating tables remind her of her dreams and bring up memories of the duchess. (“I'll make sure you're running for the rest of your life.”) A chill washes over her, raising her hackles like Cathy is right behind her, breathing down her neck. She raises her hand to warm her neck, rubbing away the anxiety that someone other than the zombies is standing behind her. (She doesn’t dare look to check.) She tries to shake the paranoia, but it remains like a looming dark cloud on the horizon. ‘She’s on Desdemonia. She can’t get me. Olette wouldn’t let her either.’

She wants to agree with Olette beyond nods and hums, but the thought that they’ve already been operated on locks her jaw shut. Even if she can look down and see for herself that she’s still all herself, it doesn’t stop the feeling of tarantulas crawling beneath her skin. More than that, the fact that they still risk becoming monsters or fucking batteries sends her pulse to the moon. ‘We need to get out of here.’ She won’t be anyone’s fodder. Not anymore.

It’s when she notices the faerie trying to collect herself that Juno’s able to settle her own worries; not necessarily pushing them to the side, but comforted knowing she’s not alone in this feeling. Or in this fuck-shit situation. (There’s no one else in the worlds she’d rather be stuck with. No one else in the worlds who she trusts enough.) That helps loosen her jaw and she sets her hand on Olette’s shoulder, giving her a squeeze. “Don’t even worry about it, we’ll…” ‘send those assholes to their makers,’ is how she intended to finish, but the thought is lost when she joins Olette in looking out the porthole.

Though shocked, she doesn’t fall over onto her ass over the revelation that they are in space; that this facility is actually a fucking space station–– like something off of one of those garbage scraps herself and the other kids used to pour over, imagining lives that would never be their own. ‘How the fuck are we going to escape?’ Where the faerie is emboldened by this discovery, Juno finds herself again panicked and only holds it together because she trusts Olette and Olette seems to have an idea. “Okay, I’ve got you. Do your raver-magic thing.” She manages a small smile in return and spins on her heels to keep watch.

‘She’ll be back in a minute.’ And a minute couldn’t pass quick enough as some official appears at the far end of the hall. He’s surprisingly calm, all things considered, leading her to believe that no alarms have been triggered despite the trail of corpses and the busted lights. (She considers the scale of this facility, noting that even with her glance out the porthole, this place must be massive and it’s possible its power grids and security are broken into sections. Depending on the threat level, not everyone might be privy to breeches.) For now, this means she has the element of surprise with her. Especially since this helmet hasn’t caught on to the corpses behind her. Admittedly, it helps that they’re not decayed and that the lights are spazzing out, making it difficult to get a good look of their mutilations.

Juno moves just a bit to cover Gerald (?), making it so that their chest injury is still obscured from view. While she can’t make the zombie talk, she can will it to shrug so she does that. She just needs to stall. ‘Just a minute or so.’

The helmet tilts his head to the side and lets go of the call button on the radio. “Jerry, the fuck does,” he imitates the shrugs, “mean? Look, I know you’ve been going through it since Matilda left you, but you need to get it together and think about the bigger picture. Now that we’re this close, we can’t mess around. Do you know how many months of planning and agonizing it took to get these two? And now you’re just letting them run the show. Get it together, Jerry.”

“Jerry” brings their fists up to their chest with one palm facing them and the other positioned like it’s gripping a crank. Like one would operate a crank, Gerald begins moving their fist in a tight circular potion while their other fist slowly raises their middle finger. (Juno learned this trick from Olette.)

“Alright, that’s it. I’m tired of your funny busi––”

Look, Juno really did try a non-violent approach, but the helmet had it coming to them. Before he can even lift the radio, the necromancer sends Gerald hurling forward, tackling the helmet to the ground. The helmet, not expecting this turn and certainly not prepared for the discovery that his colleague is dead, stands no chance. The helmet isn’t even given the chance to scream before the zombie snaps his neck violently to the side. She then has Gerald gather the body and pull it over to her, not wanting to leave Olette’s side even if she has a zombie squadron to stand watch. (She needs to make up for before. Olette might not blame her for their capture, but Juno still does and she needs to do better.)

“Kessler. Come in, Kessler.” The radio in the freshest corpse’s hand crackles, waiting for Kesla (deceased) to answer. ‘Fuck.’ She looks at Gerald, maybe hoping for some surprise direction from the dead scientist and all she gets is a glassy-eyed stare. Go figure. She looks over her shoulder back at Olette, trying to gauge how much more time she needs before they can bolt and what she needs to do in the meantime. But Olette looks the same as before–– gorgeous and glowing like the fucking star she is–– and leaving the pirate with no sense of when she’ll be back. Fuck. “Shit. Shit. Okay… His name was Kesla?”

Again, Gerald doesn’t respond to the question. Gerald is dead. Gerald’s knowledge is burning up in the eternal flame. Fuck. She really needs to start paying attention to names.

“Kessler?” the voice repeats. “Dispatch, send units over to––”

“K-Kessler, here!” Juno panics, grabbing the radio and smashing her finger against the call button as she deepens her voice and blurts out the name (before she forgets it). Remembering the way the helmet filtered Kessler’s (!) voice, she plucks it off the corpse and pops it over her head. “Awaiting instruction, sir.” For once she’s thankful for her time in the academy.

“... You okay, Kessler? You sound funny.”

“Just a cold, sir.”

Whoever is on the other end seems to buy this as they do the verbal equivalent of a shrug. “Alright, then… Status update?”

“Everything is in order, sir.”

“And the subjects?”

Subjects? Oh, right. “Secured, sir.”

“Copy. Report to the control center and sign the captain’s birthday card.” Juno breathes a sigh of relief, letting her back hit the wall next to the porthole. She nods and then responds. “Copy that, sir.”

When the radio channel opens again, the commanding officer doesn’t say anything. Empty static sounds from the speaker, crinkling through the air. 'What the...' Over the radio she hears what sounds like someone gasping or choking, before the radio channel cuts out without further context. Though Juno isn’t left guessing what’s just happened for much longer. The lights all flip to red–– even looking out the porthole, she can see that the other windows glow red–– and an alarm blares over loudspeakers.

“Alert! Aler––”

The security system never gets to finish its warning as Juno’s voice cuts it off to deliver a message. “Greetings, Synthos friends, do not be alarmed. You’ve only just lost your subjects and your relic. See if you can catch us.” The entity switches voices to mimic Olette, finishing with, “Toodles!” (As if either of them sound like that–– way to make them out to be fucking nerds.)

Though Juno can’t hear scrambling mercenaries or stomping boots, she imagines that those are to follow if they wait here any longer. The radio in her hand voices a cacophony of confusion, several people trying to get through to a commanding officer and piece together what is happening. She hears at least one voice mention securing the escape pods and smaller vessels, giving her another idea of where they should head if this trail of death is too risky to continue following.

Tentatively, she places her hand on Olette’s shoulder and says, “We need to go, Olette.” She doesn’t know whether the faerie can hear her in her trance state and she hopes that by touching her she isn’t ruining her process or putting her danger, but their situation demands for these risks. Especially since the doors at both ends of the halls are hissing shut as the space station locks down.

She nods towards her group of zombies and has two of the larger mercenaries rush to one end of the hall to hold the doors open. (Even if Olette can glitch, she’s hesitant to rely on it when they’re both recovering from Juno’s screw up. Okay, well, Olette doesn’t consider it a screw up and she also doesn’t blame Juno for not being fully recovered… but she still has to try. She still has to give it her all. She’s not losing one more person and she’s not going to mess up with Olette. They can't risk it. Even if they're in space, she doesn't want to risk it.)

“C’mon, Olette…” She pleads, listening to the shouts from space station officials over the radio.

“The subjects are missing!”

“Lab 22 is also empty.”

“Fuck!”

“Do we have eyes on the creature––”

Juno’s heart stops when the distinct sound of chattering teeth ripples over the radio, sounding exactly like Ripir. Then it plummets as screams replace the chatter and, looking out the porthole, she sees a shattered window and mutilated bodies floating through the vacuum of space. 'It's on our level. Shit––'

 

[ellarose]

Lettie's spirit self extends beyond her physical self, out her fingertips and through the window. Whoa. Weightlessly, she twirls through the starlight like a celestial petal from a tree, accepting the radiance they offer her as she passes by. The vast expanse of space isn't empty or cold. It welcomes her into a home she's never known, whispers that she belongs there, embraces her like a long-lost child. They're compatible. In her wake she leaves an aurora trail of white, arctic-blue and magenta, like a paintbrush running gracefully across a black canvas. (As she goes, she collects speckles of light in her hair. Her form flickers, revealing glimpses of the butterflies in her chest beating their wings and multiplying until it's full of them. Unable to take residence anywhere else, microscopic ones begin to fill her fingertips, two butterflies appear in the space behind her eyes and fill her head. It's a rush, it's exhilarating.) On Avangeline, Lettie was always left to wait on the sidelines, watching other faeries in the ring absorb their accessible sources before being selected to fight in flashy demonic brawls. They were seen as no more than 'power-ups' to be rented or bought. She... she never was and never would be chosen for such a task. (Not that she particularly wanted to be, but that never stopped her from wondering what it was like.) She held no real 'use' beyond glamouring herself to look like her mother. To be coveted and used for 'decorative purposes'. Ugh. Gross, gross, gross! Needless to say, that wasn't much better. None of their lots were. (...And if they complained or disobeyed? Then it was off to the Reaper's chamber with them. And those assholes don't fuck around when it comes to the Reaper. Lina... Lina is proof of that.) That's besides the point, though. Finally, finally she understands what it's like to acquaint herself with her source.

'Don't venture out too far.' Lettie distantly recalls this piece of advice. 'Or you'll be lost forever.' (Or maybe she'd be found?) Technically, a faerie's spirit can live eternally within their source. She's seen many sacrifice their physical bodies to do so before death matches, rebelling in the only way they could to take their own path outside of the one that'd been assigned to them. It was a ballsy way out. Lina's older sister had done it that way... and Lina claimed she'd go out the same way if she ever found herself in that position. That was her 'Plan B'. 'Then at least I'll reunite with her.' Lina had added, the gleam in her eyes sad but hopeful. 'I won't let them win.' Lettie bit her tongue, refusing to complain about the version of her that'd get left behind in that scenario. In the end, neither of them got what they wanted. Instead... instead...

"--lette." Lettie feels something-- someone-- tugging at her across space. Calling her back. The memory of the collapsing in her chest when Lina explained her 'Plan B' sharpens until it's something more like guilt, stabbing her in the gut. Do you wish that on her? No. No, she doesn't. Juno. While in theory faerie would love to chose her own destiny, she also doesn't want to make a choice that leaves her pirate behind. Because she wouldn't do anything to abandon her by choice. Never. They both know that pain all too well.

"C'mon, Olette..." Juno. It sounds like her voice is coming from underwater. It's too distant. The faerie determinedly turns to travel back the way she came, following the flowing lights of her own trail. She glitches herself briskly along, resembling a shooting star on her journey back across the cosmos. A rain of silver glitter follows her, the butterflies she burns out instantly reappearing as she goes, lending her an endless supply of magic. The air becomes frigid... and in the depths of the darkness, she hears the chattering of a thousand teeth. In the sky above her, seven neon green eyes blink open one by one. Shit. Then a cluster of souls float around her, moaning in agony, and this only encourages her to move faster. I'm coming, Juno.

The real Lettie gulps in a big, audible breath of air. It's as if inhaling her spirit back into her physical body. The second she returns, a blast of white light emits from her body and swallows the hallway up. Then, slowly, it fades as she blinks her eyes open. It's immediately apparent that they're no longer their usual white, now resembling gemstones that reflect shards of dazzling rainbow light. Her hair and wings have a whole rainbow gradient thing going on and the faerie confidently sheds her stolen lab coat to reveal them. (She stuffs the whole bundle, complete with the tablet, into her magic circle.) One by one, Lettie notices the new helmeted corpse among their army, the mangled corpses floating outside, and the not-so-distant sound of none other than Ripr.

"What the hell happened while I was gone!?" Lettie exclaims breathlessly, perplexed. Then she softens and offers Juno a repentant glance. Did that escapade through space take longer than a minute? She can't tell... and either way, she'll need to save her apologies for later. If they survive this one. No, when they survive this one. Regardless of how it happened, this situation needs a reaction more so than an explanation. And now she is more than equipped to react. She feels powerful enough to raise hell if she wanted. Like she could even yank heaven itself down from the clouds and dethrone a god. (Okay, let's not get carried away here...) "Right, right. There's no time."

Slightly manic with energy, the faerie smirks, revealing her sharper than usual canines. Quickly, she summons a circle of her illusionary figures all around them. "I wouldn't leave you hanging for no reason, Juno. Check this out." She draws a glyph in front of one of her light copies, glamouring it so it towers over them and resembles Ripr in shape and size. With the wave of her hand, she sends it running in the direction that the monstrous sound had come from. That oughta keep it busy. Then, with the twirl of her finger, she sends the other versions of herself off in different directions. "They said it themselves. They built this place to sustain us. I'm totally recharged."

That illusion isn't going to hold Ripr forever. (What the hell is the Ripr doing aboard this ship, anyway?) Lettie shakes her head, lowering the goggles down over her eyes again. She's recharged. Still a bit tired, though. But it's nothing. She can pull through this. She will pull through this. The faerie glimpses the map in the corner to get an assessment of where they are, taking not of their potential routes. At this point, she just intends to lead them in a direction where the won't hit a dead end. (She checks one of the blocks on the map that indicates a docking bay. They might be able to corner the shadow entity there, provided they'll need some method other than teleportation to escape the space ship.) However, they still need to try and locate their things and-- potentially-- the other cubes if these dorks took them captive as well. For the first time in a long time, she finds herself wondering how they're ever going to escape without the cube 'blipping' them away at the last second.

Motioning for Juno to follow, Lettie decides to check the docking bay first. (They shouldn't bounce yet themselves, but they need to stop the shadow entity if that is their plan.) They run quickly through the winding corridors, neon lights and stars a blur as they pick up their pace. Using the map and the radio Juno picked up, they're able to navigate without encountering too much trouble. Whenever they come close to encountering mercenaries, they duck into empty meeting rooms and send corpses and illusions out as decoys. In the process, they accidentally discover a way for Lettie to glamour the corpses so they look a little less like corpses. Eventually they make it to the docking bay... and after chasing the guards there away with illusions, all they discover there is a rackety robot, mopping and wearing a pair of headphones over their bucket shaped head.

"...Nothing?" Lettie pouts, unable to disguise her dismay. Then she shakes her head. "Shit. Looks like three of the escape pods are missing, too." Amidst all this panic, anyone could have taken them. The entity may not need one, anyway. Sure-- the cubes haven't been known to teleport anyone but them, Lady, and the crew. However, there are other means out there that can be used to travel from world to world. The entity wouldn't have been able to stalk them like this otherwise. "Let's try... the 'observation room' next? There's a chance it's like a surveillance room or something. That could give us footage of all the rooms."

And so they do just that, working their way through the ship the same way they made it to the docking bay. (There are fresh corpses in most of the halls, leaving Juno with more to replace those she's already used.) The door to the 'observation room' is shut and has a mechanical lock. "Oooh, would you look at that? I bet there's something important in here." Lettie tries the key card they took earlier and grins when a green check mark appears on the display screen. "Alakazam! Just like magic." Because she's so classy, she winks and throws out some finger guns before holding the door open for Juno and their ragtag band of corpses.

Inside, they do find surveillance screens. But instead of footage inside the ship itself, it shows footage from worlds they've been do and others they haven't. Each one has a name and a status written over it in pixellated white text. They're labeled either 'active', 'inactive', or 'pending'. Weird. Lettie stamps out the fleeting desire to look and see if there's any footage of Avangeline as she turns to the center monitor, which displays nothing more than a prompt asking for a password. And hanging above this monitor...?

"Cubey?" Lettie tilts her head. Sure enough, none other than cubey the first is trapped in what looks to be a magicked glass case hanging from the ceiling. It rattles around inside, flashing and bumping up against the sides like an animal desperate to escape.

"Finally." The little asshole sighs with Inez's voice. "Break me out of here, nerds."

"So demanding." Lettie frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. "Cubey, you have some serious explaining to--" The sound of chattering teeth echoes again, cutting her off. It's distant... but drawing closer. The ground and monitors around them begin to tremble. They'll definitely be cornered here if Ripr discovers them. Shit.

"Ugh, whatever! I'm gonna try and crack this code." Lettie flexes her fingers and leans over the monitor asking for a password. Her hacking skills may be a bit rusty, but she can do this. She has to do this. "I'm all charged up now, Juno. If something bursts in, use as much of my magic as you need. Don't hold back. And since we're not holding hands this time..." She bites her lip, tapping the screen as she tries to learn the interfacing. "Distress code is 'shit bananas'."

 

[starboob]

Anxiety bounces through Juno like a pinball, beating against her heart until the only thing she can feel is that uncomfortable muscle. The longer Olette takes, the more she scratches at her knuckles, unable to do anything else with herself, barely able to even focus on the wall of death that pushes ever closer to them as Ripr makes its way through the shipping, getting closer and closer to their corridor. Sweat bathes her back and brow as she waits, hating that all she can do is wait and tense. Though part of her knows Olette wouldn’t want her to stand and wait for her executioner, she’d want her to run, Juno also knows she would never leave the faerie’s side. The faerie knows this too, she’s certain. As it becomes more apparent that Olette is still gone, she sweeps her eyes over their surroundings, assesses the supplies they’ve gathered and her small army as she builds a strategy. Perilous as this might be, Juno doesn’t quit. ‘I’ve got you. Do your raver-magic thing.’

If she needs more time, then she’ll do her best to provide it, because she knows the faerie is coming back. She’s not going to leave her. She’s not. ‘But what if she is? What if she doesn’t…’ A voice in her head tries to worm itself into her ear, but Juno crushes it almost instantly. ‘Olette wouldn’t.’

And she doesn’t. Just as Juno finishes raising Keith (or whatever), Olette sucks in a breath and her attention immediately snaps to the faerie, hovering her hands over her in case she needs someone to spot her as she comes back. While concern is plain on her face, it doesn’t remain for long as the starlight swallows up the immediate area and reveals the fucking faerie in all her glory. Juno’s lips part ever so slightly at her new iridescent-rainbow form. ‘She’s––’

‘––angry with me…’ Her affect flattens under Olette’s scolding remark, taking a step back from her and averting her gaze. ‘I tried… I’m sorry.’ Her jaw clamps shut, unable and unwilling to let her speak as shame pours over her head and pools in her belly. She only brings her gaze up when Olette drops the subject and shows off her raver magic. Juno spins around as she tries to keep up with all the fake versions of Olette. “I know you wouldn’t.” The pirate mutters this, too awestruck to say much else as she watches the faerie show off. ‘She really is the fucking faerie.’

Then they’re racing through the space station, making for the hangar bay and avoiding mercenaries and other officials along the way. While Olette is vibrant under her latest power-up, Juno struggles to keep up as exhaustion breathes down her neck and threatens to pull her under at any second. It doesn’t help that she continues to raise bodies as she sends others off to run distraction or fight for them. She knows she needs to tell Olette and, after seeing her carry so much of their escape, she doesn’t want the faerie to see her as useless. If there’s one thing she can do, it’s fight. She can do this. She’s pulled herself together with less and she’ll have to do that again now.

When they get to the docks, Juno is quick to realize that all of these vessels are far more advanced than anything she’s ever flown before and worry seeps through her as she imagines their escape. In the event they can’t find a cube to save them, and though she isn’t hoping for that, she knows a spacecraft will be their alternative means of escape. (They also have to count on there being a craft for them to take if they return, but she tries to not occupy herself with that thought. They’ll figure it out as they have with every other fuck-shit situation they have been thrust into.)

Despite everything and her earlier shame, she manages to roll her eyes and chuckle breathily when Olette opens the door to the observation room. “You’re such a nerd.” If anything, the pirate is thankful that the faerie makes breathing during these situations a little easier with her lighthearted and easygoing nature. It brings her back to moments with James or Eliza and how they could always manage a joke no matter their circumstances. (She’s sure James’s last words would have been a joke had he been capable.)

At the sight of the cube hanging from the ceiling like a pair of lucky dice, she crosses her arms over her chest, unimpressed. That look morphs into a glare when the little shit has the audacity to criticize them as if it’s entirely their fault for getting captured. If anything, it’s the fucking cube’s fault, Juno decides, because the cube is the one who’s supposed to keep them out of trouble and it couldn’t even do that. (But deep down, the stubborn pirate still blames herself.) There isn’t enough annoyance in the world, however, to distract the pirate from the looming presence of Ripr, who they have managed to avoid thus far.

Juno grabs onto a shelf as the room shakes and her heart thunders, nodding in response to Olette’s words. She might nod, but she doesn’t like this one bit. Even so, she stands ready, facing the door as the chattering teeth approach.

It nags at her that Ripr might be on this space station and that nagging feeling tells her this might not be what it seems. Because Ripr is on Desdemonia. Just like the duchess. Neither would have any business being on a space station. Neither would have any business in trying to sustain herself and Olette as cube healing batteries. No, if anything the duchess would have spitefully freed Juno just to hold her captive herself. And Ripr… Ripr just wouldn’t be here. It would be fucking batshit to bring a creature like that aboard a space station.

But with all the monitors in this room watching the worlds, with the surfeit of intel this organization has on them, and recalling all of those labs they breezed by, it’s more likely that this is something artificial. A copy. A replication. Something. She just doesn’t think it’s actually Ripr. Ripr is too colossal even for this titanic station. Whether or not this a comfort, she doesn't know.

The trembling builds to outright quaking in the span of minutes and the necromancer knows it’s her time. She doesn’t want it to be. She sucks in a breath and looks over at the faerie, part of her wanting to just kiss the top of her rainbow covered head before she goes. Just in case. Or maybe for luck. (Maybe she just wants to.) She doesn’t act on this impulse, however strong, and turns back to face the door.

As a test, she sends out two of the mercenaries into the hall and tries to get them to lure the creature away from the observation room. This doesn’t work. Not even a full ten seconds after sending the zombies out, she hears (and feels) Ripr tear them in two, ending their short second lives. The thick pressure of death builds and the necromancer knows the creature is disturbingly close. ‘It’s going to find us.’ She has no doubt about this. ‘Don’t hate me, Olette.’

She steels herself and focuses on the faerie’s magic energy, opening up the link between themselves, and drawing in enough butterflies to restore her own abilities and taking no more than that. Then, without warning, she punches the button on the side of the door, opening it, and leads her small squadron out into the hall to find Ripr and keep it from the observation room. (They’re goners if they end up trapped in a fight in that room.)

Finding Ripr doesn't take much effort as the creature is rounding the corner. Fuck. Juno wishes she had been wrong about this not being the actual Ripr because what it actually is is so much worse than what she could have imagined. She wants to throw up just looking at the creature, slicked with blood. The creature is massive, at least double Juno’s size, but it’s not an enlarged armored worm. It’s a clone. Of herself. (Her nightmares flash across her vision and she has to fight to blink them away so she can focus.) At least she thinks it started that way, because though it’s obviously taller than her (like Ripr), though its mouth splits from its bottom lip and opens down its torso (like Ripr), though it has seven neon green eyes (like Ripr), the other features are reminiscent of herself. The inky hair on its head, for example, has her own white stripe in it and its build, while enlarged, mirrors her own muscle mass.

The lengthy mouth down the clone’s front ripples, filling the hall with its chilling chatter enough to freeze the necromancer’s bones. The bastard doesn’t wait for Juno to process what she’s just come to realize and skates down the hallway like it's being propelled by wings, moving in a strikingly similar way as Olette does. (Though as far as she can tell, the thing doesn’t have wings.) Juno barely manages to slide over to the side to avoid the tackle, though a few of her zombies aren’t so lucky as they’re captured and shredded between its sharp teeth.

While it chews, crunching bone and flesh, Juno grabs onto two of the larger mercenaries she was able to collect and holds onto their shoulders. While she’s never attempted this before, she’s witnessed plenty of the zombie-tracked academy recruits perform this stunt before and knows the principle behind it. (It was a favorite of Clay’s whenever he was feeling particularly asshole-ish about terrorizing a tin village, which was often.) The two zombies link their hands and Juno sends a pulse through them that fuses their hands together, pulling their bodies into each other, becoming a mass of meat and bones as they meld and reform into an equally sized monstrosity. Desperation tempts her to add in a third zombie, but the clone whips its head around upon hearing the squelching noises of the two fusing bodies.

She sends her own creature forward to tackle the other and it manages to pin it down. Her creature pounds its fist into the bastard’s face, attempting to knock it out, but it does little to phase it. The zombie even sticks its hands into the length of the mouth, attempting to rip the thing in two, but the bastard… ‘Oh, shit.’

The bastard takes on an all too familiar glow and glitches through the zombie's embrace. Then it glitches through Juno and knocks her off balance, sending her onto her back. ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck.’ As she rushes back up to her feet, she sends more of the zombie army forward to occupy it as she tries to claw together every piece of information she has on Olette’s glitching. (She’s explained it to her a few times during their study sessions and that’s how she knows it's one of the faerie’s more costly moves. But what the fuck did she say when Juno asked if she could glitch through everything?)

Even when the zombies manage to injure the creature, the wounds simply glow briefly and suture themselves back together, seeming to combine Olette and Juno’s limited healing abilities to create something that’s actually regenerating. (“They built this place to sustain us.”) It probably isn’t just them that this place is trying to sustain. It’s them and whatever other creepy fucking experiments they’ve run.

Even so, just observing the creature for these few minutes tells her that it's not using actual necromancer or raver magic. It clearly runs on similar sources and is modeled after their abilities (she’ll unpack all of this later), but so much of it feels artificial at the same time. In any case, she decides that if it’s modeled after them, it might have the same weaknesses, like Juno’s inability to handle spirits.

Well, Juno’s usual inability to handle spirits. With Olette’s prior permission and encouragement to take from her supply of magic, she’s almost certain she can pull this off without taking herself out in the process. She lifts up her arms and reaches forth, towards the lost, confused spirits filling the space station and works to open a channel pulling them towards herself. Even drawing on the faerie’s magic, her nose starts to bleed, but this isn’t nearly as taxing as it would be otherwise. Especially since the spirits are so freshly separated from their corpses; she doesn't have to reach too far for them. As the spirits respond to the necromancer's call, they begin to blink into existence behind her. Once she has a decent number gathered, she sweeps her arms backwards then brings them up, effectively merging the spirits behind her into an amorphous mass of necromantic energy. She manipulates this into a warded net and launches it towards the monstrosity, simultaneously instructing her remaining zombies to move to the side.

The spirit ward net hits the creature and pins it to the wall. At first it tries to use brute force to tear through it, then its teeth, but Juno doesn’t relent. Her arms stay pointed towards it, concentrating her effort on holding it down in spite of the black dots of exhaustion spotting her vision. The creature's body lights up, next trying to glitch through the net, but Juno pushes back, crying out as she does so, putting so much force into it that the net starts to cut into the creature. Even so, the creature is not deterred, continuing its attempts to glitch and brute force out of the net, taking more from Juno as she attempts to hold it down. Her arms begin to shake with strain. Focusing on her link with Olette, this time, rather than pull more magic from her, she attempts to tell her, "Shit bananas. Shit bananas!"

 

[ellarose]

"...Faster."

"Fuck off, cubey! I'm going as fast as I can." This situation is dire enough that Lettie is chewing her last piece of gum. (It's dire enough that it doesn't make her sad, considering that it may be the last taste she ever gets of home. But Avangeline's not really 'home' anymore, is it?) Her fingers fly across the screen as she experiments with the interface, figuring out everything there is to know about the program and whether or not her own methods will even be applicable. The tech and script is different, but at the core it runs pretty similarly. "I'm really a lot better at this when I have a nice manicure. Makes me feel powerful." She admits, blowing a bubble and piercing it with a satisfying 'pop' between her teeth as she fishes into her magic circle for the tablet from before. She sets it up so it hovers beside the monitor. Ugh, cringe. Right now her nails are a chipped atrocity. The rest of her precious nail polish supply had been tragically lost to the ashy skies of Dominoes, spilled after they were forced to paint Albert's claws. "If someone would've let me steal some fucking nail polish without burning it to ash, maybe I'd be faster right now!" She narrows her eyes out of concentration more so than frustration, working her looking glass magic on the tablet screen. One by one, she reaches for the characters within it and sets her precomputed rainbow table system to work. "Instead of nagging, you could totally help out by setting the atmosphere with party mode! Or, like, play some badass beats?"

"I am not your personal speaker, Miss Olette." The cube does not sound even remotely impressed. "I am the maestro. I am so much more than a speaker."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. You can teleport off of literal worlds... and now you're gonna let one little box stop you?" Lettie throws one arm over her head, incredulously waving towards the trapped cube (no, still not calling it the maestro) as she shakes her head. She watches as the glowing symbols flicker and rearrange themselves across the screens, smirking as she begins to cache the output of the cryptographic hash functions. Fuck yes! Now she's getting somewhere. "I'm just trying to say that a speaker would be helpful right about now. Even you can't deny the power of a dope playlist! You tried bringing me and Juju together with karaoke. And how many times have Lettie and the Skellies taken the stage to save the day in a pinch? I know you take surveillance of that shit."

"This 'little box' is much larger than me. Case and point? I fit inside of it." Cubey points out, ever the smart ass. "And that was my family's idea. They are patrons of the arts."

"Fuckin' knew it." Lettie whispers under her breath. That was totally cubey's family! Wait 'till Juno... the faerie's heart clenches. Juno. While she tries not to let it mess with her head or her focus, it's undeniable that those ominous sounds are getting louder and closer. While she wants to be out there to fight alongside her, she knows that this is her part. Once cubey is free, it'll be a cinch to get the fuck out of there and escape whatever is coming for them. It's just going to take a minute before she can decrypt the hashed passwords.

Then cubey proceeds to act as a speaker... but the absolute bastard decides to play elevator music. Elevator music!? The smooth, relaxing jazz tune floating through the chamber completely clashes with the mood like stilettos paired with sweatpants.

"Cubey, I swear to--" Lettie steeples her fingers but is thrown off balance when she hears the commotion coming from outside. Juno. Her heart drops, even as she reminds herself to believe in the pirate. It'll always stand that Juno is a fucking badass-- but she can't help feeling scared for her. Fucking terrified, actually. She's low on energy right now and needs her rest. Thankfully, she can feel her drawing on her energy. She's got enough to spare and hopes that Juno will take full advantage as not to get herself seriously hurt. (If anyone should be fighting right now, it should be Lettie. But she's got to free this fucking asshole cube who has taken over their lives. The cube that will also 'blip' them out of this mess the second that it's free.) She turns back to the screen, her desperate eyes hidden by the reflections of the screen in her goggles. "Fuck. Hurry, hurry, hurry..."

Lettie taps at the screen, her fingers moving like branches of lightning as she commands the program to activate automatically the second it comes upon the passcode. Eventually they're gonna get it. They have to. (But are they going to get it fast enough?) Shit bananas. Shit bananas! Juno. It takes a lot for Juno of all people to ask for help, to admit when she's hit her limits. She needs her. She seriously needs her and no way in hell is the faerie going to leave her hanging for even a second. I'm coming, Juno.

"We got a shit bananas situation here. The password should activate soon. In return you gotta get us out of here the second you escape. Capiche?"

"...The fuck did you just call me?" The cube asks in a recording of Juno's voice. Lettie is already flying out of the room, though, refusing to squander any time on hesitation when Juno sends the distress signal.

Lettie thought she had a vague idea of what to expect. Sure, she doesn't think that these dorks kidnapped the actual Ripr from Desdemonia or anything... but considering the sounds it made, she certainly expected something in that same zone of green-eyed and creepy. What she discovers pinned down in the corridor is what the elders on Avangeline would call a 'magical abomination'-- and this monstrosity is far more true to that name than the likes of her winged uni-kitty. It's green-eyed and creepy, yeah, but also totally trying to rip off their styles. (...It's not working for them, either.) Now isn't the time for her aesthetic assessment, though, and she instantly flies herself over to Juno's side. "Juno, I'm here." It's clear just by looking at her that she's straining to hold the creature back in the net she created, trembling as blood streams down her nose. Shit bananas. She doesn't have to ask what Juno is doing because she sees it for herself.

Lettie understands that she needs to deliver a killing blow so that Juno doesn't have to hold it back anymore. What is this thing? What have they done? Doesn't matter. It's going down! The station is jerked around, suddenly, and the faerie is thankful to be hovering above ground in that moment, not having to worry about having her balance thrown. The lights overhead flicker and submerge them into total darkness... leaving only her silhouette faintly illuminated by her hair, wings and gem-stone patterned eyes glowing through the circular shape of her goggles. (Ah, geez. Has she ever looked more like a fucking bug?) Ignoring the inner criticisms that sound way too much like mother, she launches herself towards the creature and sends some bomberflies into its long, screaming mouth.

The explosions are faint inside its body... and all the monstrosity does in response is cough out a few rings of smoke, blowing them into Lettie's face. What the fuck?

She narrows her eyes and brandishes one of her knives instead, closing the distance between herself and the creature before plunging it into one of its green eyes. It... glitches right through. "Hey!" No fair! Not only is this thing stealing aesthetics, it's also... the faerie desperately picks up her pace, knowing that the glitch will only last a few seconds before inevitably wearing off again. While she lands a couple of strikes, the thing glows and regenerates too quickly for it to actually mean anything. Lettie needs to finish it while it's pinned... and the longer she takes, the more Juno suffers. Think of something. Think!

The creature manages to free one of it's arms in the time it takes her to think, smacking her across the head and throwing her against the wall. There's a faint mechanical click... and when Lettie finishes blinking the dark spots from her eyes, she notices a grid drawing itself across her vision. Did that hit just trigger a new function on her goggles? Seems like it. Because when she turns her sight on the creature again, she sees it in masses of different colors. There are smoky clouds, flashes of butterflies, and other spectrums of colors floating about in a writhing cluster. There are some places where the mass on it's body don't contain that same kind of magic. Weak spots, perhaps? There's only one way to find out.

Lettie fumes silently, even if she's grateful for this function. They totally ripped off her nightmare goggles! They're ripping off everything, come to think of it. Everything they've observed, anyway. But the faerie has always been more than what meets the eye... she takes a sort of pride in that. So in spite of this particular method clashing with all of her preferred aesthetics... she glamours her nails into demon-like claws as she approaches the creature once again again, tilting her neck from side to side. This is about to get messy. Locked on one of the weak points, she wastes no time in digging her claws deep inside the monster's face, yanking out an eye and then tearing even deeper, working out from there. (Threads of it's magic supply fray and disappear the farther she goes.) As she hacks away at it, limb by limb, pinkish gunk sprays out instead of blood, spattering over her face and clothes. She doesn't stop. She can't stop... even after the creature stops writhing around and falls limp. It tried to hurt Juno. It's a representation of everything that the assholes on this ship tried to steal from them. Their agency. Their freedom. It's a representation of everything she associates with that feeling, beyond this ship and stretching all the way to Avangeline.

Eventually, the whole station tips back at an angle... gravity yanks Lettie away from the creature and throws her back into Juno, sending them both hurtling towards the other end of the hallway. Through the windows, she notices shadowy tendrils wrapping around the ship from outside. A familiar red eye snaps open through the window closest to them. It moves backward, revealing the entirety of the shadow entity's face. They smile at them with sharp teeth, dangling the cube it stole before swallowing it whole. Then they speak, projecting their voice through the speakers. "You're next."

The entity grows in size until it's fucking enormous, their grip around the ship growing tighter. The ship is turned dramatically in the opposite direction, sending Lettie and Juno sailing towards the other end of the hall... and no doubt towards the entity's open mouth. Lettie snaps her eyes tightly shut, hugging onto Juno and hiding her face against her chest. How did this go so wrong? Because she's not looking, the faerie doesn't notice cubey when it flickers into view at their side, casually floating at the same breakneck trajectory. "Juno, I..."

"I'm free, bitches." Cubey announces, interrupting her. (Once again, using Inez's voice. And it's still playing elevator music.) The 3D square is really on her last fucking nerve today. "Let's bounce."

Blip!

 

[starboob]

‘Breathe. She’s got you.’ The weight of the faerie feels different pressed against her when they’re falling. She tries not to think about this and instead focuses on holding Olette just as tightly, burying her nose into the top of her head. How is she even real? ‘She protected me.’ It doesn’t matter that they’re falling now, because Olette didn’t hesitate and that’s all Juno wants to think about. ‘She’s got me.’ In her mind, she plays back the three words that could bring her back from the very brink of despair. (“Juno, I’m here.”) In her mind, she plays back Olette tearing apart that abomination with her claws. Never stopping. Even after it had fallen, she just kept going. ‘Please stay.’ It’s been a while since she’s had a safe pair of arms around her. Olette is the fucking faerie. It’s going to be okay.

Tears sting at her eyes, but she’ll likely blame the whipping winds for this rather than the swell in her chest. Though tired, drained, and exhausted from everything, she doesn’t let her grip around Olette’s waist slip or loosen; she keeps her firmly in place. (She’s precious.) It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.

Just as she’s about to tell Olette to save her last words for another time, the biggest asshole in the worlds arrives and sweeps them away in a signature flare of light. When they land, they float gently down as if traveling on a feather before they are laid on the ground, Olette on top of Juno. Juno keeps her eyes squeezed closed well after they land. When her eyes are closed, it’s like it’s only herself and Olette who exist and she just wants to live in that reality. And she doesn’t want to open her eyes and find the eyes of an angry god or guardian or demon staring her in the face. She doesn’t want to keep up this endless fucking fight where they’re left on their own until the last possible second. She doesn’t want to do this anymore. She doesn’t care about those stupid worlds or hearts or any of it, because it’s too fucking much to have to relive their nightmares. It’s too fucking much knowing that anything on these worlds could kill Olette, that someday it might be too much.

To top it all off they’re being hunted. It’s been bad enough with that shadow weaving in and out of their lives, but to know there are entire organizations interested in their lot? Who are stalking them like prey and waiting for them to hit their limits? It makes her want to desert. Or maybe cleave the skies in two. She hasn’t decided yet.

She never fucking asked for this. Neither did Olette. This isn’t fucking fair! Haven’t they already been given enough shit to deal with? Won’t they have enough shit to deal with when this is over?

(“We’ll be waiting for you, Olette.”

“I'll make sure you're running for the rest of your life.”)​

Her form shakes under the faerie, sucking in harsh breaths to stifle her tears and everything that threatens to explode from her insides. A whimper and a few tears manage to escape anyway. “I’m going to kill that fucking cube, Olette. I’m going to fucking murder it.” She finally opens up her eyes, making sure to look at the woman in her arms before anything else. She squeezes her a little tighter before loosening her grip and adjusting them so that they’re both sitting upright on the floor. “I’m just so sick of this shit.”

“Sick of what?” the cube asks innocently, popping right next to Juno’s ear. The pirate whips her head to the side, growling at the stupidest shape in existence, and not caring how irrational she might look when she launches herself towards the cube and captures it in her fist.

“You little fuck!” She shouts, raising the cube into the air and slamming it down on the star-speckled ground of the cube’s workshop. Aside from making loud noises, the first hit doesn’t do anything. Nor does the second or third… or the many after. And it’s not even that Juno expects it to do anything–– she realized a while ago that not even her stupidly buff muscles could put a dent into the cube. It’s the fucking cube, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to take out her pent up frustration on the traitorous box by repeatedly slamming it against the ground, attempting to crush it between her palms, and even kicking it across the starry workshop.

“Ow, I guess. Are you quite finished?”

Juno pinches the bridge of her nose, chest heaving as she paces, eventually rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes to shove down all of the tears that threaten to spill. She doesn’t answer the cube. She doesn’t have the words to as frustration strangles anything that might come out. Rather, she slumps to the ground with her head pressed between her knees, arms protectively covering herself. (It’s all just so endless and it just keeps getting worse. She can’t do this. She has to do this. She doesn’t want to. She’s already committed.) Her lower lip begins to quiver and she crushes it between her teeth before so much as a sob can even escape her. (Part of her wishes she were invisible right now, the other part of her knows Olette won’t care that she’s the one having a meltdown.)

Though the pirate’s been too busy trying to murder a god-like cube, it belatedly occurs to her that the workshop is empty. As in, the cube only took them from that space station. As in, their ship, their crew, and their lockets are missing. When this fully hits her, she bolts up from her position and marches over to the cube (practically leaving a trail of fire as she does so). “You fucking piece of shit! You have one fucking job and you barely even fucking did it. Where the fuck is m–– our ship!? And our fucking belongings? I swear to the fucking goddess––”

“She’s dead.”

“I’m going to fucking murder you just like Cressida and Cerise fucking intended.” She hisses, picking the glorified box up from the ground and, once more, launching it across the workshop. It clatters and rolls over the ground and she swears she hears it sigh before it teleports back over to Juno, hovering in front of her this time. She tries to snatch it, but it blinks away and continues to dodge the pirate each time she attempts to grab it.

“You cannot murder me.” (Dodge.) “I am a cube.” (Dodge.) “I am impervious to murder.” (Dodge.) “Your ship, crew, and belongings are all in transit. Synthos stored them all on various locations across the worlds. Until my abilities are fully restored, we will have to wait. I am reasonably certain I can acquire them all before they all are dismantled.”

“What the fuck do you mean?”

“Juno. I have limits, too, you know. They just grossly overshadow yours, making you think I, the maestro, am all powerful. Truly, I’m flattered. Hold the murder eyes, captain Juno, it’s just a joke. Yeesh. So touchy.”

Incredulous, Juno explodes. “I’m fucking touchy because you’re being a fucking dick and treating this–– the shitshow you’ve turned our lives into––” she gestures vaguely with her hands, “like a fucking joke and it’s not a fucking joke. Not to me. I actually fucking care what happens to us and you–– you just see as fucking fodder. So you better fucking explain yourself or else.” This isn’t a death threat. It can’t be, as she’s bitterly learned in these last fifteen minutes of trying to pulverize Asshole I, but she’s not throwing around empty threats. She’ll fucking walk. She’ll take her chances with the duchess if that asshole can’t whip up a sound explanation for everything that just happened to them. (With her arms crossed over her chest, she needles her fingers into her side, checking that her flesh is still her flesh and that she hasn’t been turned into anything. This does little more than bruise her ribs.)

The cube stares at them. Or, rather, it gives off the impression that it is staring at them. After a moment, it lets out a resigned sigh. “I suppose you ought to know. Synthos is an alliance of old bats invested in the restoration of the worlds. Or so they claim. Really, they see the corrupted worlds as a opportunities to create a monopoly on magic. As in, they heal a world's magic core–– us cubes–– and then dictate how that world's magic is manipulated and distributed. My family and I have no affiliation with them and our goals are entirely different."

This information seems to placate Juno, but she doesn't relent just yet. “And what about that fucker that keeps terrorizing us and threatening Olette’s wings? What do you know about them?”

“The thing that took the Matrix? They are an unknown, admittedly, but we will need to track them down and take back the Matrix before they figure out how to operate it. There is something that we can use to track it down, however. We will just need to steal it from the duchess. No biggie."

Perfectly timed, before Juno can react, three escape pods come crashing from the sky–– thunk, thunk, thunk–– and Abigail bursts out of one in a puff of glitter confetti. “We had a fiesta, captain!”

 

[ellarose]

Lettie sits still, watching concernedly as Juno vents her frustrations on the cube. There was once a time when she blamed her for everything going awry, a time when they would fight each other without pulling their punches. A simpler time. It wasn't simple, not even remotely, just simpler compared to all of this. They were only looking out for themselves back then. Now they're healing entire worlds and being hunted down by entire organizations. And there's a particularly devious factor at play now that they're terrified of losing each other to this deadly mess. She can understand exactly what Juno is feeling right now... and that's why she doesn't speak or move to defend the cube this time. That thing doesn't need it. It isn't gonna break. Juno, though? She deserves a chance to release all of it, so she doesn't have to carry it all in silence. (Or alone. Because she's not alone.) Lettie's on her side in this one. She has a right to demand the answers they deserve. The faerie had been ready to do the same the second they escaped from those pods. The cube has also been a special kind of infuriating today.

Get up. Lettie's own lip trembles when she sees Juno curl to the floor. Go to her. She wants to hold her so she doesn't have to hold herself like that. (Would the pirate want that, though? She's always clinging onto her or crashing into her in some manner. What if she wants some space?) Her heart reaches her before she can reach her physically... and Juno's back at the cube's throat before she can act on that whim, proceeding to bring up some very good points. Where is everything? Where is...

Our ship. Not even the gloomy atmosphere can dull the glow that blooms in Lettie's heart at the sound of that. Our ship. Our, meaning Juno's and hers. Lady is their home and for her to include her... it gives her a reason to hope there's a possibility she could stay. That Juno wouldn't mind it if she stayed. However, this is accompanied by fear that they might just as quickly lose their ship if the cube's 'acquire them before they're dismantled' means anything at all. Shit.

The cube continues act all blasé about the hell its been putting them through and Juno is rightfully calling it out on this. 'I actually fucking care what happens to us-- and you just see us as fucking fodder.' Lettie blinks hard as her eyes burn fiercely and stares into her lap. Seeing her stained claws, she sucks in her gasp before she can release it and retracts them. She's splattered head to toe in that disgusting pink stuff. (That's what had her tearing that thing to shreds back there as if possessed. She actually fucking cares what happens to them, too.) Alongside that, though, recalling the way the entity snapped the cube up in it's jaws, just like the Reaper snapped up Lina... guilt also weaves through her, tangling itself up into knots. Juno cares what happens to them. Including her. And she might as well be a dead girl walking.

Lettie fixes her posture to listen, though, when the cube finally gives them some context. Synthos. Something about what they're doing... it tugs at her conscience. Hard. (What part does Avangeline have to play in the grand scheme of things? The corp had been studying the cube, too. In a way, she'd been discrediting them all this time because they had her of all people go in to examine it. And why send a silly little faerie in to do such an important task? Well... that question may have an answer now. Since a faerie's magic is required for the kind of healing they've been doing and all.) Before traveling across the worlds, she'd been in the dark about the corruption on the other worlds. She hadn't learned of it through the corp or otherwise. As far as she knew, their purpose was to study ancient relics to broaden their own understanding of long lost glyphs and magic. To create new, innovative means of applying it to everyday life.

There's no changing the history they witnessed. And Deimos Ailanthus, the corp's founder, had been part of it. Lettie's been so busy she hasn't let herself fully absorb the fact that she'd been blackmailed onto a project she apparently knows jack shit about. But she hasn't forgotten. She has to confront the fact that there may be a greasy underground to the corporation and their motives. Being associated turns her stomach. Even so, she can't go drawing conclusions until (if) she ever gets the chance to investigate it. Maybe that part of history got lost rather than being deliberately kept from her-- maybe Deimos never recorded it the way it happened and everyone else in the corp is in the dark, too. What if they realized how fucked up it all was and decided to purpose the corp and their resources for better things? (No. Why would they still honor the man as the founder if they disapproved of him? Why would his portrait be hanging up in Crane's fucking office, leering down at her every day?) Fuck. Why is she even making excuses for them? They're the kind of corporation that blackmails people into joining. Doesn't that say it all?

At the very least, Lettie knows they've never been tasked with keeping anyone captive in freaky pods. They've never run inhumane experiments on any living organisms. Still. What the fuck are their motives? It's the root of her involvement in this and she still isn't sure. Well... even if she was inadvertently roped up in an organization that hurt other worlds, it seems she's atoning for that now by healing them. Avangeline's in no need of help. She's fairly confident she won't be going back there-- at least not until their mission is taken care of-- and by then she will have proved that she never had ill-intent through her affiliation with them.

Lettie wonders if she should tell Juno about it. She probably should. But then... if she tells Juno, she would want to explain her motives completely. Which means talking about things that she physically cannot talk about because of the curse. (And she doesn't want to lose her. She doesn't want Juno to think of her as something she's not... not again. Not after they've come so far. She actually sees her for who she is now. A terrible, selfish part of her doesn't want that to change.) The faerie reaches for her throat. The golden leash may not be shining, but she feels like she's choking. Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

Thunk, thunk, thunk. Lettie's zoning out hardcore, because she missed the rest of the conversation and the arrival of the escape pods. It's the confetti raining over her that catches her attention again. Abigail is dancing around her in a circle, flinging it all around. She breathes in some of the glitter and coughs. What.

"You're okay." Lettie comments weakly, admittedly relieved to see the skeleton crew intact. (Well, these three. She hopes Phillip and the others are also okay, wherever they are. They're her fellow crew members. They might be skeletons, but they're kinda like family. Or what she imagines a big family might be like.) She's not sure she could have lifted the mood the way she would've wanted to in this situation.

"We're more than okay. We hijacked the commander's birthday party! Serves 'em right." Inez comments, strolling out of her escape pod in a pink feather boa. She twirls the end in her hand, aiming it towards the open door of her pod with a prideful nod. "Capn', I stole us a crate of space beer! Get your muscles in there if you want some." She wags her own can enticingly before popping it open. Fizz explodes all over the place and trickles through her ribcage when she tries downing it.

"And I brought the party supplies!" Marjorie announces joyfully, exiting her own pod with a giant purple bucket in her arms. Bright balloons exit her pod behind her and instantly float away into the starry atmosphere. Abigail cries out with distress as she tries to save one that sails beyond her reach. "Oh no, the inflatables! Miss Olette, would you..."

"Yeah, yeah. I got them. Just don't call them... inflatables." Olette shakes her head incredulously, floating above all of their heads to collect the fleeing balloons from the sky. ("Huzzah! Merry Christmas!" Abigail cheers her on from below.) When she returns, she glances around quizzically. Now what? "Uh, guys? We're gonna need something to weigh these down with." (She doesn't trust Abby to remember to hold onto her balloon for more than five seconds before forgetting about it... thus beginning a loop where Lettie is made to fetch it over and over.) Noticing the cube, her eyes flicker with amusement as she plucks it up and ties the balloon strings around it. (All save for one of the blue ones. Juno's favorite color.) "There. That'll hold 'em." She tosses it flippantly, watching with satisfaction as it slowly drifts down onto the starry floor.

The cube sighs, unimpressed. Good. If it wants to troll them, she'll troll it right back. Abigail, oblivious to the heavy atmosphere she interrupted, claps her hands delightedly at this development.

"An excellent landing, Maestro!" Abigail praises the balloon-clad cube, gathering it affectionately into her palms. Then she flicks one of the balloons and giggles at the dull 'plunk' sound it makes. "You are a sight for sore eye-sockets."

Lettie settles down next to Juno, tying the blue balloon string around her finger like a ring and sighing as she watches the skeleton crew make a big mess with the party supplies.

"...They really do love to party." Lettie mentions a bit helplessly before turning to face Juno again. Are you okay? (Is that an obvious question? Does she even need to ask?) Seeing the pirate's bloodied nose, she summons up her magic circle and reaches inside to find the fabric scraps from her cut jumpsuit legs. "Here. You can use this for..." She swirls her hand to indicate her nose area. "Looks like we'll have to wait a bit before we have our first aid stuff. But I'm sure Lady will appear any minute now." Then she breaks. She can't not ask. "Are you hurt anywhere else? I... saw you grabbing your side."

Lettie idly tugs on the balloon string, bringing it down between her hands. She hugs it to her chest (gently) and props her chin on top of it. (Kind of like how Juno pressed her face against the top of her head when...) Hm. Come to think of it, she probably missed her birthday back on Avangeline. Then, on an even more somber note, she finds herself wondering if the pirate has ever celebrated a birthday before. Instead of continuing to cuddle it, Lettie offers the balloon to Juno.

"It's blue." The faerie points out, trying to smile in spite of everything. "We could, like, draw a face on it? Or we could pop it." Yep, because that sounds like a whole lot of fun. Lettie blows a raspberry at her own idea and then unthinkingly drapes herself across Juno's lap. She must be delirious with exhaustion. (Probably, because she can't help yawning now that she's warm and cozy against the pirate.) More than anything, they need to sleep. "Or maybe we should take a floor nap. What do you think?"

 

[starboob]

Juno swallows hard at the mention of the duchess. The skeletons and the story of whatever they have gotten themselves into completely flies over the captain’s head as an entire horror show flashes before her eyes. She grabs at her side again then trails her fingers up her arm, though she doesn’t dare lift the sleeve of the jumpsuit, afraid of what she might find underneath. (Sure, she might still feel normal and like herself, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. Anything could be beneath her jumpsuit and that thought stills her blood.) The back of her neck bubbles with ghost flesh as the all too familiar feeling of the duchess standing behind her creeps through her. She rubs the skin, trying to smooth it down but her movements are stiff and robotic as she tries to not move herself too much for fear that she will discover that woman lingering behind. (It’s irrational, she knows, because if the duchess really were standing behind her, Olette wouldn’t be chasing the balloons. She would be protecting Juno. ‘She didn’t hesitate.’)

While the skeleton antics rarely ever crack a smile from her, she is especially stoic now. Not even a look of exasperation or annoyance crosses her. Her stormy eyes just stare at the blank space in front of her. Space beer can’t even entice her. Before it might’ve. Before she might have reveled in the simple luxury of getting smashed to destress, but she can’t even find it in herself to trudge over to the escape pod turned ice cooler. Especially not with memories of her time with Eliza so fresh in her mind either. Running from her woes hadn’t worked then and she knows it sure as hell won’t now. (The cube has proven unreliable. It can’t protect them. She can’t let her guard down.)

Without being fully cognizant of the action, she drops to the floor, saddled by the weight of everything they have just experienced and everything they have just learned. The pieces all fly around her mind and try to put themselves together, but she doesn’t want to be thinking about this. Any of this. ‘I don’t want to go back to the duchess.’ She rubs her wrists, too lost to even react to Marjorie sprinkling glitter into her hair. Ordinarily, that would have earned Marjorie at least an annoyed bird and the captain quickly shaking her head out, but she doesn’t do anything. She just lets it happen, barely registering the few lone sparkles that fall onto her arms and knees.

She does still have some of her faculties together enough to recognize that Olette is talking to her. Something about the skeletons’ ability to party. She breathes a half-hearted, barely amused chuckle more to acknowledge that she’s listening than in agreement. (She’s never cared for their partying tendencies. It always results in a mess, a waste of resources, and there are usually a minimum of four skeletons who end up with suspiciously missing skeleton parts that she has to replace.) She accepts the pant leg from the jumpsuit and wipes her nose. It’s mostly stopped bleeding at this point and while a headache lingers, it’s starting to subside. Juno isn’t as convinced as Olette that Lady will be returned to them in a few minutes. She doesn’t trust that fucking cube to do anything right. She doesn’t voice this, mostly because she doesn’t want to be a downer. Olette is trying.

“Hmm? Oh.” She sighs and passively tugs on the zipper to the jumpsuit, making sure it’s still zipped up to her throat. Juno doesn’t want to look and see what’s underneath. She can’t. Again, she knows it’s irrational but those dreams and that fucking abomination keep cycling through her mind. Though unlikely, it’s not as though there is a zero percent chance that they weren’t experimented on. Who’s to say she’s not different underneath the jumpsuit? Who’s to say she won’t find fresh surgical scars between her battle scars? Even if she can see that Olette appears fine, based on her newly exposed skin, what if that’s not the case for her? It also occurs to her that they could be chipped now or that there’s something sleeping inside of them, waiting to hatch. She shivers at that thought before she addresses the question.

“That was… thought I felt something.” She decides to leave it at that, unsure of how to voice her fear or address her nightmares at the moment. She doesn’t want to be a downer. She knows Olette would listen to her. She knows she’d understand. But right now, she just doesn’t want to make those fears real by addressing them. “I think it’s just my fuckin’ nose. Probably bruised my back, too, when that thing…” That thing’s gross green eyes flash in her mind, but what disturbs her more is that those eyes were set in a face that would have been hers. She reaches up to touch her scar, scratching at it. “Uh, tackled me. Yeah, it tackled me but that’s it. What about you? I saw you get knocked around.” She tilts her head and leans to the side to view the cheek that hit the wall. “You good?”

She then blinks in surprise when Olette offers her the balloon she had been hugging onto. She looks at it, unsure of what to do with it, but she accepts it anyway. Olette is trying. “The balloon is blue.” She agrees quietly, loosening the slipknot and slipping her wrist through the opening. It feels like a small shackle. She moves the loop so that it’s wrapped around her hand instead. “Thanks.”

In the background, Inez accidentally pops one of the balloons and Abigail immediately begins to sob over the “floating red orb.” The offending skeleton apologizes profusely while Marjorie tries to console the distressed one.

Juno’s eyes flicker up to the balloon, making sure that it’s safe from any sharp objects. Whatever she had been thinking flees her mind when Olette settles down in her lap. She flushes, stiffening for a moment before relaxing. It’s not like they haven’t been this close before. Aside from the crash landings, it’s becoming more common for them to sleep near each other and eventually drift closer and closer until they’re cuddling. She looks over the messy faerie, splattered in pink gunk, her eyes flickering over to her former demon claws. With one hand, she takes one of Olette’s and rubs her thumb over the pink knuckle, wiping away some of the gunk. Then her eyes flicker up to her face. She takes the jumpsuit leg and wipes away the pink stuff covering her freckles. ‘I could have lost her back there. We both could have fucking lost.’

Honestly, they’ve been running on dumb luck this entire time when she thinks about it. It’s not that Olette isn’t capable. She’s smart as fuck. She basically single handedly busted them out of that space station. But it was still too close. She wraps her arms protectively around Olette. “Sleep,” she finally answers. “I’ll take first watch.” Though tired, she can’t bring herself to sleep and she certainly can’t sleep when she doesn’t feel safe. When she still feels like the duchess, that shadowy entity, and the unknown number of organizations and hunters after them are breathing down their necks.

Despite what she says and her active running mind, eventually the warmth and weight of Olette gets to her and she finds herself leaning back onto the floor, drifting off before she can even wake Olette.

The next few days don’t lift the glum atmosphere. If anything, Juno seems to slip further and further away as her thoughts and nightmares return in full force (and with new, horrifying material). She hasn’t even been purposefully avoiding sleep— when Lady was eventually returned to them, she embarrassed herself and asked Olette to stay. They had been reviewing what they learned in Juno’s room and when sleep started to get to them, the pirate blurted out, “Stay? I’ll feel safer if you’re here. Marjorie’s rules.” But even the faerie next to her or on top of her hasn’t been enough. She’s still waking up in the middle of the night unable to sleep. Often, she lies there staring at the ceiling or she’ll grab her notes and review them again (as best she can; her handwriting is atrocious).

Eventually, she knows that she has to tell Olette about her nightmares, because she doesn’t want the faerie worrying about her and she knows that the faerie worries when she isn’t resting or otherwise taking care of herself. (She actually gives a shit about her and it makes Juno want to try.) Since the return of the ship, they’ve slowly been taking an inventory of everything to ensure that Asshole I hasn't miss anything. Members of the skeleton crew blip to rejoin at random intervals and she believes they’re only missing a handful now— this includes Philip. Mostly, they’re just waiting for a random assortment of belongings, but their demon bug army, Missile Launcher, and the asshole army are accounted for. (The magistrate had several opinions to offer the maestro regarding the capture of the matrix and, for once, Juno found herself siding with the mer-bitch cube.)

Anyway, she clutches her locket— something she almost had a conniption over losing— before breaching the topic with Olette. She lets go of the locket and then tugs on the jumpsuit zipper, again ensuring that it’s still up to her throat. (She has showered since Lady arrived, but she did shower with the jumpsuit on and she suspects Olette might have figured that out seeing as it took almost a day for the clothes to air-dry.) “My nightmares are bad again.” She blurts this out, breaking the silence that had encased them for the past hour or so. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do all this, Olette.”

“I’m just… We’re just two people and that— that syndicate group or whatever has hundreds of people, thousands maybe, stalking us. There could be others watching us. There probably are.” It feels illogical to be voicing all of this, to give it real power over her by making it real, but she can’t hold it in. Physically, it’s exhausting her more by riling her up. “And who knows what they’re even doing with the data they have gathered or the samples they collected.” That creature is proof of nasty abominable experiments and her skin crawls knowing they’re using them to create these things. (She doesn’t dare think about for what purpose and she’s only narrowly been avoiding the temptation to ponder such evils.) “I… What if I’m not myself anymore?” She tugs the zipper up. “I keep remembering these fuckin’ awful operations and procedures they did on me. Or maybe it’s just dreams. I can’t tell. I feel like I’m fuckin’ losing my mind, Olette, and I don’t know what to do. I can’t fucking tell what’s real anymore.” This is probably not helped by the fact that she hasn’t been sleeping well.

“A-and we have to see the duchess again.” She sucks in a breath and tries to stamp the quiver from her voice, but it doesn’t work. Even if she’s mostly blinking through the tears or hurriedly wiping them away, her voice is barely held together. “I-I don’t want her to get me or you. But I can’t shake the f-fuckin’ feeling that she will.” She squeezes her eyes shut and tilts her head back. “I’m scared and I fucking hate this. I-I don't think I can do this anymore, Olette." Her head drops as a few traitorous tears stream down her cheeks. "I'm... ju-just not that strong.”