Fantasy Cosmical Glitch ( ellarose & starboob. )

[ellarose]

Asmodeus is on the prowl, using Lettie's body to search the ship's empty corridors for that worthless human pirate. She won't get away from him again.

'I wonder if she abandoned you?' Asmodeus floats the idea, but the soul of the faerie buried underneath him doesn't flinch for an instant. She doesn't squirm like the bug she is. If she's intimidated by him, she doesn't show it now. She's annoyingly composed. Calm. Why? She could lose everything... no, she's about to lose everything. The calm she's feeling isn't the calm of someone who has surrendered and knows the fight's over. She wears the calm of someone powerful, confident and unshakable.

Asmodeus intends to teach her her place soon enough. Everything will fall into place.

Even from the abyss she's trapped in, Lettie knows Juno's still here with her. She only left because she still needs time to recover from her injuries. Especially after the twists and turns her own soul just endured thanks to Angelus and his meddling. Sure, the pirate might be a legend in the little faerie's eyes... but even legends need to rest sometimes. (Lettie's always demanding it when her stubborn pirate refuses to sleep. If she's listening now, then that's a relief.) Juno may be resting now, but she'll come back for her. When the time is right, she's going to be there. (Until then, she's with her in spirit. Always.)

Knowing Juno, it's got to be extremely hard for her to be away. However, she's not going to put them in the heartbreaking situation where Lettie can be made to hurt her. Thank the stars above.

'That's what it looks like to me.' (Is he still talking?) The demon's taunts are cheap and meaningless compared to everything she's built with her pirate. Rather than get a rise out of Lettie like he expects, his own frustrations flare as he storms into yet another empty room. 'Where the hell is she?'

It's strange. And even stranger is the fact that all of the halls and rooms of the ship are eerily empty. Spying on the faerie's memories, Asmodeus caught glimpses of skeletons lumbering about. (Playing poker, starting a band, throwing parties... hmph. Ridiculous. He'll dismantle them, too.) If he can find them, that is. Did they really abandon the ship-- and the faerie? (If so, maybe he could spin that to his advanta--)

Aha! There she is. Asmodeus finally discovers the human in the ship's gym of all places, flexing in front of the mirror. Those muscles won't save her from these sharpened claws. "Are you watching, Olette?" He laughs, "I'm going to tear her throat out with your hands."

(That's not Juju. Her muscles are way bigger than that. Lettie knows, but wisely keeps this information to herself. It doesn't take very long at all for her to catch onto what Juno's doing here... what she and the other faeries are doing. It makes perfect sense that she would have laid a killer plan before leaving to get some rest. Her brilliant Juju. She's got her.) "No, please! Don't!" Lettie acts her heart out, adding to the illusions of her fellow faeries.

"It doesn't matter if you beg, Olette. You had your chance. You could have stopped this." The demon smirks. Asmodeus doesn't dwell on why the pirate would be checking herself out in the mirror at a time like this-- the faerie's panicked reaction is enough to bolster him forward. (Besides, he's in a hurry and has already wasted enough of his time searching for her. His colleagues at the estate have been trying to contact him... it sounded dire, but they must wait until he's done here.)

Asmodeus pounces, tackling the pirate to the ground. Finally, he has her. With a devious smirk that shows a hint of fang, he forces Lettie's claws down over her human lover's throat, red splatters from her neck and the 'blood' scatters and disperses into a wispy cloud of... of ladybugs? Fae magic. The demon scowls, pounding a fist down in attempt to crush some of the bugs. (He's too slow to do any damage, though, as they spirit themselves away and back to the faerie they belong to.)

"...Dumbass." Lettie taunts from within, her voice tired but deeply satisfied.

The heat radiating off of Asmodeus as he seethes is almost enough to warm the faerie's ice cold body. There's no witty comeback or taunt from his repertoire this time around. Rage blazes behind the faerie's rainbow eyes. He trembles with it.

"I am not going to be made a fool of by an insignificant little--" Asmodeus stops (thank goodness) as he's distracted by someone who looks suspiciously like the pirate peeking inside the gym... before running away. There. Did she really think she could fool him? (Um... she already did.) He pushes the faerie off of the ground, forcing her to give chase as the figure sprints for the upper decks.

This Juno's scar is way too long. 'I've got her now!' Asmodeus is triumphant as he corners the pirate, forcefully shoving her to the ground from behind. Once again, he aims Lettie's claws for her throat. Another Juno falls. This time she bursts into dragonflies. 'Another faerie?' He curses. 'Another fucking faerie!?' What is this? There weren't supposed to be any faeries aboard this ship! Where did Olette even meet all of these allies, all of these faeries? (He thought he had frightened her into isolation, and yet...) Then again, she and her human also rallied an army of demons and angels to raid the Reaper's lair.

Lettie cackles wickedly. The tittering of other faeries aboard the Lady Vengeance begin to echo alongside it. Suddenly, Asmodeus finds himself surrounded by pirates, all semi-convincing imitations of the very one he's searching for. These faeries are rubbing it in his face now.

"Show yourself, pirate!" Asmodeus forces Lettie to say. "Or are you too cowardly to face me?"

"That's rich coming from you." One of the Junos replies, though her voice distinctly isn't Juno. (It does not sound like she's spent her teens smoking too much carb. Even Lettie's Juno impressions do her more justice than whatever this faerie is trying to do.) "The second you stop using our sister as a shield, we won't hesitate to throw your ass overboard." "And we're gonna stick needles in your eyes!" "And burn you over a crisp, toasty fire!"

"Insolent little..." Asmodeus pauses, noticing that the most convincing of the Junos is trying to sneak away from the crowd as the others taunt him. (Ah, they thought they were so clever... they're just trying to distract him while the real one gets away! They're not going to fool him. Not again.) He chases after her. She's fast-- as fast as an archer. Faster than the Juno from before. (Probably because she knows she's been caught this time. Yes, this is the real one. He's sure of it.) They move through the various levels of the ship, down to the lowest decks. All the way down into the prison, where many of the cells are collecting dust and cobwebs. One has been cleaned out, though... and that's the one his target moves into.

"I've got you now, bitch!" Before Asmodeus can even aim for 'Juno's' throat, she bursts into spiders. They cluster together and skitter out of the cell right before-- slam!

The door swings shut. There's the definitive click of a lock being activated. Asmodeus turns, enraged, and throws Lettie's body against the bars... but to no avail. Thistle is already standing there, casting a glyph that grows thick, thorny vines around the door for an extra layer of security. Though Lettie once called this cell outdated, it's sealed up nice and tight now. Phillip appears shortly afterwards, setting a space heater down on the floor nearby. (He doesn't want his bestie to get cold down here.) Still, he glares disapprovingly at the faerie he knows isn't the faerie he knows and loves, but a demon taking her body for a joyride.

Asmodeus slams Lettie's body against the door again and again, but it doesn't budge an inch. Thistle sighs. They left some pillows and blankets inside in attempt to make the cell a little more comfortable. While this isn't ideal, it's the best they have to work with for the time being. They can't take any chances with dickheads like Asmodeus-- they've got to go all out.

Thistle and Phillip leave as Asmodeus screams threats after them. Phillip joins Marjorie at his station, having agreed to take the first shift guarding the door to the prison. There's a loud clang, clang, clang as the demon throws the faerie's body against the bars with reckless abandon. He rakes her claws over the walls. Nothing works... and it begins to settle with him that there's nothing he can do now. (He feels oddly... powerless. Oh, does he hate that. He's not strong enough. Not yet, anyway.) Having thoroughly exhausted his control over Lettie for the time being, he abandons the faerie's body.

With that, Lettie collapses on the floor of the cell she first met Juno in.

 

[starboob]

Without meaning to, Juno falls asleep against Titania. (It's her second nap of the day. Is Lettie proud?) The angel eventually brings her down so that her head is resting in her lap, her fingers gently stroking through her shaggy locks. (She really does need a haircut.) Effectively, she is no longer permitted to move with her daughter’s fiancée sleeping soundly in her lap and she wouldn’t dream of it, knowing everything the pirate has been through in the last twenty-four hours, from healing her of the Reaper’s corruption (losing her eye) to… whatever it was that happened with her body. (The angel does not quite understand the underpinnings of necromancy.)

So when Valerie comes home, yelling to announce her triumphant return, Titania’s glare is so fierce, the other angel feels it before she even fully recognizes who the glare is coming from. She jumps back, shrinking, as Titania puts a finger to her lips and then points down to the sleeping pirate. (True to Juno’s nature, she does not budge, completely unbothered.) Like her daughter, she is committed to Juno getting her rest.

Even when Mirabelle announces that dinner is ready, she does not move. Though, at this point, with clattering pots and one broken dish, she realizes that she probably could move without disrupting the pirate and she chooses not to. It’s just… nice.

Since she is not moving, everyone else decides to take dinner out to the living room to keep Titania (and Juno) company. Juno can sleep through almost any amount of noise, but when the hot food wafts her way, her stomach gurgles. She doesn’t immediately get up, just cracks open her eyes, no longer alarmed that she can only see out of one. The others, aside from Titania, don’t immediately notice her stirring, too engrossed in their conversation.

“—had to hold two of those little faeries back before they got themselves disappeared,” Valerie sighs, then shovels another spoonful of mac n’ cheese into her mouth. She chews a few times, then pushes the food over to one cheek so she can continue. (Mirabelle is not pleased.) “Thank the stars no one’s gone missing, but it’s only a matter of time before the estate retaliates. They’ve been too quiet and the elders sure as fu—” Mirabelle shoots her a hard look. This, Valeria cannot ignore. “Er, sure as fudge aren’t doing anything. It’s suss.”

“Well, why not?” This comes from Titania. She huffs. “This is just getting ridiculous—what are those old gas bags even good for anymore?”

“Beats me,” Valerie shrugs, finally swallowing. “But the estate is going to be on fire if no one intervenes. Can’t say I’m not rooting for that outcome.” She sets her empty bowl down on the coffee table just as Juno pulls herself up from Titania’s lap, rubbing her eyes and then readjusting her eyepatch. “And you must be little Lettie’s pirate captain fiancée from another world.” She grins, grabbing the bowl set out for Juno and handing it to the sleepy pirate.

Juno yawns, nodding. “Y-yeah, that’s me. Don’t forget the badass necromancer bit.” Her smile is droopy, half dimpled. (Lettie’s favorite.) She takes a slow bite of her mac n’ cheese, humming softly. It’s like grilled cheese, but with noodle shells. She wonders if Lettie knows about this dish. (She probably does. Juno has to learn how to make it for her.) “Were you just talking about the protests? What’s it like out there?” Juno finally looks over at Ravan and Ariel’s other mother. ‘Sick jacket.’

***​

“Anyone who’s not already with us isn’t worth worrying about.”

The city is divided. This division mainly lies between Avangeline’s elites, who wish to uphold the status quo, and a vast majority of demons, who have largely benefited from the ill-treatment of the semi-divine, against the Avangelina with ducking hearts. (“Mother, we art not babies.” “You will always be my babies.”)

The demons on their side (the good side) have been immeasurably helpful in shedding light on the hidden politics of their kind, like outlining the various factions. While many factions are currently aligned with Asmodeus and the estate, not everyone is quick to step to his defense. Some are waiting to see how this plays out. Others, like the Algols, are likely using this as an opportunity to take power for themselves, without necessarily siding with the semi-divine. It’s more precarious than it looks on the outside and they’ve got teams trying to figure out how to exploit the chinks in the armor.

Phobos is proving to be a bigger obstacle than anticipated. Since the morning’s fight on live television, he’s been trying to spin the narrative that he's a victim of his “derelict ex-lover.” He’s calling for Titania’s mental faculties to be examined, thinly disguising it as a way to have her put under a conservatorship. (Titania jumps up from her seat when she hears of this, fists shaking with rage. It takes five minutes of coaxing from Valerie and Mirabelle before she calms down again. “Yeah, he’s a piece of sh—he’s a scumbag. Don’t waste all your energy on him. That’s what he wants, to divert attention away from Lette.”) The good news is that hardly anyone is paying him much attention.

This is, in part, thanks to Titania’s numerous fans rallying behind her. Many of Phobos’s online supporters have been drowned out with fancams of the angel during her prime. They’ve even got her playing on every popular radio station, boosting her streams tenfold.

Family drama aside, mermaids and faeries have also been spotted protecting each other. Just the other night some demons tried to nab a group of mermaids who were accused of icing the pipes of some popular demon club. But before they could even so much as touch them, a gang of vigilante faeries came in with soulbugs blazing. (“Buncha faeries and mermaids are keeping tabs on each other, actually. I have a feeling they’ve worked out some sort of nightwatch to keep each other protected. I think that’s why no one’s disappeared.”)

The biggest development, however, are those teenager faeries who have plans to burn down the entire estate. They haven’t been forthcoming with their plans, but Valerie suspects they’re working with their marked sisters on the insides. (“It’s dangerous and stupid, but no one’s been able to talk them down. Can’t say I blame them. You remember Lette when she was a teenager? Yeah, they’re like that, but angrier.”) Some mermaid and her demon boyfriend are even helping them out.

***​

“Asmodeus has to be feeling cornered now.” Valeria yawns, stretching her arms high above her head then slapping her hands down on her knees as she rises. “We’re expecting retaliation at a moment’s notice. So yous all better get to bed, don’t know how much sleep we’re gonna get.” She looks down at her kids, setting her hands on her hips. “You two especially. You scared the daylights out of me and your mama. So if you’re gonna be little idiots tomorrow, you better be well rested little idiots.” “Valerie!” “Watch each other, okay?”

Ariel and Ravan nod, sobering some and seeming more like little kids than the adults they are. Both of them rise in unison and race to bed, again giving the effect that they are still children. (And of course they’ll always be their mothers babies.)

Finally, Valerie turns to Juno and Titania. “You too. Get some rest. We only have one spare bedroom, so you can either share or one of you can take the couch.”

“I’ll take the couch.” Juno answers before Titania can. She doesn’t let her protest either. “It’s fine, really. I’ll be more comfortable out here.” A bed will only remind her that her Lettie is missing.

***​

The rest of the house falls asleep before Juno. She can hear it through the cottage’s walls and feels it in the still air. It’s not that she’s trying to forgo rest, she’s been cheek-puffed out of those habits, but maybe it’s the naps she took earlier? Or the worries scraping her mind.

Just as she’s about to drift, a holographic screen blinks in front of her and, suddenly, Thistle’s grinning at her. Juno practically jumps off the couch, startled as she is. Thistle tries (and fails) to not snicker. “Shit, what’s up?” she whispers. “Keep it down, too. The others are sleeping and you should be, too.”

“Okay, mom.” The faerie rolls her eyes. Juno glares. “Just finally got a moment to update you: Everything went according to plan.”

Juno visibly relaxes. It’s rare that their plans ever work out. (Just look at what happened back at the Reaper’s den.) Maybe this is the goddess finally looking out for them, now that she can? She has to believe that something bigger than them is watching their backs too.

“She’s a little banged up.” She bites her lip, eyes flickering to something off screen. “Asmodeus threw her around, but Dominic and the Medic are working together. Wanna see her?”

Juno nods and Thistle flips the camera around, showing Lettie through the bars of an all too familiar prison cell. Looks like they’ve got her under blankets and a space heater is warming her up. She wishes she could be her space heater. Her heart squeezes. Littlest Lettie bumps against her cheek like she’s saying, ‘You will be.’

Thistle turns the camera back around, about to sign off, then Juno interrupts. “Hey, This,” “Thistle.” “Thistle—sorry—can you help me with something? I’m gonna try something tomorrow and, if it works, I want to be prepared.”

She raises her brow, intrigued. “Sure, I’ll see what I can do. What're you thinking, Captain Juju?”

 

[ellarose]

It's dark again after Asmodeus's presence slips away. A spotlight shines over a single memory and Lettie doesn't have to look to know what it is. (It's Juno. Her limbs entrapped in cold, hard crystal, the jagged corners shimmering like stars in the minimal light. Lightning cracks splinter out from her middle where the sword is buried deep. There are bleeding wounds on the few parts of her that remain uncovered. Her blank, dead stare at the ceiling above.) It broke her once before, smashed her heart to pieces to think that she had lost the person she loves the very most. Asmodeus believes it's going to break her again... and while it is excruciatingly painful to see, she understands what this is. This is the past, not the future. The future is what they're fighting for.

Lettie bites down, chewing through the gag in her mouth and spitting it out. Pleh, pleh. "There..." She breathes, rubbing her jaw. She's utterly alone now. Asmodeus is gone. "I'd like a change of scenery, please. Do you think you could change back into that pretty meadow from before?" She talks to the darkness. It does not respond. Of course it doesn't... it's just darkness. "Guess not... fuck you, then." She throws two birds up at the darkness, just because. It still doesn't respond.

The Juno from this memory was a badass pirate captain fought god-like beings singlehandedly. At least until she and the other villagers pitched in. While she's still that same badass, she admitted herself when they planned their next move that they would need help this go around. So they sought it out, they found it, and they're not carrying all of this alone. For too much of their lives, they learned to survive. To carry their own respective worlds on their own shoulders. Despite all their differences, they've always had that in common. Little by little, though, they started relying on each other. Now they're allowing themselves to rely on others, too. They've both spent too much time blaming themselves for things in their pasts that they couldn't control... like James and Lina.

Lettie's life has been forever changed since she crash-landed into Juno's life. She can finally see through Asmodeus's bullshit... and she won't let him manipulate her again. No longer is she blaming herself, hating herself, for things that are clearly his fault. No longer will he weaken her with petty threats and lies.

The images that flash through Lettie's mind in this lonely expanse of space serve as a warm reminder that they're not alone. If she focuses hard enough, she can see photographs from her childhood, framed by pressed flowers, stickers and handwritten entries by Mirabelle. Oh stars, they didn't show Juno the baby pictures, did they? The ones where she got into mother's make-up bag and decided to give her dolls make overs... it'd looked like they'd all been slain by a monster, the lipstick she used clearly having been too big for their tiny doll lips? Or the one where mother dressed her in that ridiculous bunny costume because she thought it was too cute not to buy? There's also that one where she started a small fire practicing magic with her bomberflies in the backyard... though she claimed that was an accident, Ariel swears that little Lettie is smirking over the fire in the photo.

Lettie can hear Juno's voice fondly telling stories of their adventures-- making that extra effort to fill it with details she knows the little faerie would want her to include. (This warms her heart. Her pirate used to be such a terrible storyteller... look at her now!) 'It gives me hope.' For an instant, she can feel mother's fingers absentmindedly stroking her hair. She catches a glimpse of Juno's droopy, tired smile. Safe and sound, surrounded by their allies. That's where she is in the present. Not here, trapped in that chunk of crystal. Not stuck this nightmare with her.

Had Juno stayed at Lettie's side in the state she was in before, they'd surely be doomed. They might've lost the whole damned fight by now. The moments she spends alone now are securing them the peaceful moments they'll get to share together in the future. They'll have their fairytale wedding, their cozy little cottage that she'll decorate with flowers and photographs. They'll get to make their final wish. She has to believe in that. It's that very belief that's keeping her alive right now. Asmodeus tried to convince her that love was her greatest weakness when it's really her greatest strength. In other words, being an extremely gay little faerie is saving her ass right now.

Lettie's wings spirit out behind her, striking another light in the darkness. She looks into the darkness defiantly. Then she flies towards it and away from the memory that keeps trying to taunt her. Maybe if she physically moves herself forward, the landscape will change to reflect it? Maybe she can control it, the same way they could control nightmare wor--

"You're mistaken. You have no control here." The Reaper's voice echoes, deep and fizzling like static. He glitches after the faerie, faster than she can fly... he towers over her like the tallest buildings in Avangeline's central city. A large shadow creeps over her, swallowing the meagre light her presence creates with more darkness, as a giant boot angles itself over her. It comes down, crushing the faerie's spirit into the ground. He digs his heel in for good measure. "You cannot escape. Stop prolonging the inevitable."

Lettie can feels the weight fall over her, the way it crushes her, snapping her bones and grinding her to dust. When the pressure releases, she reforms again as if nothing happened at all. (But it hurts. It hurts more than words could possibly describe.) She's allowed one small, precious moment of respite before his boot slams over her again. Stomping on her repeatedly like she's a bug that just won't die. Trying with all his might to break her foundation, the resolve she's built for herself against this endless onslaught. "It doesn't matter how much you want the future you're dreaming of. It does nothing to change the fact that you are small and powerless." It's torture. She's too weak to lift her arms, too weak to fight back. She tries to empower herself with reassurances, tries to manipulate her surroundings... but nothing happens. She doesn't possess any control over the nightmare she's been locked in.

(Or perhaps Lettie's separated herself from the part of her that could have done something. The part of her she sent off with Juno... all but a single drop of her magic, bundled up lovingly into a single butterfly.)

"So many ways to break a faerie..." The Reaper muses, slamming his boot down on her again. "I'll succeed where Asmodeus has failed. He doesn't know you like I do, Olette." His voice morphs, sounding like a sick imitation of Lina's. He shrinks down, taking on her appearance as well. Her wraps her claws around her throat, squeezing down hard. Patches of ice spread from her (his) palms. "I'm still here, Lette. See?" (Lies.) "I live within the Reaper now. It's not so bad, you know..." (Lies.) "As long as I'm here, I'm never alone. You could join me. Join us." She grins, squeezing even tighter than before. "Nothing can hurt you here. No one can touch you. All you have to do is close your eyes and this nightmare will end."

***​

"Thank stars, Juno. You got here just in time. We gotta hurry." Thistle leads Juno down to the cell-- though it's only a matter of time where their positions switch and it's Thistle who has to hustle to keep up with the pirate's determined strides as she hurries down to the lower decks. "She's colder than ever. And-- her neck. Something's wrong... we don't know what to do anymore." She shakes her head worriedly. "We covered the cell in flowers, just like you asked. Rosary made sure to find flowers with healing properties, hoping it might combat some of her symptoms... though I honestly can't tell if they're making much a difference at this stage. It should help if--" She hesitates, "When she wakes up. It's bad, but rest assured she hasn't given up yet."

Phillip signs frantically when they enter the cell, gesturing to Lettie. The cell hardly resembles a cell anymore, but the little faerie lying in a nest of blankets stands out among the flowers. Dark vines encircle her neck now, and they're getting darker. While the cell is extremely hot thanks to the magic of fire faeries and the space heater, her lips and sparkle-less cheeks are tinged blue. (While she resembles a corpse, still and surrounded by flowers, it becomes apparent that she's not dead as her lips move as if she's trying to say something. Her voice doesn't reach them... but it's something, at least.) The soul bugs of various different faeries drift around the cell to guard her, glowing like rainbow stars among all of the flowers.

"Shit." Thistle winces, unable to look directly at her. "It's getting worse."

"Never fear-- Thaddeus is here!" A familiar nerd's voice echoes in the doorway behind them. (He squeaks and dodges when the ever-alert Thistle reacts by throwing a knife at him.) "Hey!" When he looks beyond the unfamiliar faerie and pirate and sees what's going on, however, he sobers up and realizes that this is not a situation that calls for a bombastic entrance. "Shit. Olette is..." He shakes his head.

"I brought backup." The cube announces proudly as it floats in behind him.

"Yeah, well... the cube didn't exactly explain what was going on before it..." Thad rubs the back of his head, embarrassed and shaken up by the situation he's been thrown into. He shakes his head, steeling himself. "Ugh, never mind. The point is, I'm here to help. Put me to work, Cap'n."

 

[starboob]

This is not what Thaddeus thought he was signing up for when the cube approached him about a “light task.” It shows plainly in the way he gapes, eyes shifting between the el—faerie (faerie!) and the pirate and back again. Finally, his gaze settles on Juno, her face, her missing eye. (There’s a pirate joke he knows he shouldn’t make and desperately wants to.) She gives him such a hard look he almost trips and all he’s doing is standing in the entryway. (Wretched skull! He was supposed to go on a date with Ainsley today and now he’s going to get vaporized.)

If this were the time, Juno would throttle the cube, but between crushing that little asshole or saving her future, it’s not even a choice. (And the cube smugly knows this.) “Thistle, get me inside.” The words come out through clenched teeth, disguising the tremor in her voice. Reluctantly, she looks over at the geek. “Bring him, too.”

Thistle only questions this for a second, maybe less. She takes both their hands and glitches them inside. (She remains within arms reach of both, in case Asmodeus makes a surprise entrance.) The bars of the cell, as Juno requested, are woven with flowers and vines. A lilac canopy, made of tulle, drapes from the ceiling. At the center point, Melvin, now shaped as his approximation of a sphere, spins like a mirrorball. As the firelight reflects off of the mirrored surface, each reflection opens up a memory that the cubes have collected over time. (Lettie spooning Juno. Juno bolting to catch Lettie. Lettie turning her entire ship pink. Juno rescuing Lettie from the ice giant.) It’s more than just cozy, because, hopefully, this’ll be more than a rescue.

When they’re inside the cage, Juno sweeps herself around Lettie, gathering her bundle of blankets into her arms, holding her close. Littlest Lettie spirits from her chest and flies frantically around Physical Lettie’s face.

Thad’s eyes go wide. “Is that—?”

“Yes.” Juno then blindly reaches for the other necromancer, groping around for his hand, because she doesn’t have the words or the time to even explain anything that she’s been through, but a touch should be enough for him to perceive her. And it is. He jerks back like he’s been shocked. “You—you—”

“Yes.” She nods, this time sparing him a glance. “On accident, but. Yeah.” She shifts a bit, ignoring the stitch that’s bothering her side from running down to the dungeon. It’s not important. What is important is getting her necklace off. “Made myself into a battery after my heart got pulverized.”

“Your… Pulverized… Battery…” Steam basically comes out of Thaddeus’s ears, unable to process or fathom anything Juno is saying. Thankfully, he seems to recognize that that isn’t even important. She obviously needs him for something else if it’s not his necromancy. “Okay… So what’s the plan?”

To answer, she simply holds up the ring, then looks over at Littlest Lettie. “Walk me through it and I’ll never punch you again.”

“I can’t just teach you years of theory—”

“Thaddeus.”

“F-Fine, but we can’t—we have to—” He’s stammering again and each second that passes the black vines thicken.

“Take a deep fuckin’ breath and do whatever you need to do. I trust you.” Mostly. “Just don’t fuck this up.”

“Or you’ll both haunt the shit out of me, I get it.” This, ironically enough, seems to calm Thaddeus enough that he’s regained function of his faculties. He squeezes past Thistle to get to Juno. He has her scoot forward so that he can stand behind her and once he’s there, he places his hands on her shoulders. “This is insane, by the way.”

Juno doesn’t even get the chance to snap at him before the geek is slithering through her cells, between them, over her organs, directing his magic over hers and giving her the nudges she needs to bind Littlest Lettie to the ring.

Littlest Lettie’s wings twitch, her sparkles intensifying until she’s nearly consumed in diamond-like radiance, until the shape of the butterfly is almost lost. Pieces of her whirl like a faerie in danger, psychedelic kaleidoscope trying to ward off the two necromancers. Thaddeus shakes behind her. Juno is unwavering, the steady rock. She keeps her breathing calm, anchoring Littlest Lettie to the rhythm of her heartbeat. ‘You’ve got no reason to fear, bug. Do you trust me?’

The dizzying whirls of rainbows, broken glass, resist for only a second more before Littlest Lettie allows the entirety of her small form to transform into diamond dust. Once this tiny piece of Lettie’s soul has relaxed under the necromancers’ manipulations, anchoring her to the ring becomes a cinch. The mass of sparkles that had been Littlest Lettie, pull together, shrink down and when that piece of starlight touches the rose, light flashes, brighter than the cube. Thistle and Thad both look away, but Juno, somehow, is disaffected, never breaking eye contact as Littlest Lettie finds a new home among the holographic butterflies that fly around the rose. But this is Littlest Lettie and she doesn’t just fly on the predestined path set for the others, she flutters and flits around, then spirits inside of the rose itself.

Juno slumps backwards against Thaddeus, a thin sheen of sweat now covering her. Her arms shake, but there is no blood and while her heart is sore, it’s only a pinch that fades within seconds. As much as she wishes for another nap, the black vines have not given up or drawn back. Gathering the dregs of her strength, as she has done so many times before, she lifts the impossible weight of the ring and Lettie’s finger.

Her body tenses, suddenly, stopping just short of slipping the ring onto her finger, something deep and inexplicable telling her to wait. Warning her. “Thad…”

“I feel it, too.” His voice is a low whisper. Without prompting, he grabs hold of Juno again. “Can you…?”

The necromancer has never been good at explanation. Before Thaddeus can stop her, she’s diving towards their stream. It’s a trickle and it’s there, more present than she’s felt since the Reaper’s den. Juno knows the place she’s headed isn’t safe, so she gropes around it, feeling the borders of Lettie’s prison. It’s dark, impossible to see through, and she can feel clearer than before, Lettie; ripples—no, thunder strikes of pain encompassing her, becoming her.

Something in Juno erupts, something righteous and as fervent as a star’s molten core. “DON’T FUCKIN' TOUCH HER!!!” Except it’s not words that come out of her, because what she feels has no words. It’s tremors, shakes, cracks of lightning. Tectonic plates sliding past each other with the force to break worlds into pieces. It’s pure magic.

Because in that moment what Juno comes to realize, within the core of her being, is that Lettie, no part of her, belongs to Asmodeus. Not in any meaningful way. She doesn’t even belong to Juno. That’s not their love. Rather, she belongs with Juno; like how the sun, moon, and all the stars belong in the sky; like how families belong together; like, like, like—

Her place is with Juno. So when Juno shouts without words and sends all her love forth, she creates a shield around her future, her love. It won’t last forever, but it’s there to give Lettie, the realest Lettie, an opening to glitch, fly back towards their stream, so that when Juno slips that ring around her finger, it will be Lettie who comes back and not her crushed dust of a soul.

“Come home.”

 

[ellarose]

Is this how it's going to end? Writhing on the ground like an insect before an entity that was always stronger than Lettie could ever hope to be? She's unable to do so much as lift a finger to fight back. (Powerless.) Everything fades to black as the excruciating pain tears down through her throat and burns her insides with ice. (Small.) Little by little, she feels herself being whittled down to nothing as the overwhelming feeling takes precedence. Is this abomination with psychedelic eyes going to overpower her? (Weak.) ...It might. This is what she's been running from.This is the reason why. The Reaper's magic is a forceful tide, yanking her about, and all she can do is try not to loose sight of herself amidst it all. She can kick and thrash as wildly as she likes. It won't make any difference in the end.

Lina shone so brightly. She was brilliant and vibrant. There was a time that she lit up Lettie's whole entire world. She was the spot of warmth that comforted her in her coldest days. Then suddenly, the radiance she emanated was... gone forever. Snuffed out and stolen without leaving a single trace behind. Just like that. Now the creature who swallowed her whole uses her face against her, uses his claws to freeze the screams in her throat, ensuring she dies without making a sound.

The Reaper squeezes even tighter and the faerie's body flashes with alarm, gradually fading and becoming translucent beneath it. Is this when she disappears? Is this how it's going to end? It's not that Lettie possesses no will to fight back. She can't fight back. Her magic is exhausted, there's no way to even talk her way out of this one. She desperately wracks her fading mind for solutions and comes up with nothing.

Lettie's tears freeze on her cheeks. How long has it been since she was last allowed to take a breath? (An hour? An eternity?) It's enraging, how pitiful she feels.The way the Reaper renders her and all the trials she's endured to avoid it obsolete.

'Juno, I'm sorry.' This might be where it ends. 'I don't think I can take anymore.' Lettie's slipping from the ledge she's on, she might as well be dangling above the Reaper's open maw. This is the reality she's been trying to outrun. It's cold. It's harsh. (Maddeningly, she can't do a goddamned thing to change it. The stars know she's tried.) It'd take a miracle for this to--

The ground rumbles, softly at first. Lettie's too disoriented to recognize her miracle. When the tremble becomes a violent quake, she gradually notices the Reaper's eyes through her blurring vision. The way they dart around wildly, as if searching for something. What's happening? Lightning splits through the darkness, casting a haunting white light over them. The Reaper hisses where it hits him. Lina's face melts away from his features as he recoils and releases the faerie.

As Lettie takes her first breath since this ordeal began, she absorbs the light from the strike. (The Reaper doesn't dare to touch her now.) Wonderingly, she looks down at her hands. She's still translucent, but she's sparkling. Like fine jewels, champagne, and all the stars in the sky combined. (Like she's something someone loves.) The earth cracks and crumbles all around, but the ground beneath the faerie remains carefully undisturbed. Juno. A small, disbelieving smile plays at her lips. Should've known. Juno would never let her fall. Not like this.

Juno's words wrap around Lettie's tiny frame like two stupidly buff arms in the warmest hug ever. 'Come home.' A large butterfly flits towards her. It lands over her heart, melting inside of her. Magic and starlight courses through her, bolstering her with newfound strength.

Lettie doesn't need to be told twice. This is her chance. The Reaper reaches out for her, his teeth bared with rage, but her form dissipates into a cluster of butterflies with gossamer rainbow wings before he can grasp anything tangible. The butterflies disperse, spreading themselves out in various directions and making it impossible for him to ensnare all of her at once. (Lightning strikes down like a sword, preventing the Reaper from capturing any of them.)They fly high above everything, glitching and clustering together before sailing in a glimmering cyclone towards the voice calling out to her. The voice of her love, her future.

The butterflies flit affectionately around Juno in the darkness. They gather together above her, sculpting the shape of the faerie's silhouette. As the scales of their colorful wings fleck away, Lettie appears. Though she does have wings now, she allows herself fall into Juno as she's done thousands of times before, wrapping her arms tightly around her shoulders. (Those familiar shoulders that make her swoon so much. Stars, she never thought she'd get to feel them beneath her fingers again. Never thought she'd get to hold her again. To see her, to-- to...)

Lettie leans in and before she knows it she's kissing Juno passionately. This time, she doesn't kiss her like it could be the very last time. She kisses her future wife like she's just reignited all of her hopes and dreams that they'll get to share more kisses in the future. "I promised..." Lettie says, breathless when she pulls away. She sets her forehead against Juno's. "I promised you'd get to taste the cherry on my lips eventually." Her grin quickly fades, though, when she considers everything that just happened. Everything. Concernedly, she caresses Juno's face, her fingers feather-light against the edge of her eyepatch. The faerie's white eyes shift with confused awe as she looks up at her. "How did you..."

In a flash, their setting twists and morphs, disorienting and dreamlike, and suddenly they're surrounded by flowers and lights cast down from a shiny mirrorball in the sky. Juno's holding her against her chest, holding onto her hand. Lettie squints as she rouses. Her spirit-- or at least some facet of it-- has come back to life in her physical body. (How is this even possible?) The instant her eyes open, the inky vines around her throat and eyes retreat and fade away. The blue tint vanishes from her lips as her perpetually frozen skin warms.

Lettie notices a couple of things right away. One is that she's wearing one of Juno's leather jackets. There's also a peculiar weight on her finger, like she's wearing a... ring? Yes, it has to be a ring. It's on the hand Juno's holding and covering up. The faerie's heart starts to race and when her future wife notices her staring, she holds their joined hands up in front of her. She grins that lopsided grin she loves so much and lifts her fingers away one by one to reveal...

The ring. It's the most beautiful, spectacular ring that Lettie has ever laid eyes on. There aren't even words to describe how much she loves it. (While she'd have accepted a paper ring as long as it came from Juno, this is...) She'd have fainted back into the blankets again if her pirate's arms weren't holding her snug and tight. Thad and Thistle panic at her lightheadedness... but can't they understand!? This is a perfectly normal reaction to seeing the ring her fiancee picked out for her! (When did Thad get here...? Oh well. That nerd's not exactly number one on her list of priorities right now...) She's dizzy, weak with relief that she's still here to experience this... to hold onto her hopes, her dreams, her Juno.

"I love it." Lettie breathes. "I love you." Tears burn in her eyes and she sniffles, trying and failing to hold them back. As much as the faerie would like to gawk and admire the lovely ring on her hand for the rest of forever, she throws her arms tightly around her future wife instead. They fall into the nest of blankets together as she snuggles against her chest. (She's home.) "I love it so much that I guess you can be the heist queen, Juju."

 

[starboob]

Tears flood down Juno’s face before she can even think to stop them. And she doesn’t want to. With the tears, relief washes over her and clears away the anxiety that had consumed her in the days without Lettie. Though Juno doesn’t like to admit it, she had thought that they might have met their end. It took more strength than it should have to remind herself that they weren’t over until they were over.

And Lettie is here now, right in her arms—right where she belongs—and Juno holds her like she’s afraid she’ll slip through her embrace at a moment’s notice. (That is her fear. She doesn’t hide it.) Their bodies shake and shiver against each other, reminding the other that they are there. They’ve got each other. Endless tears flow and soak her cheeks, get into Lettie’s hair, and probably dribble onto her forehead. She lifts her eyepatch so the pool beneath it can escape and goes back to squeezing her faerie.

The weight of her love on her chest is another comfort that reminds her that she’s here, she’s here; Juno brought her back and she’s here. It’s a miracle neither of them pass out from the relief alone. Both of them have been fighting so relentlessly and this victory is more than earned. Juno might not understand anything that happened back in that liminal space, but she knows some limit within herself broke and whatever it was, it gave Lettie what she needed to escape. It wasn’t necromancy, she knows that, and she doesn’t spend anymore time trying to figure it out. Lettie is here, she’s really here, and that is all that the pirate can think about.

At some point, the others left to give the couple space. Thistle mentioned something about security measures in case Asmodeus returns, but Juno wasn’t listening. She couldn’t hear anything over their sobs and choked “I love yous.”

Her fingers knot into Lettie’s hair, then comb down the length. Her tears gradually slow and her sobs turn to hiccups. Every few seconds she looks down to make sure that her faerie is still there, part of her still in disbelief. And she is, each time she is right there in her arms. “This is where you belong. Nowhere else.” She’s still too choked to form sentences of her own, and she’s getting there. She shifts them up so that she’s leaning against the back of the cell and tilts her head so she can get a good look at Lettie with her good eye. Her lips press to the top of her head, then her forehead, down her nose, over her cheeks, the returning sparkles, her chin, her jaw, and finally she steals her lips in a proper kiss. It’s salt flavored. Juno melts into it.

When she pulls back, they take turns wiping each other’s cheeks clean. Juno reaches for her eyepatch, then hesitates. Lettie hasn’t seen. The light is too harsh for the eye, causing her to squint. Now one eye is a black hole to the other’s stormy gray. “I can’t see much out of it anymore. I won’t ever be able to.” Her shoulders slump, the weight of admitting what’s happened to her hitting her all at once. “I’m not angry with Titania. It wasn’t her fault. Small price to pay to heal her.” She sets her chin on Lettie’s head. “I could get a prosthetic, the Medic is pushing for it, says there are worlds with pretty advanced tech, but I don’t want to make a decision so soon. Not without thinking about it first. I would like to see you with both eyes again. One isn’t enough,” she grins, bringing Lettie’s knuckles to her lips. “You’re too stunning.”

She lays Lettie’s hand flat against her palm. The ring glitters on her finger; she catches glimpses here and there of Littlest Lettie. All she wanted was to see Lettie’s reaction to the ring and now she’s just relieved she even had a chance to slip it on her finger. Her thumb brushes over the diamond rose. “I knew you’d never be the heist queen when I swiped your ring.” She grins against Lettie’s cheek. “I wanted to make the reveal special, something you might have dreamed about as a little kid.” She gestures around the decorated cell. Along with the healing flowers, Juno specifically asked for ones that mean love, recalling that Lettie once mentioned something about the language of flowers. Memories of them dance over those flowers and the lilac veil that hangs from the ceiling. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I still wanted to try, because…” Here, Juno shifts and shuffles around so that Lettie, still in her bundle of blankets, is leaning against the wall and Juno is facing her. She’s on one knee. Out of habit, she reaches to cup her faerie’s face. “Olette Lycoris Radiata, will you make this homicidal, homo pirate the luckiest woman in all the worlds and be my wife?”

 

[ellarose]

Lettie looks at Juno, gazing down at her whole entire world. Juno says she tried to create something she would have dreamed about-- does she realize she couldn't have possibly dreamed of anything like this? Their story is so unlike anything she's ever read about in a storybook. A necromancer pirate captain with a skeleton crew and a broke, cursed little faerie? If she could go back in time and tell the Lettie trapped in the flower-less version of this cell that one day she'd be presented with the most perfect engagement ring by the very pirate taunting her she would not have believed it for a second. Now here they are.

"We've been through a lot, haven't we?" Lettie says softly, reaching for Juno's hand. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, that's for sure. That's life, though... and through all the shit bananas situations, they learned how to be there for each other. They've got each other, they get each other. Maybe for a while it was because they were chosen and quite literally smashed together on multiple occasions. They were the only ones in the worlds who knew what it was like to have their lives taken over by a cube of all things. It was only natural that they bonded over that. However, that's not all there is to their relationship. That's only one facet. After Avangeline tested them the first time, after the trials they faced on Fabel... they began actively choosing each other. Trusting each other.

Juno losing an eye to rescue her mother, diving straight into hell to bring Lettie back from the brink, making even the Reaper flinch away with her love... it's her way of choosing her. Going over the top to decorate this cell is her way of choosing her. (All of her. Even the parts the badass pirate might not fully connect with, like the over the top glitz and glamor.) It goes beyond anything the faerie could have dreamed about in her childhood. Her younger self couldn't have possibly fathomed a love that feels this much like home. Warmth. It's all at once safe and thrilling. Her heart is protected but never bored-- always aflutter with excitement as they challenge each other and play games. When she's with Juno, reality has a way of exceeding her wildest dreams.

Turns out Juno's just as extra as Lettie is when it comes to love.

"I did warn you when we met that you'd never be able to get me off your mind." Lettie thinks back to their first meeting, offering Juno a wink and a mischievous grin. Come to think of it, they were extra back when they hated each other, too. "Now you've got my full name memorized and everything." She looks up fondly at the mirrorball hanging over their heads, her eyes glimmering with the reflections of their memories. While those moments swirl from various planes of glass, one in particular flashes through her mind. Disco tits. (...That was pretty funny.) "And you did all of this for me. I don't know how to tell you this, Juno... but I think you've fallen in love with me."

Lettie can't help but tease her a little bit, can't help but try to keep her head up by keeping things light. Still-- the enormity of everything that just happened is still catching up with her, settling a certain weight over her shoulders. Everything Juno's done for her. (The fact that her mother is still alive, that she's herself again... all because Juno was there to help her through it.) All of it.

"That's good, 'cause I'm completely and totally in love with you." Lettie sinks down to Juno's level, wrapping her arms around her. It's already a given, but she gives her answer anyway. "Of course I'll be your wife, Juno. When all this is finally over, I'm marrying the hell out of you. Then you'll be stuck with this little faerie forever... do you think you're ready for that?"

They've made it further than Lettie ever thought possible. She was beginning to think she'd been dragged past the point of no return... and here she is. Against all odds, Juno brought her back to the place where she belongs. I'm home.

"You know you didn't have to go this hard." Lettie says, her voice a wobbly whisper against Juno's collarbone. (Surely she knew that... but she did it anyway just to make her feel loved and special. She feels like the luckiest faerie in the worlds.) She traces her thumb over the rose-shaped diamond on her fingers, familiarizing herself with its shape. "It's better than anything I could've dreamed about. You're better than anything I could've dreamed." She sniffles. Ah, shoot. She's tearing up again.

Unbeknownst to them, the skeletons listening in on them in the neighboring cell make exchanges. Phillip wipes a non-existent tear from under his empty eye socket and adds a few tallies to Juno's side of the ninth score board. (They've run out of room on the first eight and are soon going to need a tenth to keep track.) The Medic, however, isn't quite so stealthy as they make their appearance.

"No more crying, Miss Olette! You're extremely dehydrated." The Medic rudely interrupts their moment, blipping in a tray with a glass of water and some pills. "You need a proper check-up before we can clear you to leave the cell." The cube swivels around to face Juno as well. "...I want to get a proper look at you as well, missy. You've put your mind and body through the wringer. If you want to live to see your wedding day, you'll heed my advice and not--" Lettie and Juno flash it the bird anyway, as usual. (Lettie gets caught up admiring her ring again as she does so.) The cube sighs. "Do that."

 

[starboob]

After the Medic’s interruption, the rest of the crew uses this as an excuse to join in and their captain doesn’t tell them to fuck off. As much as Juno wants her faerie all to herself, Lettie’s made this ship her home; she’s turned this crew into a family.

The skellies all fight over who gets to catch up with Lettie first, their bones clacking furiously as they sign about who missed her the most and therefore should have dibs. It’s sweet how much they care for her; even before Juno ever did, they had her back. The couple lets the crew squabble. Lettie leans back against Juno and Juno takes it all in, their weird little family. Warmth spreads through her. She buries her nose into the crook of Lettie’s neck, smiling against her skin.

When Lettie said she’d marry the hell out of her and asked whether or not she was ready for a life stuck with a little faerie, it went without saying that Juno’s answer would and will always be yes. Unhesitatingly. Unquestioningly. Irrevocably. Yes. A time existed when the pirate captain thought she’d never have love in her life. At most she thought she might find a woman who was a good enough lay that she’d decide to keep her around and, in mutual comfortability, they’d agree to stick together. They’d tolerate each other. Now she has Lettie and she can’t imagine the world without her. She can’t imagine the worlds without her. Who better to traverse this sticky universe they occupy than with the fucking faerie? Lettie has taught her that there’s more to life than just raw survival. She’s taught her how to live. In recent days, she’s even come around and decided that… If she’s the only one of them who makes it out alive, she’ll choose life; she'll live. She’ll live to keep her memory alive and then find more things to live for, because she understands that the gift her faerie has given her isn’t meant to only be shared with Lettie. It’s for everyone. She won’t leave their family behind if she can help it.

Juno turns her head, resting her cheek on Lettie’s shoulder. The skeletons have finally organized themselves enough to catch Lettie up on the latest gossip. Apparently, Inez is now claiming to have been the inventor of little alien buddies. (Whatever those are.) Phillip then changes topics to sign that Lettie’s father is a scumbag, but her mother seems lovely. Fred adds in a question to ask, 'How is Lettie so short when her parents are both giants?' He is immediately booed out of the dungeons. He shrugs, does a two finger salute, then sticks his hands in his invisible pockets and leaves. (Fuckin’ Fred.)

All while this happens, the Medic conducts their examinations. Juno helps Lettie stand at the Medic’s instruction, offering her arms for balance. The cube scans her, scans the ring (with a low whistle of approval), and concludes that she’ll need four hours (minimum) around these healing flowers and that she should try to spend some time under the stars tonight. Surprisingly, Juno’s exam is quick and she’s only prescribed rest, despite all that her body and spirit have endured. They blip in some food, shoo out the crew, and order the couple— “Stop that! I am trying to help.” Furious over their immature behavior, the Medic blips away angrily while Juno and Lettie giggle like teenagers.

Once their glee is reduced to intermittent snorts, they do take the Medic’s orders seriously. They take turns feeding each other, doting upon each other, ignoring everything that could be looming ahead right after this moment. When strawberry juice drips down Juno’s chin, Lettie cleans it with a kiss that deepens. (Lettie might have said that Juno is better than anything she could have dreamed and Juno can’t help but feel the same way.) When they pull away, the pirate grins up at her faerie. “I’m glad you’re all that’s on my mind these days. No one’s got my heart like you do.”

***​

Thaddeus knocks on the dungeon entrance, hands covering his eyes as he pokes his head in. “Are you decent? I just wanted to say goodbye—I don’t want to be late for my date.”

“Somebody actually likes you?” Juno and Lettie say this in unison, then grin at each other.

The geek lowers his hands, bunching them into fists. “Yes, someone likes me! I am the great Thaddeus Rex, spirit magician extraordinaire, the wunderkind of Skollege.” Juno and Lettie are openly mocking him through pantomimes; he doesn’t seem to notice. He rarely does when he gets like this. “And I’ll have you know,” he turns his gaze on them. They immediately school their expressions. “I’m quite the hot commodity on Desdemonia, being affiliated with heroes and all.” He grins, puffing up his chest as if that actually hides that he’s a shrimp. Although, Juno hates to admit it, it does look like he’s put on some muscle since they last saw him.

“I find that hard to believe. How’ve the grounders not shoved you in the dirt?” Juno flicks a cherry pit at him. It nails him square in the forehead; he glowers. “What’s been going on anyway? How much time has passed?”

Apparently, in the three or four days that they’ve been on Avangeline, entire months have passed on Desdemonia. (This explains how Thad’s suddenly packed on two ounces of muscles.) Though the world isn’t healed, with the goddess back things are starting to improve. The day Juno and Lettie left, it rained. A week later, Mauve found a strand of grass pushing through the dirt. (She’s trying to cultivate it into a whole field and has taken a keen interest in horticulture.) The sulfurous air is thinning; the green is fading from the skies. Nightmares still lurk, but less and less attack Desdemonians. They’re almost docile.

Eliza and her company have taken it upon themselves to restore the tomb and convert it back into a temple. Though the goddess has not been seen since her resurrection, her presence spreads from the temple outwards towards the rest of the world. More and more visitors come each day to see if it’s true. Anyone with ill-intentions, like the stewards sent to burn it, soon become Ripir’s dinner.

“Yeah, not everyone’s happy the goddess is back,” Thad sighs. This isn’t that surprising to Juno, however. The ruling class, those like the Duchess, probably feel their flimsy power threatened. Especially as the world improves and resources become plentiful again. The good thing, according to Thad, is that they’re too busy fighting with each other to actually pose a real threat to the restoration. (Yet. He doesn’t say it explicitly, but it’s in the air.) “Though not all grounders are pleased either.” This also makes sense to Juno who long thought the goddess hated Desdemonia before learning the truth. “But, thanks to you,” he address Lettie, “more people know the story and it’s starting to spread. Might be some rough years through the growing pains, but I think things are gonna be alright once you two finish up here. We’re just trying to prepare as much as we can for that moment so that transition goes as smoothly as possible." He scratches the top of his head, making sure he hasn't forgotten anything. "Eliza sends her—"

"Am I interrupting?" Titania asks from behind Thad.

"—regards." Thad's eyes are wide and he almost falls over trying to crane his neck to take in the full enormity of the angel. His mouth opens and closes, but no words come out. He scrabbles away, making room for her, though she doesn't move just yet. She seems to be looking intently at her daughter. Juno, reading Titania's expression, turns to Lettie. "You ready for this? Want me to leave?"

 

[ellarose]

"Stay." Lettie's response is automatic. Though her attention is fixed entirely on her mother, she reaches for Juno's hand and squeezes tight. In that nightmarish soul world, she couldn't help wondering whether or not she simply hallucinated her mother's existence into it. (Perhaps the unicorn was Titania's spirit, coming to visit her from beyond the grave.) Upon her waking, Juno's lost eye served as proof that it had been more than a spirit, yes, especially given her reassurance that she wasn't upset with Titania for it. That saving her was worth it.

It's an entirely different and unfathomable thing seeing Titania in the real world. Seeing her exactly the way she remembers her-- not an ethereal unicorn, not an apparition, not dead, but alive. This is the woman she grieved. The woman she missed like a child. And... the woman who gambled her life away, whose careless mistakes have shaped a majority of the hardships she's had to endure in life. (Without those mistakes, she likely wouldn't be holding onto her future wife right now and she's proud of the faerie she's become in the face of adversity. Even with that in mind... it's going to take time and effort before she can truly forgive her mother. Just because she set her on this path doesn't mean she should thank her for it.) That's only scraping the surface.

How vehemently had Lettie hated herself for thinking that she killed her own mother? And all along... it never even happened. She's only just learned that it was all one big lie that Asmodeus reveled in serving her... that Titania had come to some other agreement behind her back... there's a story behind all of that that Lettie doesn't know yet.

"Anyway, I think I'm gonna..." Thad says, breaking the stretch of silence as the daughter and mother stare at each other. He shuffles even further backward, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "Can't be late for my date, so..."

Breaking from her thoughts, if only temporarily, Lettie finds she can breathe again. (Pfft. Thad. Of course, he had to mention the date again. He's not going to let them forget it any time soon.) "Hey, Thad..." Still, she can't let him leave before saying one last thing. And, no, she's not going to remind him what a hecking nerd he is. "I appreciate you coming all this way to help me out. Send Eliza and the others our love." She grins goofily and makes a half a heart symbol with her hand, attempting to instruct Juno how to complete the other half of the heart with her hand. (Juno seems a bit confused by this at first-- but then she gets it and grins. Hehe. Cute.) "As thanks, I'll see if my friend can hook you up with some sick new dolls." She winks and shoots finger-guns at him.

Thad almost appears touched by the little faerie's words... until she pokes fun at his action figure collection. (They're dolls.) Naturally, his face screws up and he has to insist. "They're collectables!" Before storming off to go on his date. Ah, the Thadster. She might've missed that nerd. Just a little bit.

"Lette..." Titania speaks at last. The sound of her voice sends everything crashing back into Lettie. "It seems you've made lots of new friends. And..." (Are Lettie's ears deceiving her, or does her mother sound almost... awkward? Titania Lycoris Radiata and awkward seldom belong in the same sentence.) The fallen angel nods at the ring sparkling on her daughter's finger, admiring it anew. "You've found love, too. I'm happy for you." She pauses, her blue eyes a bit misty. "I'm so relieved you're awake. I didn't think..." She shakes her head, at a loss. "I just had to come see for myself."

"I know we have a lot to talk about... but Juno and I need to rest now." Lettie says gently. (I'm happy for you. When she wondered what mother might think of her decision to marry Juno if she were alive... those weren't the words she was imagining. She's changed-- that's undeniable.) The faerie rises to her feet and approaches her mother. She hesitates for a second before wrapping her arms around her, melting against the familiar warmth of her body. When Lettie feels Titania's feathers brush against her shoulders, she can't help tearing up. "We'll catch up later, okay?"

"...Okay." Titania agrees, smiling sadly against the top of Lettie's head. They stand in this embrace for a while before parting ways. Gently, the angel brushes hair out of her daughter's face to get a good look at her... and she can't help stiffening. (It's instinct. Her eyes are white right now, so...) "You've grown into such a beautiful young lady."

Lettie's silent, her heartstrings tied up in knots. Titania offers Juno a nod of acknowledgement and words of thanks before leaving the cell. (It seems they've had some time to talk... and they seem to be getting along fairly well.) Needless to say, the faerie has a lot to process before she'll feel even remotely ready for a talk. She's endured quite enough mental anguish for one day, thank you very much. She sighs as she settles in next to Juno again, resting her head against her chest. What a freakin' mind fuck.

"I... never thought I'd see her again." Lettie whispers, still somewhat in awe of the fact. "But she's alive. And I can tell she's changed, but... it's hard. I don't know what to think." It's a lot. It's a lot to take in, a lot to comprehend. Happiness, sadness, anger... it all spins around her chest in a confused tornado. "What do you think of her, Juju?"

 

[starboob]

“Honestly, Lette?” As Lettie settles next to her, Juno’s arm wraps around her shoulder, so automatic she doesn’t even register the movement. Nor does she notice the way she strokes her arm, fingers trailing up and down. It's just natural. “I was waiting for you to tell me.”

It’s not that Juno doesn’t have opinions on Titania; it's just that she's the loyal pirate and she doesn't want to solidify her position without Lettie's input. She’s been hesitant to let her mother in; though they have had their moments to bond and, against her resolve, she agrees with Phillip. Titania seems lovely. And Juno knows better. She was there in those nightmares with Lettie; she remembers like it happened to her. (It did, in a way. But what happened to Juno was just a matter of survival for her mother, whoever she was. And while she’s not going to pretend it was right, the desperation was different than the vice that gripped Titania. In that, she can understand it as much as she resents it. She doesn’t know that Lettie has that same luxury.)

“She’s not who I would have expected to meet.” Not once has Titania been that vain, hypercritical woman from the nightmares. But the Duchess was always nice to her guests; that doesn’t mean her nasty side didn’t exist. “I’ve also only known her for a couple days and have only spoken to her a few times.”

Juno rests her head back against the wall, tilting her chin up. A memory of Juno chasing Lettie around Cindy's lava world catches her eye, drawing a smile. “But she was curious to know you. I think she really only hung around me because she wanted to know more about you.” That’s not entirely true, nor does Juno believe it. “I can also tell you that she’s… kind of a badass. When those nightmares attacked us, she picked up my sword and cut them down. She didn’t care what she saw. She didn’t need nightmare goggles. She just needed to get to you. If those nightmares hadn’t been so relentless, I think she would have hunted down Asmodeus and cut off his head herself.”

It surprised Juno to know Titania had so much fight in her. Before, she had assumed that the angel would be too much of a diva to hold her own. But she raised Lettie and Lettie’s tough as nails. Makes sense that her little faerie got it from somewhere. “I exhausted myself that night and, you know me, I told her to go on ahead with the others, make sure you get back to the ship safe. I swear, if we were closer, she probably would have smacked me for suggesting that. Instead she carried me out. She healed me, several times, like I was important and worth it.

“She also punched your dad on live television.” Juno nods her head when Lettie gives her an incredulous look. “I’m serious. All yesterday she was trying to use her media leverage to get more people over to our side. Wouldn’t talk about anything except for you and the treatment of faeries. One station convinced her they’d let her speak her mind, only to bring out Fabios as a special guest. Assholes.” Juno rolls her eyes in the same moment that Melvin lowers himself and opens up a projection of the interview. The cube makes sure to start the clip at the moment Phobos (yeah, Juno does know his stupid fucking name) refers to his daughter as Oleander and ends it with Titania getting dragged off set. Melvin lets that clip play a few times before switching to fancams of the moment that have weird pink googly filters over them. Juno glares at the cube. Melvin innocently covers the entire cell with these fancams, so Juno plucks him from the air and launches him down the hallway. “Ow, ow, ow—”

“Fuckin’ asshole cube. Can’t wait to be done with them.” She grumbles, settling back down next to her future wife. Calm hits her the second her arm goes back around Lettie, pulling her into her chest. She runs her fingers through her shaggy locks (it flops immediately back into her face), recalling where they left off. “I’ve only seen a glimpse of what Titania is like now. I guess I think she’s alright, but even I can’t stop thinking about what she did to you. I don’t think Ravan or his family can either.” Juno sighs, finally looking down at Lettie with her one eye. Her favorite freckle is starting to shine again. “If we all are unsure, then you’ve every right to be yourself.

“Just know that we’ll all be here for you if you even want to have that conversation with her. No judgment from me if you choose not to.” Had it not been for Lettie, Juno knows she would have chosen to avoid Eliza. But she had her assurance that Eliza was still looking out for her, in her Desdemonian way. “This isn’t like me and Eliza, not even fuckin’ close, but I took a risk waiting. The Guardian…” She doesn’t need to finish that sentence. Though, absently, she traces the scar from her shoulder to her chest. “I mean, you know things are never certain with us.” She doesn’t want to say this; doesn’t want to acknowledge the harsh reality that waits for them outside of the safety of this moment, but they’ve never had the luxury of running. The truth is there whether they confront it or not. “I’m not saying you should force yourself before you’re ready, but… It’s worth considering. I made peace with my choice back then, so at least make peace with yours.”

 

[ellarose]

Lettie knows she won't truly be at peace until the mess in her head is sorted through. (It takes everything in her not to break down again when Juno traces her scar, the memories of memories she was forced to relive touching a particularly tender spot.) It grates on her. How many mental scars has Asmodeus inflicted on her mind by now? Beyond that, she's still uncovering horrible new truths about the damage he's done. How long had she vehemently hated herself for a crime she never committed? How many nights did she lie flat on her floor, despondent with grief, thinking that it was all her fault? It has her picking the rest of her memories apart-- hunting for lies, for contradictions and illusions. This creep's been in her life since she was a little girl. Manipulating her. Rearranging her thoughts, satisfying his twisted sense of humor. That's what angers her still. When she was young and defenseless, when she needed someone, no one was there to save her from him.

Lettie only had Lina. Lina and other faeries in the estate who were in desperate need of help themselves. Those that weren't fed to the Reaper or burned up in the ring are shells of their former selves. When Asmodeus did away with Lina, Lettie isolated herself from everyone. That's exactly what he wanted. The one thing he didn't see coming was the contract she slapped on his desk in the aftermath. Lina risked everything to find a nymph capable of writing one. If Lettie paid what she was worth and then some, she'd be free. So she moved out of the estate, worked herself down to the fucking bone to achieve that dream... she was willing to do anything to reach out beyond that impossible gap, to grasp freedom with her own two hands. That path led her to Juno. While it did end in her precious contract expiring, she wouldn't trade their adventures and accomplishments for anything. Through all of her doubts and confusion, their memories together remain just as solid as the muscled arms holding her now.

For all Lettie knows, Titania could have been manipulated just the same. At the root of all of this, Asmodeus is the one most deserving of her fire, her anger, her hatred. Who's to say he wasn't twisting her mother's mind into knots as well? It doesn't wash away the anger and the hurt completely, but it does open a path for forgiveness. For moving past it.

"I thought she was gone forever, Juno." Lettie whispers, reaching for her pirate's hand. She presses it over her heart, stroking her thumb gingerly over her knuckles. (She can't help the way her gaze gravitates towards the ring on her finger, sparkling like a star. It's perfect. Juno's perfect.) "She was in that soul space with me before you healed her... I got to tell her I never hated her. For now, I've said everything I needed to say to be at peace." Though the faerie will be jumbled up inside for quite a while, this is the truth. "Even if the worst comes to pass, at least she knows that. If I make it out of this alive, I can take my time deciding whether or not I want her to be a part of our future."

Lettie purses her lips. Even hearing about all the things she's done, she wants to tread carefully. Because she's changed, too. She stopped faking smiles, powering past the pain she feels on the inside without a word. (It's undeniable that she got that from her mother... selling her bubbly personality and glamor to cameras, pretending the undesirable bits don't exist.) She's done living like that.

"'Cause as much as I'd like to reconcile with her, I don't want to ignore the ugly stuff to be agreeable or to make her feel better. I spent my childhood jumping through hoops, smoothing over all my flaws to make sure she was happy... pretending." Lettie shakes her head. It's complicated. Juno knows this. "I need time. I'm gonna give her a fair chance, but she's got a lot to prove."

"I'm relieved to hear she's been good to you." Lettie caresses Juno's face and presses a kiss to her cheek. It means more to her than anything else-- knowing she was looking out for her love, taking care of her when she wasn't present to. It's a promising start, to say the least. "And I still can't believe she punched my dad on live television..." She shakes her head, saying it quietly as not to encourage Melvin to return with the fancams. Oleander. Really? "She never ever would've pulled a ballsy move like that before."

Maybe Titania's done with the fake shit, too. When the walls come down, if they can accept each other-- flaws and all-- then...

"It sounds like she's trying... and I know she's been through a lot, too. I'm gonna give her a fair chance. I think I need time to see it for myself." Lettie sighs, resting her head against Juno's chest. "My mind's all scrambled, Juju. I don't know what I can trust about my past right now. Except for you. Everything we've been through together... everything we have is real. That gives me peace when the rest of the world has gone all shit bananas." She peeks up at her, raising her head to give her another kiss. "I'm so glad you're here." 'I'm here'-- it was those words that inspired her to hold on. She's got to cherish these moments while they still have them. "I love you."

Lettie holds her hand up after a while, admiring the ring on her finger again. It's dazzling. But along with that... her mind can't help but drift towards Asmodeus, the way he tried to turn her hands against Juno.

"I didn't hurt you before, did I?" Lettie asks concernedly, turning around to face her. "Whatever he did to me in the tunnel... I couldn't do anything to stop it. There's no telling if he'll be able to do it again. He's got some part of me tethered to him thanks to that damned contract. I think it's kinda like the hold the Guardian had over Calytrix. But we're connected, too... he hasn't been able to break us." It's like a tug-of-war right now with Lettie's soul. It'd be a mistake to count Juno out. She's got stupidly buff muscles to compete with, after all. "That place he took me to was twisted... he used nightmares and memories against me." She presses her face against Juno's chest, shivering. "He kept bringing me back to that moment when you were crystalized and dying."

"Oh... and they took me to this ring. Faeries standing in a circle, all of them turned to stone. Their eyes were burned out. Like Cerise's had when she and Cressida challenged the goddess." Lettie summons her magic circle and a pen, trying to recreate the glyph and the scene to the best of her memory. "Beneath them was this complicated glyph. I could tell they'd found a faerie for every magic source... except for the stars. I don't know what they did to them, but..." She shakes her head. "I've gathered that they're trying to use us to create their own relics."

 

[starboob]

“Ha! Very funny—you and what muscle could hurt me?” Juno’s cheeks are still a faint shade of pink from all of Lettie’s little affections, and the pirate still can’t help herself. She cocks her brow, smirking in a way she know will infuriate Lettie and is amply rewarded with a cheek puff. Juno deflates them between her palms, still wearing that shit eating grin. She has to tease Lettie, poke fun at her, because who knows if they’ll ever get another moment as peaceful as this one. Peace has never been guaranteed, not with them. If this raises their morale even just by an atom, she’ll take it. “You know…” she continues, musing innocently. “I think Thad’s got more muscle than you now. Pretty embarrassing.” She pretends to ignore the second cheek puffing, grinning widely like she doesn’t know the buttons she’s pressing. Eventually, she lets her grin fade into something more genuine. She kisses each puffed cheek. “I know you’re tough as nails. I’ll never forget that.

“You didn’t hurt me. Asmodeus tried, but you were stronger. You are stronger.” Her tone hardens, saying this so they both believe it. (They have to believe it, because it might be all that they have.) The grin completely drops from her features, gaze falling to the empty space in front of her as she sobers. Her throat bobs on a swallow, considering what else Lettie has admitted. Part of her wants to shift away from the cursed faerie. That part doesn’t win. She shifts closer in open defiance of her fear, looping her arms tightly around Lettie’s waist. Asmodeus might come back, and until then Juno’s going to hold her love for as long as she can. She won’t let go until she has to.

Besides, Lettie is stronger than Asmodeus. This isn’t just a mantra to bolster her belief, this is a hard fact. When she catches Littlest Lettie fluttering among the kaleidoscope of others, she knows this is true. Her cursed faerie did what should have been impossible. Her cursed faerie did something that not even Calytrix could do. Littlest Lettie might only be a small piece of her soul, and there’s no telling how much Asmodeus still has under his thumb, and it was still enough for Juno to work with. It was enough that the necromancer could bind it to that ring and bring Lettie back to the surface, to her body.

Juno rolls onto her side, gently placing Lettie next to her so that they’re face to face. (How many nights had they spent in the study like this? Fighting off sleep just to spend another second together; too stubborn to admit they needed to get to their beds; too scared to confess they wanted to sleep next to each other.) “I don’t think he can break our bond, Lette. I don’t even think it’s the stream we have; I could hardly reach you when you were in that awful prison.” Something happened when Juno brought Lettie back. She doesn’t quite know what, but it felt like an awakening of sorts. “If anyone can break our bond, I think it’s us. I think we’re the only ones with that power. Think about it, Lette. You gave me a piece of your soul. That fuckin’ contract should have prevented that from happening and yet you did it. Did you know what you were doing when you sent Littlest Lettie with me?”

She doesn’t know what any of this means, if it’s something she can place her hope in, and against all rational thought, she does. She hopes, because this has to mean something. Whether or not it will be the edge they need against Asmodeus’s perverse plan… The battlefield will answer that for them. No point in speculating until they know more. Though when she considers the sheer scale of his plan, she shudders. Juno is no saint and she doesn’t pretend to be; she’s got enough skeletons in her closet to build an army, and she’d like to believe nothing she’s done could measure up to this level of depravity. She’s taken lives, she’s ruined them, but she’s never fucking used them as fodder. As batteries for something that has world rending abilities.

“Asmodeus can’t succeed. I won’t let him and I’ll set those other souls to rest, if at all possible.” She sounds determined, yet her voice shakes and her eyes are starting to well with tears. She blinks them away harshly, holding her breath to keep them back. She doesn’t want to imagine Lettie turned to stone with burned out eyes. All her life and beauty reduced to being someone else’s fodder when she’s Juno’s entire world. So it hurts when she thinks about what she has to say next.

She captures both of Lettie’s hands between her own, bringing them to her lips. “But if hell and all the stars aren’t on our side that day, just know that—” Juno chokes on her words and has to pause and hold her breath, before she’s ready to continue. “Just know that I won’t follow you. If you give me the signal that it’s over, I’ll… I’ll let you go.” Her voice is a low whisper, hating each word as it comes out and knowing that this is the right choice. Their family needs her. “I’ll live to keep your legacy alive, because part of it does live with me. I won’t let the worlds forget you, but they're gonna know you were a little shit and that sometimes you snort when you laugh and... and they'll also know how you could turn anyone into a friend. They'll know that you were immeasurable parts badass and fuckin' genius. They'll know you. I'll make sure of it."

 

[ellarose]

Lettie's eyes shimmer with unshed tears. She nods and sniffles, taking a deep breath in, but she can't hold them back once they start flowing. Once the relief hits her full force, loosening a tight knot in her chest. She unravels. Juno asked her to accept any choice she would have made should the worst come to pass and she intended to. Of course she should be allowed to choose her own path. However, it'd have given her more to despair over in her final moments, knowing Juno would also unhesitatingly lay down her life if... now it doesn't have to come to that.

It might sound awfully romantic, going down together. But they've fought so damned hard to get where they are now. At the end of it all, Lettie wants to have fought for something meaningful. Juno having a chance at the peaceful life she never got on Desdemonia, waking up to see a day where she doesn't have to fight (because she doesn't like to fight)... that's meaningful.

"You don't know how much that means to me, Juno." Lettie whispers when her cries calm, wrapping her arms tight around Juno's middle. She rests her tearstained cheek against her heart, listening to it's familiar rhythm. "I want you to live. More than anything. Even if..." She sniffles. "Even if I don't make it. We both know how hard it is, being the one who lives on. But if we hadn't lived, we wouldn't have found each other. That's how I know there's gonna be happiness for you in the future. And love and... peace. All that good stuff that you deserve to have." She nods resolutely. "Knowing that you're gonna live on to experience those things gives me peace."

They went through so much, bringing the worlds back from the brink of total destruction. At least one of them should be able to enjoy it. Juno's got the skellies, Eliza, the other necromancers, and now her family, too. They've come through for them now, proving they'll be there to take care of her if she... she... (She doesn't want to die, either. She wants to be there.)

"You best believe I'm gonna keep fighting like hell to be a part of your future. I want to be there, Juno. I want to live." Lettie continues. "I want to get married. Wake up next to you every morning, bake every kind of pie, and chase you around our garden." She taps the petal of one of the nearby flowers. But they can't always have what they want. All they can do is enjoy this moment... hope and pray for the best.

***​

"They've stopped covering the situation at the estate. The reporters say they 'have everything under control' now that Master Asmodeus has stepped in." Thistle rolls her eyes. She updates them on what's been happening outside after giving the pair the better part of the afternoon and evening to rest. "It's good for you that he's distracted right now, but... I'm so damned worried about those kids. We'd send someone in to check on the situation there if we could, but..."

"Only marked faeries and approved guests can get in there." Lettie bites her lip, looking down at the scar around her wrist. (Shit.) Those kids... so freaking reckless. So brave. "By now, every marked faerie except for me's gotta be locked in there right now." They have their ways of collecting faeries who might not have been on the premises at the time of the plot. She rubs her wrist, thinking of the chains... the magic leashes they keep them on. It's how they found her before she could leave on her ship.

"Yeah. And as expected, they're not accepting any guests right now." Thistle frowns, flopping back into the bed of flowers around the cell. "We've been driving ourselves mad wondering what's going on in there."

"I'm sure they've dusted whoever came up with the plan by now to keep the others in line. Especially if Asmodeus involved himself." Lettie admits grimly. The faeries gathered around them exchange worried glances. Some hold each other mournfully. "They're not shy about that stuff at the estate. If a faerie tried to challenge Asmodeus, he'd dust her and force us to clean the floor afterwards... it's how they kept us in line." She winces. "Honestly, I didn't expect him to let me live when I tried it myself. Asmodeus hit me with the silencing curse instead. Turns out it's only 'cause he had a reason to keep me around. He's a sick fuck either way." Lettie looks at the floor. She's never admitted that out loud before, in part because of the curse... but she'd been angry back then, ready to join Lina. While she fought like hell, she had her moments, too... moments where she felt weak and tired and just wanted to give up.

Lettie leans against Juno's shoulder and squeezes her hand. It's a moral quandary. She's the only one of them who can make it in there right now... but in her current state? Would it even be worth it? Who would she save if she herself ends up being the one who needs saving?

"That's why we can't send you in there. Not alone." Thistle says, as if reading her mind. She shakes her head. "That's just walking you into another trap. But we can't abandon all those marked faeries, either."

"...No, you're right. Sneaking in won't work. Instead, we should make a lot of noise instead. More than ever before." Lettie says, considering the silencing curse. She's not silenced anymore. "Gather everyone who wants to fight for us, right in front of the estate... oh." Her eyes flash with an idea, considering what Juno said earlier. "Titania could throw a comeback concert! That'd draw a lot of buzz." She smirks. It sounds a lot like some nonsense plan she'd concoct for a nightmare... but who's to say that wouldn't actually work? "We could challenge Asmodeus outright. If we get enough coverage, we could draw that coward out of his den." She tilts her head to the side. "Lettie and the Skellies could make a surprise appearance at the end, too. If he sees me on the news, that should give him a good scare." She looks at Juno. "And we'll stay together this time. We won't split up. What do you think, baby?"

 

[starboob]

Juno doesn’t like this plan. To be fair, there was never going to be a version of this plan that the pirate would have liked. No part of her wants Lettie to face Asmodeus, especially not after last time. It’s not even the upcoming fight that has sent her into a spiral of despair; not entirely. It’s the thought of losing Lettie. It’s the thought of Asmodeus plunging her back into that prison. It’s the thought of having to face him in her body. It’s Lettie pulling through to the surface only to tell her that it’s time to go. Lettie promises that there will be happiness after her, and maybe Juno knows that’s true, knows she won’t be alone in her grief this time, and that doesn’t mean she’s okay with the staggering possibility that these are the last few moments she's going to have with her love.

...And it’s not fair for her to despair like this. ‘It’s not over until it’s over,’ she reminds herself in Lettie’s voice. (She believes it a little more when her faerie is saying it.) Fake smiles aren’t her thing, nor is being fake with Lettie, so while she doesn’t try to pretend that everything is fine when it’s not, she does what she can to keep their morale high and never strays more than three steps away from her. She keeps herself strong for both of them and Lettie does the same. ‘I’m going to marry the shit out of her. I'm going to marry her. Asmodeus won't stop me.’

***​

Lady Vengeance sails at a relaxed pace, weaving her way through the floating islands that make up Avangeline’s central city. With the cloaking system activated, none of the city’s radars detect the flying pirate ship. They fly without trouble or incident. The sun set only a few minutes ago and yet crisp night air already cuts through Juno’s cheeks. She shivers at the ship’s prow, pulling her coat tighter around her shoulders. She is alone now, having had to part with Lettie so that she could practice with the band. (If Juno concentrates, she can feel the thrum of music beneath her feet.) The restless pirate tries to clear her thoughts by observing the city, but everything reminds her of where they are headed. Everywhere she looks are posters or graffiti that demands justice for faeries. On occasion they pass over small knots of protestors. Groups of faeries stick close together as they make their way home from work. Tension wraps around Avangeline and, soon, it’s going to snap. Though Juno suspects she only feels that way because she knows what they’re about to do.

***​

When they arrive at the estate, Juno cannot take her eyes off of the structure. It’s a behemoth made of marble, imposing even though they’re above it. It’s like the building’s entire purpose is to make everyone else feel small. Even the property itself is massive. It's acres on acres of neatly kept lawn with carefully formed hedges and fountains tastefully placed throughout the grounds. As it is, Juno can almost imagine it on a touristy “bro, sure.”

Yet, that’s not all there is to this monstrosity. The portico is completely strangled with flower covered vines. (Forget-me-nots, black roses, nightshade, and petunias are most predominant.) Each facet of the estate itself, in fact, has flowers creeping up its sides—the back half of it is almost entirely covered. And along the wrought iron fence that surrounds the perimeter, more flowers grow up the bars while glowing orbs of light circle around and float through them. And as beautiful and picturesque as it looks, Juno knows the signs of a faerie’s last wish well enough. Though she isn’t sure she can put all these souls to rest, she promises that she’ll try.

Aside from the estate itself and the demons flying around to guard it, a large crowd has gathered near the front gate. Even from up above, Juno can hear their screams; though it’s all just a distant roar. She scans the crowd for Valerie and once she spots the angel, she holds up her sword in the air so that Thistle can alert her of their arrival and get the crowd in formation. A few minutes pass. Juno watches Valerie command the crowd, then Valerie gives her signal from below. Juno waves her sword back and forth three times to pass along the all clear.

An all too familiar flash of light swallows up everyone abroad, save for the faeries, and, in the same moment that the Magistrate works her power to bring forth a stage suitable for the Titania Lycoris Radiata, those who had been aboard are dumped backstage. (In this case, backstage is actually underneath the stage so as to give Lettie as much cover as possible.)

Juno isn’t even spared a moment to get her bearings before thuds wail against the side of the stage and maniacal screams pierce through the air. She tenses, fist clenched tightly around her sword. ‘Are we already—’

As if reading her mind, Valerie sidles up next to Juno. “Don’t worry about that. Those are just Titania’s fans. You should be concerned about Mirabelle.” When Juno offers only a confused look, she explains. “She wants those scrapbook pages back. She’ll make you a copy if you just ask, pirate.” Valerie musses up Juno’s hair, then knocks her knuckles against her shoulder. “C’mon. I can get you front row so you don’t miss the main event.”

 

[ellarose]

A booming noise like a heartbeat echoes over the speakers, pumping vibrations through the crowd and persuading the crescendo of their frantic screams to reach a whole new high. It's as if each voice is competing individually to be heard by the Titania Lycoris Radiata. Along to the beat of the music, lights on the stage flicker to life tile by tile, illuminating it in glamorous shades of white and gold. Fog rolls over the stage as a backdrop of golden clouds appears on the back screen, illuminating Titania's angelic silhouette. Her wings feathered wings flare out in such a way that she appears imposing and godly. The crowd goes wild. "Step on me, Titania!" Some go as far as to burst in to tears seeing her in the flesh, having thought they'd seen the last of their favorite idol years and years ago. A few are waving extremely haphazard posters up in the air-- many of which use lyrics from Titania's hit 'Miracle' to profess that it's a miracle to have her back among them.

"Listen. I have to confess..." Titania speaks as the noise over the speakers stop. Her voice on the mic carries across the crowd clearly-- it brings a hush to everyone who wants to hear the sound of her voice. She coils a strand of her long blonde hair around a freshly manicured finger, whipping her head to the side disinterestedly. "That your heaven..." She strikes a pose just as a spotlight shines down on her, revealing her in a dress that looks like liquid gold. The crowd eagerly screams along as they excitedly pick up on the song she's singing first. "Is bringing me hell!"

A digitalized echo of Titania's words carry out across the crowd as the lights flicker and flash, the aesthetic of the stage turning blood red as the sparkles of Titania's gold dress shift like a chameleon's scales to obsidian. One of her few backup dancers throws her a dagger-- when she catches it, the blade lengthens into a sword. The crowd goes ballistic.

"Ah. This one's a real crowd pleaser. One of Ariel's favorites." Valerie shakes her head, unable to stop herself from chuckling. She keeps a steady hand on Juno's shoulder to ground her amidst the frenzied excitement of the crowd. "She's still got it."

"Hey, everyone. I know I'm going off script here... but it's not a good night, is it? In fact, it's pretty fucking terrible." Titania speaks casually to the crowd. She points her sword towards the estate, her expression hard. "We've gathered here because there are countless faeries trapped in that building over there feeling hopeless and scared. Their voices have been silenced by cowards like Asmodeus Marwood." She raises her hand, encouraging the crowd to raise the glow sticks the cubes have distributed. "For too long they've been mistreated within the confines of those walls. They're used, humiliated, and overworked. Those who don't comply are murdered. All the while, the people of Avangeline have swallowed the narrative that this estate nothing more than a prestigious boarding school for young faeries. Myself included." She shakes her head. "No longer. Now that we've seen behind the curtain, there's no going back." She glares. The crowd shouts obscenities Asmodeus and the estate-- some chant after her that there's no going back, no going back. "Tonight, let's raise our voices loud enough that those faeries can hear us fighting for them. Let's show them we won't give up until they're freed from this prison."

The crowd cheers as the upbeat music roars to life and Titania begins her first song.

***​

From backstage, Lettie smiles at her reflection in the mirror when she hears the familiar sound of her mother's voice. She's still got it. (Baby Lettie used to stand in front of the television trying to copy Titania's signature dance moves to this song-- it oozes with defiance and sass. It has definitely contributed in making her the overdramatic faerie she is today.) However, she's never been prouder of her mother, hearing her speak up on behalf of the estate faeries.

The faerie shakes her head and turns back to her notebook, scribbling last minute edits onto a song she wants to attempt to play tonight. "'Glitched Across the Universe With You'. Be honest... is that too much of a mouthful, Inez?" Lettie swivels around in her chair to face her favorite skellies, feeling the nerves pulse through her now that Titania has begun her set. She fidgets, anxiously tapping the end of her pink puff pen against the table.

"Oh, oh! I must admit, I prefer 'I love you, Captain Juno.' It's very romantical." Abigail sighs, pressing her hands over her ribcage as she twirls like a ballerina. "Or 'The Maestro Was Our Matchmaker.'"

"You could call it 'The Third Proposal, Because I'm Extra'." Inez snickers and Marjorie swats her shoulder scoldingly. Lettie puffs her cheeks. "Fine, fine. Not my best work, I'll admit. You're a writer, Barb. What do you think?"

"'If Your Name Started with a B, Your Name Would B Buno.'" Barbara offers with the swirl of her wine glass, giving her unhelpful title a self-appointed chef's kiss. (Now that title's a real mouthful.) "Has a certain Jenna say kaw, does it not?"

"...No way. You're drunk, Barb." Inez would be rolling her eyes if she had them. (Never mind the fact that skeletons cannot get drunk. They can pretend, though.)

"You could call it 'I Love You and Your Boneheaded Crew.'" Marjorie offers with a giggle-- it's cute, a genuine attempt to be helpful while poking fun at these... admittedly boneheaded suggestions. Always a queen, that Marjorie. Lettie blows out the air in her cheeks and shakes her head with an endeared little grin.

"Okay. I appreciate your suggestions, guys, I really do. But I think I'm gonna have to handle this one by myself." Lettie shoos them out with the insistent wave of her arms and the skeletons blow her air kisses and wish her luck as they file out. The little faerie bites her lip, looking down at her pink puff pen. (The exact same pink puff pen that... that she and Juno signed their contract with.)

***​

Titania settles down onto a stool after giving a few crowd-pleasing, upbeat performances to hype everyone up. The lights now fade to a calming ocean blue as she plays a series of acoustic and string quartet songs. The crowd is quiet and peaceful now, listening, given she prefaced these songs by explaining that they're all unreleased. Raw and emotional. Some are simple, gentle lullabies she wrote when Lettie was a baby. Others are songs professing guilt and remorse over her past mistakes, songs she explains she wrote during her time as Asmodeus's captive. Between songs, she gives the crowd unfiltered, uncensored snippets of her story since she last performed on stage. Her struggles with motherhood. Her drunken mistakes. How she learned about the true nature of the estate from Lettie. Titania's voice is especially tight when she admits to trying to fix her mistakes, her attempt to give up her life for Lettie's sake. How she spent years in misery thinking she was atoning-- only to recently discover it had all been for nothing, an elaborate rouse all along.

For the first time in a very long time, the fallen angel shows her audience a vulnerable, real version of herself. Flawed, but trying her damnedest. While these stories and their nature will surely draw tons of scandalous articles and skepticism, it's clear from the gazes of the crowd that she's still got supporters among them-- and has perhaps even won over some who thought she was becoming too superficial.

"You always knew how to put on a show, Titania." A horned demon's voice cracks above the crowd like a whip. Behind him are a few of his friends, rolling in on dark clouds of their own. They have quivers full of lightning bolts and an array of weapons. "You're all trespassing. Everyone, please evacuate the premises immediately. This is your first and last warning."

"We're not going anywhere. Not until you free the faeries you hold captive." Titania rises to her full height, grabbing her sword and enlarging herself for extra effect. The crowd chants, repeating her words. 'We're not going anywhere, we're not going anywhere.'

The demon raises his hand, giving his buddies a signal behind him to strike. They reach for their bolts, throwing them down upon the crowd...

Valerie again sets a hand on Juno's shoulder, squeezing to let her know it's going to be all right.

The bolts never make contact with the crowd. They crack and bounce off a giant, gold bubble of protection that shows itself on impact. The bolts reduce to simple sparks, turning the attack into pretty fireworks. Titania smirks. The demons try again, but they can't break through the fallen angel's protective shield.

"...The lullaby she sung before was a protection spell." Valerie explains, "Titania blessed everyone in the crowd with her voice. Won't last forever, but it should buy us some time." She squints up at the demons through the shield. "Don't stress. Just keep an eye on the enemy. This way, we can see what we're up against before they get to us." She nudges the pirate in the side with her elbow. "What do you think of the show so far? Excited for Lette to come on?"

 

[starboob]

It becomes for everyone’s safety that Valerie stays beside Juno. Even Juno is grateful for the way the angel remains on her right side, squeezing her shoulder whenever she notices the pirate tensing. It’s only because of these reassurances that she’s able to actually enjoy herself, because the concert is overwhelming for the Desdemonian who would ordinarily associate all these theatrics with an incoming steward raid. (And to think, just a few days ago she was thinking that the arcade was the most overstimulating experience Avangeline had to offer.)

Juno much prefers the softer lullabies and acoustic melodies, finding those more soothing than some of her more popular songs. The crowd behind her also calms enough that she can almost forget that they’re even there. Well, that is, until someone presses against her too closely. Though tempted to whirl around and throw her fist into their face, she resists and, eventually, whoever is behind her always eases back. (Unbeknownst to Juno, Valerie is the one who gives them a comfortable berth. She either flexes her wings or gives those behind them a hard stare. On more than one occasion the angels spots a few estate demons in the crowd trying to cause trouble, one even tries to target the pirate specifically, seeming to recognize her, but always, before anything can come to pass, one of the hidden skeletons or another one of their rebels takes them out. The tall skeleton, in particular, is especially determined to make these estate demons writhe. They’ve got her back.)

When the estate demons sail over on their dark cloud, Juno is faster than Valerie and reaches for her sword. It’s halfway out of its sheath before she feels the slight pressure on her shoulder. Even so, the pirate doesn’t let go of her weapon, tracking the demons like they're prey. The barrier might protect them for now, but even the angel admits it’s only temporary. She tenses, adrenaline pumping through her veins as every sudden noise causes her to flinch or jump. She hardly registers Valerie’s question, perhaps too focused on their enemies. ‘Lette shouldn’t perform. It’s too dangerous. What if I can’t protect her?’ All it takes is a single snap and she could be plunged back into that mental hellscape, forced to relive her worst moments. The necromancer doesn’t know if her spell is strong enough to keep Lettie in her body when faced with the estate. It felt like dumb luck that she even managed to bind Littlest Lettie like that.

Valerie waves her hand in front of Juno’s eye, then gets directly into her field of vision, blocking out the demons even as they continue to throw down bolts of lightning. At this point, several in the audience have whipped out their glass boxes—phones—and have them pointed towards the assailants. A particularly stylish angel and demon couple are using their front facing camera to capture the backdrop of chaos behind them. “Chazwick! Can you believe this?”

“I know, it’s so unprecedented, Amabelle.” The demon sniffs, flipping his hair out of his eye. “These are villain moves.”

“Litcherally.” Amabelle rolls her eyes, then squints at her screen. “Oh hey, @stknives. Thanks for asking; we’re okay. Titania is mother and has us covered, but if you all want to help, get #BurnTheEstate trending!”

“See, Juno.” Valerie starts, slow and easy. “We’ve got you covered. Even those jackass influencers do.” When she’s more certain that Juno’s nerves aren’t on fire, she repeats her questions from before, trying to distract the pirate.

“Oh… It’s overwhelming. Everything fun on Avangeline makes me think I’m going to be murdered and then everything that looks enticing actually wants to kill me.” Like those sprites. “I like the lullabies. She sang one to me the other night. I just hope Lette’s performance doesn’t give me a heart attack.” Not just in terms of theatrics, it goes without saying that her little faerie is going to be as dramatic as possible and likely will steal the show from her own mother (at least Juno thinks so), but also in terms of… sex appeal. (Juno’s cheeks redden thinking about the first time she ever saw Lettie perform and how she stole her whip from her belt. Fucking disco tits.) There’s also that Titania is not even being all that provocative and some belligerent fans have been shouting obscenities at her. “I might punch someone if they say anything.”

“I’ll look the other way,” Valerie grins. “And if you have a heart attack, Dominic is just over there.” She jerks her thumb back over her shoulder. The healer is sobbing grossly into his handkerchief, like almost every other Titania fan out here. “I’ll let you know when it’s time to fight. Just enjoy your girl’s performance. Relax while you can, pirate.”

“After this next song," Titania starts. She fiddles with the microphone over the piano and idly strokes a few keys. The fans go nuts over even this. "I have a very special guest who I’d like to bring out for you all.” A murmur passes through the crowd and some start to shout out guesses of who this special guest might be (none of them guess Lettie). The star smiles coyly, revealing nothing. She tests out a melody on the piano, gradually transitioning from a lullaby to what Juno can only describe as a kind of song she images the stars would sing. “This last one is for all the lovers out there.”

 

[ellarose]

Lettie takes a deep breath, laying a hand over her songbook as she presses it shut for what might be the last time. Geez, girl. This isn't the time for dramatics! It's not the best attitude to have, she knows, but she's only had a taste of the pain awaiting her. It's realistic to acknowledge that she may not be powerful or clever enough to hijink her way out of this one. At the very least, she's going to go out giving the other faeries hope. Asmodeus tried to smother her in the dark, in a place where no one but him would hear her screams. Now she's got an audience. If she goes down, that bastard and his entire fucked up estate is going down with her if it's the last thing she does. It very well might be.

If Asmodeus takes her out with so many witnesses present to see, there's nothing he can say or do to salvage his precious image.

Lettie gazes thoughtfully at her reflection in the mirror, at the white eyes staring back at her. Hm. She decided not to doll herself up with glamours for the show. The little faerie did try on a few options, as she is still the fucking faerie, but she's come to accept that her natural look compliments her starry gown and phantom wings best. Snide comments made in the past about her nightmare eyes and old lady hair have all lost their meaning as her newly forged opinions smash them to smithereens. All she hears in their place is Juno's voice, breathless and telling her she's a stunner. (...Ah. She loves her pirate so damned much.) "You did your best, Letts." She tells herself with a smile, flicking out the fingerguns. "Go out there and kill it."

"This last one is for all the lovers out there." "Miss Lettie, it's time!" Well. That's her cue.

***​

Lettie steps onto the stage just in time to harmonize with Titania, finishing off the last chorus of her love song together. It really takes her back. How long has it been since they last sang together like this? It's strange, sharing a moment reminiscent of the ones they spent in her childhood bedroom on a stage in front of thousands and thousands of people. Rather than looking to the crowd for their reception, she allows herself to be swept up in the moment as she reminisces. There were nights when she stayed up to watch mother's shows on television, wondering what it might be like to perform on stage with her. Surreal that it's actually happening... but instead of wanting to soak up attention, she wants to appreciate this moment with her mother for what it is. It might be the last time.

Titania stands when she finishes at the piano, dipping into a bow before warmly gesturing her arms towards Lettie, inviting the crowd to shower her daughter with adoration. She shrinks herself down as she crosses the stage, embracing her. The crowd cheers and aws.

"My daughter. I know you all know her name... unlike someone we know." Titania announces when they part and turn to face the crowd beyond the stage. When her mother squeezes her hand, Lettie squeezes back. This coaxes the crowd to cheer Lettie's name without prompting-- they all know it. 'Olette, Olette, Olette.' (Lettie blushes bright red, uncharacteristically shy at waves of attention smacking into her from every conceivable direction.) "She came back from the dead to put on a show for you all. Pretty badass, right?"

The crowd goes even wilder and Lettie's blush deepens. "Mom."

Titania grins knowingly at her before bowing once again, making her exit to give Lettie center stage. Hoo. Now it's all on her, isn't it?

"Surprised to see me?" Lettie addresses the crowd, her eyes catching the glimmer of the flickering lights above her. (Her vision blurs for a second as she takes in the sheer amount of people gathered around the stage. Thousands of people, thousands of neon-colored lights waving in circles. Their eyes are all on her. Hoooooly shit. Is she feeling faint? Ah! This is not the freakin' time to get stage fright!) Then, with an almost gravitational pull, Lettie's gaze finds Juno in the front row. Her nerves calm. (She's here. She's watching. You got this.)

When the crowd screams and cheers for Lettie, she blinks once with surprise before breaking into an awkward grin. "Yeah, hi everyone." This turns into a devious smirk as she eyes one of the cameras broadcasting the event, and up above at the demons frothing just beyond the protective dome. She waves with the tips of her fingers. "Hi Asmodeus. I hope you're shitting bricks, 'cause I'm here to expose your sorry ass. You've fucked with the wrong fucking faerie."

Behind Lettie, the skeletons and their instruments rise up in a platform on the stage behind her.

"...We're Lettie and the Skellies and we've prepared a couple of songs for you all tonight." Lettie announces. Inez taps her drumsticks together behind her, Marjorie strums the bass. Abigtail twirls in a circle, somehow balancing her triangle on top of her head. This trick is a hit with the crowd. "Dude, check out that skele-on!" (How is she...? Oh, whatever. It's Abby being Abby.) "I wrote most of them while I traveled across the worlds with this badass, stupidly buff pirate and her skeleton crew. We're a bit rough around the edges... but that's our whole thing. Just humor us, okay?"

***​

After a couple songs, it becomes evident that a decent portion of the crowd isn't 'just humoring' Lettie and the Skellies exclusively out of loyalty to Titania. While their sound is obviously not everyone's cup of tea, a decent amount seem to be digging the band and their unique presentation. (They've certainly never seen anything like the skellies before-- that's for certain.) Lettie's resemblance to Titania is there in the little faerie's sassy, sexy mannerisms on stage-- but it's clear she's got her own personality and identity to differentiate. Her music doesn't outright copy her mother's vibes. Lettie's raspier and scrappier. A little more rock than pop.

What not everyone in the crowd would know are that songs are tiny journal entries written between chaotic escapades across the worlds, love letters to the time she spent with a certain necromancer. (Juno's the only one in the crowd who will get the references and inside jokes she tucks into her lyrics.) She warms up-- going in chronological order, telling many of their stories through song. 'Skeleton Ragers', 'What the Fuck', 'We Killed The Candy House', 'I Turned Your Crew Pink' (Lettie does elect to use pink glamours for this one), 'Licorice Radio', 'Crashed into You', 'Crimes Against Seashells', 'Heist Queens'. (In this song, she does officially admit that Juno is the heist queen, flashing her ring as she does so.) Noting an uncomfortable zing in her ring finger, Lettie decides to cut 'Shit Bananas' and 'You Totally Threw That Bomb at Me' in order sing the truly romantic songs. 'Happiness Is Your Favorite Color', 'I Wanna Tell Everyone Your Muscles Are Dreamy' and 'You Got Me, I Got You.'

The spotlight dims and tiny golden lights blink to life behind Lettie. It's when she sings 'Other Ways To Fly' that she twirls dramatically, unveiling phase two of the goddess dress and her badass phantom wings. This elicits surprised gasps and enthusiastic whoops and cheers all around. She sparkles with confidence at the praise-- but mostly sparkles like a faerie in love. She loves Juno.

"Little Lettie's grown so much." Beatrix brags to her snooty friends in the second row, lying outright. "She's basically like a little sister to me. Used to copy everything I did. So adorable." An influencer nearby waves her over for a chat and she grins like a cat, soaking up the attention. She tells stories of how she heroically saved the faerie from geese in the gardens.

Gossip spreads even further as people take notice of the sparkly ring on Lettie's finger. Many guess correctly, theorizing that it's got to be 'the mysterious buff pirate' who put that rock on her finger. (...Though a few incorrectly theorize that it's Melvin, the cameraman behind her recent broadcast. "Are you kidding me, Steve? That little faerie is gay as fuck.")

"Olette punched me in the face once. It was awesome." Further away, Xanthe brags to her own friends. (...At least she's telling the truth?)

With each song, the tugging at the back of Lettie's mind grows more insistent, the zinging in her ring finger intensifies. She almost stumbles when a spell of lightheadedness nearly overtakes her. Her time is... She shakes her head. Shit. If she's gonna do this, it looks like she needs to act now.

"I was going to sing 'I Met My Soulmate Across the Universe' next... but to tell you all the truth, I might be running out of time." Lettie admits. The crowd's a mixed bag at the news-- some booing Asmodeus and others theorizing amongst themselves, bracing themselves for the potential of a fight. "With the time I have left... I think I'd rather marry my soulmate. Because I love her and don't wanna spend another second apart." Oh gosh. She said it. She actually said it! Her heart pounds, her blood rushes in her ears. "So... Captain Juno of Desdemonia?" She lifts her hands, aiming them towards her pirate in the crowd. She brings her hands towards her heart. "Will you marry me? Right here, right now? I know it's not exactly like we planned, but..." (Nothing ever goes according to plan with them, does it?) She smiles and although her eyes are misty, there's a telltale glimmer that says she might just have a new plan. She reaches into the pocket of her goddess dress (yes, it has pockets) to reveal the ruby ring she ultimately picked out for Juno. That along with her pink puff pen. "What do you say?"

"I told you, Steve. Gay as fuck."

 

[starboob]

This is Juno’s favorite part of the night. (Gay.) For these handful of songs, Juno is swept into a universe where it’s only herself and Lettie. She might be singing to an audience of thousands, but each time Lettie finds her in the front row, mesmerized by the woman who so wholly has her heart, it’s as if she is singing only for Juno. (And maybe she is. These songs are gay as fuck.) Her heart flutters each time her little faerie strikes a pose or winks in her direction; her cheeks down to her neck a passionate shade of pink.

Each song is a memory that takes Juno back to the beginning—through their (mis)adventures and everything that’s gone wrong and, most of all, everything that has gone right. (Juno is surprised that Lettie doesn’t throw in a song about the infamous and long disputed bomb incident. Maybe this means she finally understands that her pirate was actually saving her?) Tears well up in her eyes. She barely notices until they start to blur her vision and get caught under her eye patch. This is the love of her life, the only woman in the universe who’s tough enough to keep up with Captain fucking Juno.

But as the show goes on, worry spikes through her. No one else seems to notice, but after traveling to the ends of the universe together and back again, she knows when something is amiss. It’s in the way she almost misses a step before squaring her stance the way Juno taught her; it’s how the tone of her songs shift, becoming pure references to their private conversations, the ones that have built them up and strengthened their foundation. She can sense what this means before Lettie even names it to the audience. She doesn’t need an explanation of what’s happening; she can read it easily in those dreamscape eyes.

Valerie doesn’t even stop Juno when she reaches for the stage; though she does catch Juno when she stumbles, heart pounding in her ears when Lettie asks her to marry her in front of an audience of thousands. Her breath catches in her throat, eyes shining with fresh tears. "Of course." But with jelly limbs, she struggles to scramble onto the stage until Valerie comes up behind her and lets her use her clasped hands as a platform. Juno lands on all fours, quickly scrabbling to rush-stumble to meet the love of her life, her future, her love. She scoops her up and spins her around before she sets her back down. “I’ll marry the shit out of you, Olette Lycoris Radiata, the fucking faerie of Avangeline.”

“Is… Is that a human?”

“Is this even allowed? Have the elders sanctioned this?”

“Who cares? She looks ripped even underneath that coat.”

The audience whispers, though most are stunned into silence. Juno doesn’t even notice them like she thought she might. When Lettie is right in front of her, she’s the only person who exists. Looping her arms around her faerie’s waist to support her, she then dips down to her knees, holding Lettie so that their bodies are flush together and she’s looking up at her. One hand reaches up to cup her face, her thumb idly stroking over her favorite freckle.

“Let’s see those muscles!”

While Juno doesn’t hear this, the Magistrate, from wherever she’s stalking them, does. Aquamarine glitters of magic wind around Juno’s coat and shirt, causing them to glow and morph into a starry cropped muscle t-shirt. The crowd goes apeshit. (“Those abs. I could grate cheese with them. I could lic—” “Babe, are you serious? I’m right here!”) Juno is oblivious to these changes and even assumes Lettie’s pink cheeks and wings are only because they are about to get married.

“I’ll try to make this quick, Lette, but I’m sorry if I ramble—you get my head and heart into knots and all my words come out funny when I’m around you.” The badass pirate sniffles, a watery grin smeared across her face. “You’re the reason that I’m alive—like, actually living and experiencing all this fucked up universe has to offer. When you crashed into my life, I didn’t like you and you didn’t like me. But somehow, through bizarre worlds and strange quests, we found common ground in our experiences. You’re a fighter, Lette. A survivor, just like me. And I promise to be by your side, for as long as you say it’s safe, so that you don’t have to be alone in this fight or this universe ever again. If—” Juno chokes here, throat closing in the same moment she can feel Lettie slipping from her body. She squeezes Lettie tighter, before Asmodues can rip her away. “If this is it, then at least I’ll have known and been changed by you.”

The frothing demons above them are still blasting Titania’s protective barrier, growing more fervent in their efforts. A single crack forms on the surface. Some in the audience gasp, their attention pulled in two different directions. The influencers keep switching between the attack and the wedding, unsure of what to focus on for their livestream. Valerie, Luxe, Ella, and Cindy leap from the audience, ready to meet the demons when they break through the shield.

“And if this is it, at least we’ll have been married. Even if just for a second, I’ll take it. All I’ve ever wanted is to belong and now I’m yours. I have to admit, though, I've been yours for a while now. I think since I promised myself to you right before we met the Magistrate.” She can feel that half of Lettie is gone. The hands on her shoulders struggle between sharpened claws and going slack. Juno shows no fear, doesn’t even grimace when the claws pierce through her shirt, pressing against her flesh. She takes her time.

Letting go of Lettie’s face for just a moment, she lets her hand wander to the one holding the ruby ring and pink puff pen. She takes Lettie’s hand and helps her put the ring on her finger, right beside the one she gave her as a joke. (Of course Juno is keeping it.) She then pulls the pink puff pen from Lettie’s hand just as a glowing contract appears in a puff of pink clouds. “You belong with me, Olette.”

 

[ellarose]

The curse is coming for Lettie. She tries to keep her eyes on Juno, who stands steady beneath her grip even as it shifts between that of the faerie who loves her and the cursed side, battling the Reaper's control. It's her who flinches when her claws dig into her pirate's flesh, drawing blood. ("Very funny—you and what muscle could hurt me?") Remembering those words, she gives herself permission to relax. Juno's got this. People in the crowd are fawning over her muscles as they speak. It nags at the little faerie enough to keep her fighting spirit burning bright. Geez! As much as she appreciates the view, the Magistrate should really be giving Juno some armor instead.

If Lettie succumbs to panic now, she'll lose control. It's the same as surrender to Asmodeus, to the Reaper. It's exactly what they're aiming to exploit. (True love-- the greatest strength, as well as the greatest weakness. The very thing they've both been terrified to let back into their lives after losing the people closest to them.) 'Relax. Don't be afraid...' They have love-- true love. Within the bounds of fairytale magic, it means they have everything they need to succeed.

'Yes, yes. Relax.' A craggily voice taunts mockingly. A chill creeps down the faerie's spine. 'Let it consume you.'

Though Lettie remains on the stage in her mind, a slow horror seizes her as thorny vines lick at her heels like vipers. 'Did you think you could wish it all away with your silly whims and desires?' An impish voice mocks. 'Stupid faerie.' 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' They wrap around her feet, crawl up her calves, leaving cuts that bleed as they twist, twist, twist. The curse is there, but no one but her has the eyes to see it. 'Close your eyes. It will all be over soon.' Her eyelids are heavy. She fights to keep them open, to hold Juno's earnest, loving gaze. 'The peace of eternal slumber awaits you down below. Aren't you tired of fighting?'

Lettie takes a sharp breath as the vines crawl up to her chest, snaring around her heart. They're trying to work their way in... they're trying to infect her soul. The Reaper's roots.

The barrier breaks and enraged demons rush through. The crowd reduces to screams-- some phones are dropped and cracked while others are protected valiantly by the influencers cradling them like babies. Ravan and Ariel are quick to direct this frenzied flow of panic to their designated emergency exits, allowing those who are not prepared to fight a way out if they wish to leave. All of this is background noise to Lettie as her white eyes become truly vacant and blank, her soul dipping beneath the surface as she's dragged by chains to that place, that circle they've deemed her final resting place. Rather than wasting her energy fighting it this time, she allows her body to go calculatedly slack.

"You're too late." Asmodeus's voice booms above the rest on the outside. He lands on the ground, his lithe body framed by giant, vulture-like wings. "I don't know how you helped her escape... but it was only temporary. It doesn't change the fact that she belongs to me."

Lettie would have crashed to the stage had Juno not been right there to catch her. Her body rapidly turns ice cold, the veins from before weaving their sinister patterns beneath her eyes. It makes quick work of her, starting where it had left off before. Asmodeus flicks his wrist, activating her golden chains and allowing him to forcibly yank the faerie from the pirate's arms. He scoops her up, holding her haphazardly under his arm. The fighters in the crowd try to dive for the stage to help, but with the sweep of his free arm, the demon summons large golden flames to separate them.

"Hey, Juju." The projector behind the stage whirs to life suddenly, showing video footage of Lettie. (Backstage, Marjorie nods to Inez and Abigail.) From the looks of it, it must have been filmed recently-- before the show even began. Her voice echoes above the screams, above the fighting. She fiddles with the pink puff pen in her hands. "Do you remember when we had dinner with the Duchess? We pretended to be girlfriends, tried our best to answer all her trick questions. It really felt like we were working together for a change. Then she called Angelus in and things started looking real fucking dicey..." She puffs her cheeks. "I was so scared the whole entire time. I thought for sure you were going to hand me over to her. But you didn't. You gave me your jacket and your hand. You fixed my wing. That night really changed things for us, didn't it?" She grins. "Anyway... let me get to the point. This video is the equivalent of a secret bomberfly on the wall."

"Stars above... someone shut that damned video off!" Asmodeus barks at his cronies above. He flaps his wings to fly away with the faerie, nimbly dodging the pirate. "...Angelus, get out here. Do me a favor and take care of the human this time... you useless abomination!"

"The goddess told me to listen to the stars." In the video, Lettie's eyes turn gold-- as does her pink puff pen. "I sought them out just now. They've shown me so many outcomes, Juno. A lot of them ended in tragedy... but you know what? There are three where we prevail. Three! So it's not hopeless, baby. And I know I don't have to tell you not to give up-- 'cause you're a stubborn, tough as nails pirate. You're captain fucking Juno. The true heist queen, 'cause you stole my heart." She winks playfully, shooting finger guns at the camera. Then her expression grows serious. With the air of deity, she lifts her pen and summons the very contract that's on the stage right now. As she uses the pen in the video footage to sign the contract, her signature magically reveals itself on the physical version as well. "While Asmodeus might claim my soul, you lay claim to my heart forevermore. Nothing will change that. I love you."

Lettie's name burns bright on the contract before it emits a flash of blinding light. Asmodeus shields his eyes, fervently flying away with the faerie still tucked under his arm, trying to outrun its glowing reach.

"Protect the contract and find my songbook, Juno." The Lettie of the past says. Naturally, she left her pirate some hastily written instructions within. "I hid it in the first place I ever hid Carpet's body. You'll know what to do next. Don't worry about me for now... you got this. No, we got this."

***​

Ahead of the Reaper, within the abstract hell of Lettie's mind, the ring of faeries dissolves one by one. Their statuesque forms fall away into clouds of dust and the glyphs before their positions chip away. Lastly, the complex glyph around them fades lighter and lighter until it disappears entirely. The Reaper falls onto the ground, dropping Lettie's golden chains as he coughs up kaleidoscope vomit all over the scorched ground. "What is... the meaning of this...?"

"Their souls were still there. I could see them in your eyes..." Lettie rasps at the Reaper. The rainbow pool it just upchucked dissolves into tiny orbs of light, floating all around her. Sprites. Aglow in their comforting light, strength gradually returns to the faerie's leaden limbs. There's no place for the Reaper to drag her to, now. These faeries have been freed, Asmodeus's grand plans ruined. "I asked one of the relics for wisdom... turns out, you don't power them with souls. All this time we've been healing hearts. Where worlds and relics are concerned, the heart is where all the power is." She drags herself to her feet. "Mine doesn't belong to you, or Asmodeus..." She shakes her head. "That's why you've been trying to convince me to give up on myself. So you could take it for yourselves... corrupt it and make me into something I'm not. Just like all those worlds you destroyed."

Lettie closes her eyes. The sprites are drawn to her, adding themselves among the constellation of stars on her dress. 'I'll see this through, everyone. Lend me your strength.'

***​

"I know you're worried-- but focus on the task she's given you. I'll go after Asmodeus... make sure that bastard doesn't try anything else." Titania temporarily lands beside Juno on the stage, peering through the golden flames after him as he weaves his way through the clashing fight of demons and angels above them. "I will get her back." Momentarily, she turns to Juno. She taps a finger to her new ring, causing it to glow gold for an instant with a protective blessing. She squeezes her hand. "...Stay safe." And with that, she charges after Asmodeus.

...Of course, that's easier said than done. Before Juno can leave the area to find the songbook as instructed, a long shadow creeps across the stage before Juno. It rises and shapes itself into something with billowing robes and a familiar bloodied plague doctor mask... the Shrike. (Angelus.) In each of his hands, the 'Shrike' grips onto two different versions of Olette-- one with pink hair, the other a spitting image of her child self. They shiver with fear as he draws their energy into himself, rapidly draining them both before the pirate can lunge across the distance between them. (Before they hit the ground and shatter to dust, their glamours fade for a second-- revealing the exhausted faces of two faeries Juno wouldn't recognize anywhere.) Unlike all the nightmares before, these tricks go beyond the illusions of dead faeries. Those were real faeries, real faeries that he just used up as fodder.

As a result, the Shrike (Angelus) glitches and grows in size, towering higher above Juno. "One, two, one, two... are you ready to die, pirate?"

 

[starboob]

A year ago, the Shrike’s image would have caused her knees to buckle and turned her blood to ice. Her palms would have been slick and clammy. Her heart would have stopped and her eyes would have gone wide as she’s thrust backwards through time until she’s thirteen or so years old again. But that was a year ago.

Now, in the wake of her wedding, nothing will stop her. There are three times where they get this right and Juno is determined to live in one of those outcomes. She steels herself, stepping into a wide stance with her sword raised.

Angelus is mistaken if he believes that the Shrike has the same power over her. (Then again, is this really all that surprising? He’s never been good with details.) She’s spent years running from one of her life’s lowest moments, trying to put as much distance between her past and present. Then an asshole Maestro took over her life and carelessly plunged her into nightmares that have forced her to confront that past and remember that the Shrike blessed her. The spirit’s mark is right there in her ghostly patch of hair. And she’s now spent the better part of a year strengthening the blessing it gave her. James’s magic is hers and she’s done rejecting it. If the last thing she does with it is avenge those faeries and all the faeries who have been used as fodder, she’d like to believe that she’ll have honored his memory.

The pirate snarls, baring her teeth. All the blood in her veins runs ice hot, her eye bloodshot with rage. With a sudden pivot, she swings her sword and expels an arc of red magic from the blade. It hits Angelus square in the stomach. He crashes off the stage, giving Juno room to stamp her bloodied thumbprint over the contract, sealing it the Desdemonian way. It rolls itself up and she presses another bloody mark over it, protecting it with a ward. “Melvin.” The cube appears promptly. “Take the contract and protect it. I’ll call when I need you again.”

“Aye-aye, Cap’n!”

As Melvin disappears, Angelus leaps back onto the stage. Shockwaves knock Juno off balance, yet she still manages to dive out of the way before his fist can slam into her. His second arm sweeps towards her and she scurries away, scrabbling to push herself up. His attacks are ceaseless, putting her on the defensive. Nimbly, she evades each fist or sweep of his arm, using her smaller size to shift directions before his lumbering form can adjust. As this happens, the Magistrate's aquamarine magic swirls around Juno and transforms her clothing into her midnight armor.

The stage cracks and crumbles beneath her feet. Her lungs burn as she runs. Trying to buy herself a few second, she scatters enchanted bones over her shoulder. They stake out immediately, piercing through and trapping Angelus all at once. Juno spins around, momentarily relieved when she sees his limp form stuck between her shards. It doesn’t last.

With a sudden twist, he breaks from the bones, snapping them as if they are mere twigs. Pieces of the stakes stick out from his shadowy body. Despite the way his figure sways, this is only a minor inconvenience. A strangled cackle rolls out from his throat. “You know what makes faeries so… delicious?” With the snap of his fingers, a young faerie appears in his grip and she's dust before Juno can so much as think to save her. Thrills of magic jump over Angelus and burrow into his unnatural form. The remaining stakes dissolve and, just as quickly, his wounds close. “That revitalizing magic of theirs! And I have oh so many at my disposal. You cannot win this, pirate. Give up and I’ll give you a quick, easy death. Like putting you to sleep. I’ll even let you see that little Onus of yours one last time.”

‘There are three instances where we prevail, asshole.’ And until it’s over, the Desdemonian isn’t backing down. She spits at his offer, clenching her fists around the hilt of her sword. When Angelus tries to come down on her, she twists her hips and meets his strike with one of her own. A red burst magic arcs out from her blade, severing three of his fingers clean off. He draws back with a sharp hiss. Juno doesn't stop. With deadly fervor, she sends arc after arc of unrelenting magic towards the entity; they cut through him like he’s made of paper, pieces of him slipping with each successful strike. He backs away with each blow, quickly losing all the ground he had gained. He raises his arms to cover his face and just when Juno thinks she has him, he throws his arms down in an ‘X’ slash. A bright orange torus rapidly expands from his center, exploding everything that it comes into contact with.

Juno spins on her heel, pumping her legs to get as far away from that torus as possible; yet it gains on her, closing the distance faster than she can outrun it. Heat nips at her heels; the soles of her boots start to burn; and just when she thinks it might be too late, Titania’s protective barrier closes around Juno like a bubble. The torus still ignites once it hits the barrier, propelling Juno forward, but the worst of the attack is absorbed by the shield and her armor.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck—' Instinctively, she raises her arms to protect her face the second her bubble collides with the giant screen that'd been playing Lettie's message on loop. It sparks and glitches out just as Juno’s orb dissolves, letting her fall into an unceremonious heap of limbs. When her eye opens, she's dizzy and staring at little birdies as she attempts to get up.

Angelus lands over her before she can. He lifts his foot to crush her, only to be met by Titania’s barrier. He tries again and again, shoving the orb deeper into the earth. While the bubble shakes with each impact, Juno manages to get back to her feet just as Angelus switches to kinetic blasts in an overblown attempt to wear down the barrier. ‘Three outcomes, Juju.’

She grips her sword, willing herself to remain upright through each successive blast. Reversing her grip, she slams the point of her sword into the earth. Waves of fresh and old death hit the necromancer like lightning strikes, sending thrills up through her arms and into her heart. She barely needs to flex her necromancy; the writhing faerie spirits are ready and respond to Juno with immediacy.

Angelus's next blast is thrown to the sky as the ground swallows him up to his thighs. He lurches forward, falling onto his hands. Vines are quick to spring from the earth, snaking up his limbs and torso, yanking him to the ground. They wind around his wrists, squeezing with vengeful force. Though he fights, the spirits are angry as hell and with the necromancer's aid, nothing gets in their way. Two sharp points of earth stab through his hands, then drag him fully into the floating island, effectively burying the entity.

She feels the spirits ragged breaths as her own, their charged and restless energy demanding more blood as they go off to join the fight above. Though exhausted, Juno raises the earth beneath her to bring herself out of the smoldering ditch Angelus tried to bury her in. She only allows herself a moment to survey the battle. The aerial fight rages from above. Glyphs flash, lighting up the sky, while broken horns, feathers, and blood rain over the ground. The iron gate that once surrounded the estate has been crushed and brought down with the awakened spirits in the flowers. In the distance, thick vines rise up and pierce through the estate's windows, knock over columns, and come down on the roof like they’re trying to reduce it to dust.

Juno sniffles, wipes her nose, and searches the sky for Lady. It’s not even hard to find. All she has to do is follow the cannon fire. Once she has it located, she dashes forward, waving her sword over her head in an attempt to get one of the faeries’ attention. Though it’s Ravan who finds a break in the battle to swoop down and pick her up. He’s bleeding from his forehead, his lip is busted, and she's pretty sure his ribs are broken, but before she can say anything about it, he's setting her down on the deck and shoving her forward, pointing frantically. “Get yond songbook! We’ll holdeth them off. ”

Juno doesn't hesitate. She's rushing through their ship before Ravan even finishes. Once she's in their bedroom, it takes her no amount of time to find the songbook. She rips open the closet and catches it as it flies out at her, likely set on a spring trap. (Juno expects this from Lettie by now and is well prepared for her wife's antics. She loves her so damn much.) Juno pages through it until she reaches a dog-eared page with large pink block letters: JUJU STOP HERE. Her eyes speed over the instructions that follow, heart racing as she commits the details to memory. 'Got it, got it, got it.'

Something shrieks with all the fury of hell from outside. A second later, something large crashes into the side of the ship, rocking it from side to side. Juno is knocked off her feet. The notebook flies from her hands and slides across the floor until it bumps into the wall. The faeries aboard her ship are yelling orders to stabilize Lady. At least one of them screams. Juno scrabbles across the floor, haphazardly picking herself up to collect the notebook just as Angelus slams the door open.

Smoke wafts off his shadowy form as he heaves in ragged breaths. The Shrike’s mask is cracked and dark blood drips from his wounds. (Or is that…?) Several tendrils erupt from his back and dive towards the pirate. They wrap around Juno’s golden bubble, expecting it this time, and throw her out the bedroom window. She skips over the estate’s pristine lawn like a rock over water, tumbling helplessly in the bubble, waiting for the momentum to lapse before she stands back up. With a low groan, she spits out a wad of blood from a bit lip and rolls her shoulders back just as Angelus hops down from her ship. He lands in front of her, shaking the earth. His gargantuan form ripples until he represents a disturbing likeness to the space station abomination. He leers at her with a wicked smile. “We’re settling this, pirate. Last abomination standing, eh?”

 

[ellarose]

One by one, Lettie's sharpened nails light up with glyphs that represent every faerie source. From the springtime faeries who breathe new life over lush forests and valleys to the winter faeries, who take it away with heavy rains of glittering, powder-white snow. The ones who fly just above the water, controlling currents and making friends of frogs lazing away on their lily pads. Those who tinker, invent things, and bring electricity to Avangeline's numerous city streets. Each one has so much whimsy and magic to offer, they all deserved so much more from the world that took them for granted. She can feel the presence of these faeries with her now. The fond memories that lived on in their hearts touch her own. Memories of their sources and the parts of Avangeline-- their home-- that they loved before they were roped into the estate and weighed down by golden chains.

'Call on your sources. Let them know we need help.' A subtle wind picks up strands of Lettie's white hair, whipping long strands all about her face. She sweeps it back over her shoulders, taking a deep breath in. 'Here goes nothing.' Some of her fingertips have become warm like fire while others are ice-cold. Sparks of magic rain down from every one, each glyph on her nails is paired with a different color. It has such an effect that every time she moves her hands, streaks of diamond rainbows follow the motion in the darkness.

Lettie's white eyes flash with holographic patterns, somewhat resembling the Reaper's. Only on her, these colorful patterns are calm and sure as she's imbued with the strength of her sisters. The key difference is that they're lending their magic to her willingly. With their consent, their combined magic flows through her and grows into something stronger than anyone's ever seen. She can feel it building in her chest until it overflows and she's not just Lettie anymore. In this moment, she's all of them. They solemnly open their arms to welcome faeries who have recently been dusted on the battlefield, inviting them to lend their anguish to a fight that will change everything.

No way in hell are they going to take this anymore.

"I see everything so clearly now." Lettie speaks with authority, her phantom wings fluttering and lifting her off the ground. Her voice is followed by echoes and remnants of others. "You're the rot at Avangeline's core. Your rank vibes infect this world's heart." She glares, drawing a glyph that creates a dagger with pure starlight from her gown. "Contrary to what we've been told, we never needed you. All along, it was you who needed us." She shakes her head. Around her, sprites glamour themselves into daggers as well, flickering around her body in a circular formation. "Without your influence, we'd be out in the world, tending to the earth. Keeping our sources in harmony, taking care of Avangeline just as we did before you ever showed up. All you do is sit around in your stupid pit, waiting for your next meal... convincing power-hungry demons like Asmodeus to keep you well-fed."

"Without me, you are all--" The Reaper chuckles darkly, but this does not unnerve her. He weakens as Lettie heals, the light in his eyes dimming while hers are blinding. He haggardly coughs out the last word. "Meaningless."

So many excuses. So many lies. They're so damned sick of hearing them all. Lettie raises her arm, levitating her dagger in the palm of her hand like a goddess of revenge before hurling it towards the Reaper. Satisfyingly, it hits him right between the eyes. Soon thereafter, the other blades encircling her rain down upon him as well. More appear to take their place, creating an endless onslaught as each sprite rushes to take vengeance.

The Reaper attempts to retaliate, drawing waves of darkness from the ground and raising them high in attempt to bury the faerie-- but she quickly flies out of the way. With a growl, he extends his limbs-- joints popping as he stretches them out eerily to reach for her. Lettie remains unfazed with the sprites backing her, glitching left and right as he desperately lunges and grabs for her.

After leading the Reaper in such a way that he tangles his limbs, Lettie breaks out the trick that Calytrix taught her. She reaches forward for the possibilities that await, following webs of golden threads to see which blow will be the most effective. (There are three ways. Three ways to find their way out of this mess, to reach the future they've been fighting for.) She makes another starlight dagger, closing the distance between herself and the Reaper, and plunges it into his heart.

"Get the fuck out of my mind." Lettie bares her fangs, digging her claws in deep, with the kind of grit she hopes would make her wife (her wife!) proud.

Although the physical Reaper may not perish in this moment, he is banished from Lettie's mind. Every island on Avangeline trembles and shakes as he rouses with a great, animalistic roar.

 

[starboob]

Thunder cracks. It bounces off of Avangeline’s floating islands and echoes through the rebellion.

Sweat slicks Juno’s skin, pouring from her brow, down her back, as she meets Angelus strike for strike. Sparks fly off the steel each time Juno’s blade clashes against one of his shadow limbs. Her muscles groan and strain against each movement, and Juno presses on. ‘Three outcomes,’ she repeats to herself like it’s a spell of strength. (And it very well might be, because each time she reminds herself of this fact, this last hope, she comes down harder on the entity with renewed vigor.)

When Angelus draws a wide circle in the air, Juno braces. A bright orange column shoots out towards her, roaring across the battlefield. The pirate doesn’t move. She meets the attack head on, taking a few steps (or skips) forward before landing in such a way that allows her to drive her blade down, splitting the column just before the waves of heat melt her skin. The blast parts along her sword, flaring out to the sides, like a parting sea, before it goes out entirely. In a clean movement, she drops her hips to one side and swings her blade up, pulling up mountains of earth that jut out and race to spear Angelus. He slashes his arms outwards and the mountains crumble before it can even touch him.

But with his focus set on the moving earth, he misses the pirate. Juno appears right behind him, having traveled through the earth while he was distracted. She swings her sword, connecting the edge to the back of Angelus’s skull. Her blade ricochets off the entity, shocking the pirate who expected it to go clean through. He stumbles forward by a few steps, whipping his head back to glare at his assailant. “Haven’t you learned by now, pirate? I’m invincible and, unlike you, I have a limitless supply of magic at my disposal.” He growls, snapping his fingers to show Juno exactly what he means. (As if she doesn’t already know.)

Her eye widens helplessly as another faerie is burned up right in front of her, more dust coating her hands. She heaves in gulps of air, liquid anger burning through her veins. (If she doesn’t put an end to this soon, how many more faeries will perish?) Red clouds her vision and, unthinkingly, she unleashes a flurry of strikes towards the entity. Crisscrossing red arcs leave her blade with each swing. Angelus doesn’t move or even attempt to dodge the onslaught. Each slash cuts into him, causing him to take half steps backwards while his shadow form unravels. Juno knows better than to assume he’s letting her win, but the rational part of herself is quieted by her roaring wrath.

While pieces of his body fall to the ground in ribbons, Angelus feigns a yawn. “You really are a stupid thing. A little runt who’s fooled herself into believing she could ever be anything more.” The fallen pieces of Angelus, the strips of shadow, gather back around his torn self, suturing themselves into place until he is whole again and Juno is left heaving. Her breaths come out through clenched teeth, staring him down with her sword lowered. ‘Three outcomes, Juju.’ She chastises herself for letting him get to her, baiting her into attacking and wasting her energy on a strategy she knows won’t work.

…Not that Juno knows a strategy that will work against him. Back at the Reaper’s den, she thought she could affect him with her bone magic, but stakes now cover the once pristine estate lawn and none of them held Angelus down for more than a few seconds. And when she managed to grasp him and crush his bones to ash, that only bought her a minute. She’s running out of ideas.

Angelus, however, isn't. He glitches forward and, the second the orb envelops her, he pitches her across the lawn, kicking her around like a tin can. Cracks start to form around the barrier and, with one final punt that sends her crashing through the estate, it shatters. Her body breaks through walls, statues, and vases before she hits a fountain and splashes forward with a quiet whine.

All of the lights in the estate have been shut off. Nothing moves. As she rises and dizzily gets her bearings, she hears soft wingbeats, but each time she turns to face the flutter, nothing is there. Old photographs—class pictures, if Juno had to guess—and even older paintings cover the walls. Some have broken frames, others have been torn through with claws. Despite all these signs of a fight, the estate is eerily quiet.

While Juno takes everything in, Angelus slithers after her, melding into the shadows as he travels. He presses himself flat to the wall, clinging to the darkest corners once he's found his prey. He watches as her fingers twitch, as she jerks her head towards any sign of movement—whether it be a spider, mouse, or gust of wind. Angelus makes himself imperceptible, falling fully into the shadows, creeping closer to the pirate from her right side.

But that damned sword of hers glows in warning, forcing Angelus to move before Juno spots him. This ends up working to his advantage. With the pirate whirling to face emptiness, Angelus comes up behind her and rushes her from behind.

His limbs wrap and wind around the pirate, no longer protected by that infernal gilded barrier. He takes pleasure in feeling her writhe beneath his grip, feeling the oxygen flee from her lungs as he squeezes tighter. The armor offers her some semblance of reprieve, but it won’t be forever. She reaches out into the air, clawing for something that Angelus doesn’t care to identify. “Your little girlfriend won’t be saving you, runt.” He presses his grin to her ear, wrapping one icy tendril around her throat—

Every island on Avangeline trembles and shakes as He rouses with a great, animalistic roar.

The second Juno senses the ground moving, she throws her weight forward, using the unstable ground to bash Angelus’s skull against a sharp corner. He curses loudly, releasing Juno without thought. She scrabbles away, gathering her limbs up to run while she still has the chance. She holds her fist protectively to her chest, peering down at the glowing ball of mischievous light within. 'Ready?'

“You can’t run!” Angelus wobbles at the end of the hallway, swaying unsteadily. His sharp teeth gleam in the dark as he barrels forward with unnatural speed.

Just as he's within arms reach, fire suddenly races down Juno’s arm as she holds a sprite loosely in her fist. The flames spread over her shoulder, down her other arm, and over her back until she’s on fire. (The flames never touch her. They don’t even singe her hair.) She tethers her fury to the sprite’s and, together, they explode into an inferno. A column of orange flames swallows the pirate, shoots through the second, third, and fourth floors of the estate, bursting through the roof like a beacon in the night. Angelus is thrown away from her, flames catching on his shadow and quickly spreading.

Once free, Juno opens her palm to let the sprite go, though the little light remains with her, insistent on keeping her flames alive, perhaps sensing that she’ll need it. (And maybe Juno is just imagining things, but she swears the flames are goading her into burning down the entirety of the estate. Tempting, very tempting...) Juno collects her sword from where it dropped and lets the flames lick up the blade. The fuller reacts with delight, sending hums through to the hilt.

When she turns to the burning entity, she grins. “Just so you know, Lettie’s my fucking wife, bitch.” She points the tip of her sword towards Angelus and lets a torrent of flames hose over him.

 

[ellarose]

After the Reaper dies screaming, Lettie stands in the meadow of her mind once more. She's at the edge of a serene, still lake that reflects a sky full of stars and whimsical, fluffy clouds. A soft wind rustles through the tall grass and tree branches, like a mother's fingers through her child's hair. There, there. She takes a deep breath in, releasing her bloodied fists. The faerie trembles in her exhalation, the aftermath of her violence colliding with her as the sprites part from her and spirit themselves into the skies of her mind. With her, they are free to come and go as they please. She wouldn't hold her sisters captive to make herself feel powerful and superior to everyone. That's not how Olette Lycoris Radiata rolls. "Thank you!" She calls out, hopping on her toes and raising her hands above her head to send them off with a friendly wave. They wink back playfully, the bright lights they cast accentuating her gown and sparkly cheeks. "Thank you all so much!"

As delicious as it is to act like a badass, to command the awe and attention of everyone in the room, that's not what Lettie's heart wants. If she listens to her inner voice, she finds it's the simplest things. Getting to nap in the afternoon sunlight. Making pancakes for dinner. A sky full of stars, the hum of the insects at midnight, and Juno's fingers interlocked with hers. Even compared to the massive concert she just put on in front of Avangeline, the faerie realizes she would rather sit cross-legged on the foot of their bed in her pajamas with a guitar in her hands, serenading the love of her life. Her wife. Lettie's toes curl giddily in her shoes at the thought of it. Her wife. That's still going to take some getting used to.

Lettie sobers as she glances down at her hands. The Reaper's blood still clings to her skin. It was sickly and dark, with a purplish hue resembling the noxious fumes that emitted from infected hearts. She and her wife have dealt with enough of them that she recognizes it quite well by now. What this means she has yet to ascertain.

Lowering herself to her knees, Lettie begins to wash her hands clean in the lake. The dark blood swirls beneath the surface like overgrown vines. That's when something peculiar happens. They gather together and rise as physical vines, sloshing out from the water and sending ripples across the once still surface. Then they seize around faerie's wrist like a hand and pull her in to the other side.

Rather than struggling underwater, Lettie finds herself landing in the grass of... the same meadow? However, she notices a cottage that was not there before. The windows glow a warm, inviting orange in the night. Beside it is a garden bed.

"Once upon a time, a very long time ago, when Avangeline was a simpler place..." A light, etherial voice rings out from an orb that floats from the water's surface beside her. Lettie pokes it quizzically, but it does not fade. "There was a strange demon who wished to grow flowers. Ahem. Please refrain from poking your tour guide, Miss Olette."

"Tour-- what? What is this supposed to be?" Lettie waves her hands around her head, pursing her lips. "Who are you?"

"You will soon find out if you just listen, you silly fae child." The voice takes on a scolding, motherly tone. "Settle down."

"Um, excuse me? I'll have you know that I..." Lettie presses her hand over her heart with a flourish. (This may not be entirely relevant right now, but she cannot help but share the news with someone.) "Am a married woman."

"Congratulations." The voice replies flatly, unimpressed. Lettie puffs her cheeks, offended. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes..." The orb starts to float towards the cottage, beckoning the faerie to follow. Seeing no other option, she glides after it. "The strange demon wished to grow flowers. This notion came to him after he had caught a glimpse of faeries joyfully growing flowers in a meadow beyond the barren cavern where he lived. They were holding their springtime festivals, having such a gay and merry time." Lettie nods sagely. (She supposes she would envy that, too... however, it's always a gay time as long as she's around.) She startles when a tall, horned figure appears beside the flat garden bed.

"He envied their gay, careless joy and wished to experience it for himself. Just before he could begin a garden of his own, however..." Two more figures appear-- these ones towering giants with intricate, majestic antlers. "The Elders advised against it. Even back then, they were very old and very wise. 'You were born with the touch of death, demon.' They said. 'Your flowers would cause much destruction and grief.'"

The demon did not heed their advice. He proceeded to do what he wanted, regardless of their warnings. He failed in his many attempts to grow a garden of flowers. They would scarcely sprout up from the earth before they withered and died. This was only to be expected from one born with the touch of death." The demon's figure kneels over the barren earth, frustratedly pounding at the ground. Then he stands. "Still, he would not give up. Rather than working hard or studying, he searched far and wide for an easy way to do that which seemed impossible to him. On this journey, he befriended a faerie. She was endeared by his quest and taught him much of what she knew..." The demon is joined by the silhouette of that faerie-- spending time together, cooking, gathering berries, talking in the shade of a tree.

"However, these happy times were not to last. When he learned what faerie dust was capable of, the demon murdered the faerie he'd befriended in pursuit of his own ambitions." Lettie flinches as this is showcased with the figures-- the demon towering over the faerie, creeping up behind her, stabbing her in the back between her wings. "After mixing her faerie dust into the soil of his garden, he finally managed to grow a bed of black roses with ease. They had sinister, poisoned thorns and only grew at night. He felt no remorse for his foul deed. Instead, he was delighted that he had done something the Elders thought him incapable of."

He called faeries and angels out from all over to gaze upon his flowers, thrilled to brag of his success. However, these were no ordinary flowers. They were dangerous. Any faeries who gathered near were attacked and absorbed by the poisoned vines... and any angel who touched their petals turned to stone." This is also reflected with figures, faeries and angels perishing until rows of angelic statues surround them. Suddenly, Lettie recognizes where they are. The Star Grove. (The place that is covered in faerie dust and unnerves all who go near it.) "The Elders realized what was happening after one of their most beloved daughters fell victim to these flowers of death. They destroyed every flower in the demon's garden in a fiery blaze... all except for one. In anger, the Elders tethered the demon's spirit to the remaining rose and buried it deep underground, locking it away forevermore with a powerful seal." This plays out as well, at the edge of a familiar abyss. A rose underground, spreading roots that dig deeper and deeper into the earth. "With time, the rose reached out with its horrible vines and absorbed power from Avangeline's heart-- transforming it into a beast."

"The Reaper." Lettie murmurs thoughtfully. That explains those vines that keep chasing her, the 'Reaper's root', and perhaps even the obsession with faerie dust. The envy. The hostility. Calling faeries meaningless when all along, the demon who originated this monster wanted to do the things that they could do... and while they might make it look effortless tending the earth and elements with their magic, it is indeed tiring work. In pursuit of an easy solution, the demon acted as a parasite. Draining them of all they had to suit his own ambitions.

...And then there's the concept of changing souls into flowers. Does Asmodeus know about the Reaper's history? Is that where he got the idea from himself? After all, Lettie got the implications from those rumors that her mother was... she got them from somewhere. But, oh, it doesn't matter right now. What really matters is... "How am I supposed to fight him?"

"It's all in here." The orb swirls over Lettie's heart. "You must break the seal and join together with one who deals with death, just as you have done on many worlds before." Ah. A necromancer. (Like a certain pirate she knows.) "Please, set us free."

"Hey, who are--" Lettie can't ask her question before the lights above her blink out. The environment around them sweeps away, leaving her in that lonely meadow. She sighs softly. "...Well. Before I can do that, I'll have to break out of this place." The faerie clenches her hands tightly together, cradling her ring as she brings it over her heart. She escaped once before. Surely she can do it again! Perhaps if she emboldens herself with thoughts of home, thoughts of Juno...

 

[starboob]

Waves of heat blow through Juno’s hair, giving her a clear look at Angelus as he burns. His screams morph into all too familiar screams of terror, reminding her of tin villages that were once a home to her. A stampede echoes from a far away place. She shakes her head and shuts it all out, tightening her grip around her sword until her knuckles threaten to break through skin. ‘Three outcomes. You’re almost there.’ With a low growl, she forces more heat through her blade, encouraged also by the sprite who jumps around the estate, spreading her wonderful, healing fire.

Flames eagerly latch onto Angelus and burrow into him. Layer by layer, the shadow peels back and burns away until all that is left of the entity is a gaunt man with no limbs. He’s nothing like Juno would have expected lingering beneath the surface of all those shadows. Then again, she doesn’t really care. He’s the asshole who’s been tormenting them for the past year (years?), trying to use their weaknesses against them. He’s the reason Lettie lost her wings. He’s all the worst pieces of themselves and he deserves to burn.

With shadows no longer there to protect him, he only lasts a few more minutes before the lack of oxygen gets to him. Juno doesn’t lower her sword until she’s certain he won’t be coming back and, even then, she stares at his smoldering corpse to be sure. She scrutinizes every char mark that seems a little too dark to be natural and blasts away any shadow that seems to move with too much freedom. Even after she reduces Angelus’s corpse to ash, decomposing what remains of his flesh and bone, she continues to jump whenever a shadow seems to reach for her.

Noticing the pirate’s unease, the little sprite bumps her shoulder a few times. Juno doesn’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but it’s comforting. “Thanks.” Then, after some thought, she adds, “Do you know where Asmodeus keeps his contracts?”

The sprite lowers herself thoughtfully (at least, Juno interprets the movements as such) then zips through the estate. “Hey! Wait up!” She races after the mischievous orb, losing her a few times to the bright flames that now engulf the estate. (Heh. Good.) As enchantments burn away, groups of young faeries flee past Juno—only a few are startled by her presence, but when she largely ignores them, they relax and continue evacuating with their sisters. (In hindsight, she shouldn’t’ve burned the building before knowing whether or not there were faeries inside. It had just been so eerily quiet before.)

Juno haphazardly makes her way to the first floor, jumping through roaring flames, narrowly avoiding falling support beams until she’s in front of a set of double doors that have been blown off their hinges. Before she can question this or so much as take it as a warning, the glowing sprite bullets forward and she follows.

Traces of leftover magic electrify the air, causing her hairs to stand on end. Scorch marks cover the office. Feathers smolder on the floor. The great wooden desk is cracked in two, someone’s body having been obviously smashed over the top. (She hopes it was Asmodeus’s.) Books and ancient tomes cover the walls, from floor to ceiling. Many of them have been pulled from the shelves; some lay open on the floor, others are singed, and pages still rain from the highest shelves even if this fight has since moved. Juno doesn’t bother with trying to figure out where it might have moved, quickly snooping through the office, rifling through knocked over stacks of paper, tearing through drawers and cabinets, and feeling over the desk for hidden compartments. Her little sprite friend, unsatisfied with the destruction (apparently), decides to spread her flames through the office while Juno works.

She finds no trace or hint of contracts, though she supposes she shouldn’t be surprised. Why the fuck would Asmodeus leave the contracts in a place that can be accessed by anyone? Lettie’s note mentioned magic circles, but she secretly had hoped this would be easier… All she finds is a file on Lettie, but it does not contain any information on her contract. It’s mostly just a large file of her transgressions. ‘Damn.’ She whistles lowly over a report of Lettie’s criminal record. ‘That’s my girl. Wife. Wife, wife, wife—’

“You won’t find what you’re looking for.” Asmodeus’s figure fills in the entryway. His breaths come out unsteadily. His eyes burn. Blood drips down one of his arms and the side of his face. One of his horns has been entirely broken off and though the pirate wants to be impressed, one thing is missing. Titania. The demon steps forward, cracking his neck. “Any last words?” He traces a golden glyph, aiming at the pirate on fire.

Juno’s mind races through possibilities as she stares at Asmodeus through the glyph. ‘Three outcomes. Three outcomes.’ Even if she were quick enough, she can feel the flames throughout the estate dying and she doesn’t think it’s because they’re running out of fuel. As the golden glyph brightens and fills the office with inescapable heat, she has a feeling she knows where those flames are going. ‘What would Lettie do?’

‘...Talk out of her ass?’ Yeah, probably. She steels her nerves, steadying whatever tremor might have edged her tone. “You lost, Asmodeus. Lettie’s not yours.”

“Please.” He growls, baring his fangs. The glyph bursts into golden flares. Juno takes a step back, putting her sword protectively in front of her, if only for the semblance of safety it provides. “How many times must I remind you that I own her fucking soul.” Just to prove his point, he snaps his fingers and her wife appears in his arms, completely slack. “This worthless bitch is mine in every way that matters.”

“I don’t think so. Melvin.”

“That’s no—”

Melvin appears in his plastic box with their rolled up marriage agreement. “Doesn’t matter where your contract is, Asmodeus.” Juno forces herself to grin, putting all her confidence into this. “It’s fuckin’ void.” Their agreement unfurls and flattens against the plastic. “Her soul is free.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* OFFICIAL MARRIAGE AGREEMENT *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧​

​

Do you agree to getting married and becoming wives?​

☑ Yes*​

☐ No​

​

*Understand that Olette Lycoris Radiata, once daughter of Avangeline, is now the wife of Captain Fucking Juno to whom she has willingly let claim her heart. Suck on that!​

​

Signed: Olette Lycoris Radiata < 3​

& [ thumbprint ]​

In that same moment, Asmodeus’s contract appears from nowhere with a cute little, ping! His eyes widen as it unrolls itself, the golden lettering flickering. “No.”

SOUL DEED​

​

Henceforth, the soul of Olette Lycoris Radiata, once daughter of Titania Lycoris Radiata, shall forevermore belong to Asmodeus Marwood, as an unclaimed daughter of Avangeline. ​

​

Signed: Asmodeus Marwood​

& Titania Lycoris Radiata​

Before his edge is lost, Asmodeus unleashes his glyph as the deed to Lettie’s soul burns.

 

[ellarose]

"It's Melvin Time." The cube drifts down in front of Juno, emitting a yellowish light as his plastic box of shame magically expands to hold himself and Juno inside it. This shields them both from Asmodeus's blast as waves of his soul-destroying magic sweep around the edges, pressing ghoulish faces sculpted of fiery red smoke against the glass. The sounds of distant, horrified screams echo in the room. Shadows and bloody handprints slap against the edges of the box, but no part of the devastating attack manages to break through. In the meantime, the cube summons a floating cup of coffee (no cream or sugar, just the way Juno likes it) for the pirate should she decide to indulge. "Yeesh. That's totally overkill, to quote the words of Miss Lettie." Melvin summons windshield wipers to clear the surface, allowing them to peer in the burning room. Flames sway brightly where Asmodeus once stood with Lettie. They're gone. "Cheese and crackers."

The coward might have tried to escape, but Asmodeus was sloppy in his getaway. A secret trap door on the floor has been left wide open.

Lettie's eyelashes flutter when she blinks her eyes open and releases a groggy little groan. Shit. Her ribs are being crushed, she aches all over... but she takes this pain as a helpful reminder that she's still alive. Not dust. Not fuel for a destructive, cube-shaped death machine. Before she can get her bearings, she's thrown onto the hard ground by whoever was toting her around like a sack. Ugh. The faerie can't help but shudder when she feels the dust of one of her sisters scraping against her skin like sand. She squints up at her assailer-- Asmodeus-- of course. Who else would it be? Though she averts her gaze from him, he grabs for her chin and forces her to look at him.

"What did you do?" Asmodeus's question fuels a mischievous, vindictive little flame in her. Speaking of which, is that smoke she smells? Juno must be near... Juno. The marriage contract! It must have worked. There's no other reason why she'd be awake right now. Am I free? She glimpses her wrists, noting the lack of golden chains tethering her to the bastard in front of her. I'm free, bitches! "What did you do!?"

"Well... I got the parchment from the nymph Lina helped me find all those years ago. It's perfectly legit." Lettie grins up at him, unable to stamp down on her glee. Everything Lina did for her... the life-saving information she died for... it wasn't in vain.

"That greedy wench? Even I know you have to pay for her services with honest money. A stolen sum from crafty little minx like you shouldn't have been able to fool the likes of her." Asmodeus's eyes flicker, sharp crescents in the darkness. "Unless you paid with something else... but what could the likes of you possibly have to offer? There's been a mistake. You won't be wearing that insufferable smirk when I expose you for the cheap little jinx you are, Olette. You'll belong to me again, and--"

"Wrong. You see, I transferred the money I saved up before my other contract expired over to her. All hard-earned cash." Lettie glares, counting on her fingers. "The cubes recently informed me they were offered payment from the various worlds I helped save, contributing to that amount..." The faerie raises her eyebrows to challenge him as she continues. "Through mother's connections, I recently received compensation for the unlawful removal of my wings, as well as the handsome amount the Duchess paid for them. Oh. And the concert we just held? Well, mother and the other faeries set up a virtual tip jar for the event. They didn't charge for entry... but the people of Avangeline were allowed to contribute as much as they wanted. Even those who weren't in attendance could contribute from afar as they watched the livestream event. I was offered a lot of generosity, sure, but I put on a performance. I earned every dime." She grins, triumphant. "You stole my voice 'cause you were afraid they'd be moved by my story... you knew all along. That's why you didn't want me to tell it. Avangeline wants to see you burn as much as I do, fucker."

Taking advantage of Asmodeus's stunned silence, Lettie wrenches herself away from his grasp, rubbing her chin where he clutched it. She's not his to touch or break anymore. At her movement, the demon snaps out of his enraged trance.

Asmodeus is livid. His nostrils flare out as he breathes jaggedly, in and out. He winds his fist back, poised to punch her in the temple to knock her out again-- but before his fist can land, a certain face-punching pirate's flaming fist smashes into the demon's cheek first. Asmodeus's eyes go wide, a tooth and some blood sputtering between his lips as he's thrown to the ground with slo-mo action movie impact. The faerie blinks, bewildered, and then looks up at her rescuer with stars in her eyes.

Lettie shakily rises to her knees before eagerly flapping her wings to glide up from the floor, unhesitatingly throwing herself at her wife. She doesn't even pause to consider the flames surrounding her-- and thankfully, they don't touch her. They part to make room for her as soon as she makes contact with Juno.

"Juju!" Lettie holds onto her tightly, burying her nose into the crook of her neck. She doesn't want to let go now that she's in her arms again. But there's a fire raging somewhere nearby, the smell of smoke inescapable. (And Asmodeus is definitely not out of the fight yet... as much as she wishes that punch could have put an end to the fighting and been the last Juno would have ever had to deliver.) She peels back just enough to look at her, a wicked little gleam flashing in her eyes. "Hey... did you set the estate on fire just for me?" She loves her. She loves her so damned much. "I could just marry you. Oh, wait..." She grins and kisses her.