#witchcraftis

You spent most of last night tossing and turning, with no human or fuzzy companions to fixate your whizzing thoughts on. All your babies were sent to babysitters- even David himself was spending time in New York with Artemis you assume. You boyfriends themselves know as much as they need to- would you regret not dumping your heart out on the floor instead of the curt, passive explanation you gave them? Perhaps, but you were already brimming with regrets.

Part of you didn't want to do this, knowing without the risk you have multitudes of people to live for now, and risking your life wasn't just risking your life. You were risking the peace of mind of numerous people. Lord knows what your parents were gonna say when they found out. Really, you were expecting a lot of metaphysical waps when you came out the other side. But the other part of you knew you wouldn't have rest for the rest of your immortal days unless you did this.

Thats what you had to focus on right now, the actively completing this part. The chips would fall where they may once you succeed, Thats a fact of life. You finally pull yourself out of bed, pulling off the hoodie and pukka shell necklace you had slept in, giving them a long, pained look before you teleport them into the back of the closet, out of mind. Instead you dressed for comfort in more ways than one, putting on trinkets that reminded you of your loved ones. The necklace Windi gave you, with a piece of his hair tucked inside, the bracelet made of Davesprite's feathers. A sweater Nessa gave you, the day you were adopted. Little, tiny fragments of where your heart belonged, like the planets on your ears. By the time you spent ruminating in that particular mental hole, you bucked up and texted Roxy.

They didn't long to show up, carrying what they needed to do what you asked of them. Your reaction was to hug them, though you know it was just the lack of words sticking in your throat that made you so nervous. Well, a lot of things were making you nervous, but the lack of how to go about being somewhat normal in greeting was certainly one of them. Thankfully they got the memo years ago that you were a complete and utter disaster. The guilt trickled back in, the sensation of knowing they probably don't want you to do this either, but knowing they couldn't stop it. After a few quiet moments you sighed, giving them your best smile as you offered to show them to the lab. They'd seen it, practice with the tech, but agreed nonetheless, letting you have some semblance of control.

For once the lab was fairly clean, free of scattered projects and garbage even if the main event was a lone tower desktop in a side room. You probably should have better protection for the thing considering it hosted all your brain files, but now wasn't the time, ironically, considering Roxy immediately got to work in setting up what they needed in the tiny space. You could eventually feel them in the back of your skull, poking the files and asking questions to make sure they had proper connection.

When it was all said and done the silence returned, saved for the low humming of electronic fans. You shuffled back and forth on your toes until they spoke up again.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Absolutely not, you wanted to say, but instead you nod, putting on your ishades. “I don't have any other choice.”

They one hundred percent didn't believe that, but relented, offering their hand. You two had discussed fray-motifs and all that confusing game play junk, and even if you didn't have to have contact to initiate it, you guessed it was a much appreciated gesture of comfort. You both focused your powers until eventually, for all intents and purposes, you ceased to exist. You could still feel you had a form, but even your spacial awareness was thrown through a loop as you also had, no atomic structure to speak of. For all intents and purposes, you were invisible to the multiverse. The plan was to use it long enough to be able to search and skim the universe and the bubbles undetected until you found them. A head-start, if you will. Roxy of course, under the same shield for the time being, was just as aware. That didn't stop you from pulling the potato you had put in your sylladex the night before and giving it a gentle toss at them. They caught it with a fumble, laughing for the first time since they arrived. It gave you the resolve you needed, even as the potato got hurled back over your shoulder. You knew you'd be in good hands. You just had to remember this wasn't the end. A well placed kiss on the top of Roxy's head, and you were off.

When you warped into the universe, specifically the main system, you could absolutely see the theory was correct. Derse and Prospit- at least the skeleton of them, were no longer revolving around your moon. Instead, long strings of bubble like masses wrapped around the Earth and the Moon like some strange, wet spider web, pulsing and shifting with iridescent light. You took a deep breath, not feeling any sort of code grabbing or clawing at you. That was a good sign, and you texted Roxy just that. Encouraged, you took the headfirst plunge into the masses.

You've seen dream bubbles from other universes, and despite the tang in the air that gave away the fact something was wrong, it was an unstable memory, it looked no different. You waded through memory after memory, some your own, some you recall from your teammates, some copies of the places you have firmly in your sylladex, until you managed to pick up a scent once you broke through a fuzzy representation of the Land of Light and Rain. You followed the trail under the heat of a fake skyline, till you saw them. Sitting, almost casual, on the beaches sands. Like they never left at all. You were pretty sure underneath the veil of void you could feel every atom in your body bristle. Was it happiness? Fear? Agony? You were never the best at pinpointing these things. You were happy to see Rose and John at least, watching them skip stones across the acid sea. David hung back naturally under a comical umbrella, smoking. You were disgusted at the pang in your heart at that fact, the rage you knew well you harbored in there threatening to boil over before you showed yourself. Which, you still had to do.

The cloak served well to buy you and Roxy time away from the corruption, but would be useless in helping you do what you came here for. You walked closer, still a fair enough distance away that David wouldn't startle and probably gut you, and texted Roxy to drop her side of the motif. Like the sand under your feet the facade dissolved, leaving you open and vulnerable as the metaphorical clock begin to tick. Even before anything latched you could feel Roxy inside your skull, scanning. Watching.

To say they were surprised was a massive understatement. Even David, who you knew had breached into your own realm of the living on unfortunate occasion, seemed agape at you being here.

“Jaaaaade!” The name made you wince, even now, but coming from John as he practically tackled you, you tolerated it. He was warm and small- visually not a day over 13. You suppose then the bubbles hadn't existed long enough for them to get their bearings on what an afterlife meant. Rose wasn't far behind, though she was much taller than John, wrapping you both up in a crushing grip. She was crying- you could hear it in her voice. You were too, you just couldn't process the fact you were sobbing as you held these two in your arms. It had been so long, and even the ache you've been sure to bury deep clawed its way out of your chest. David made sure not to join in, and you're thankful. Wouldn't want to give anything away to the others. You wanted them happy. Thats why you were here, shaking off corruption from your core like the dog you were to be here.  

You were here to apologize, to make things right, and well at best you did what you could. You explained what happened, and what happened after, and they explained, well, how they didn't even realize they had died until the bubbles appeared. How they thought you were permadead just like they had been. You shared a look with David, who lit up another cigarette in return. He had knew you were alive, and resented you. At least he had the decency to play along with the act.

You were pretty sure even with him here, you could spend forever catching up. Listening to John make Rose laugh was healing. Seeing her happy after all the years of sorrow that had been etched into her skin was healing. Even with the sensation of Roxy in your head pulling code like needles in haystacks, the bitter regret you felt coming here diminished. Even so, you couldn't stay here forever. Roxy was your only lifeline and you couldn't make them strain themselves keeping you afloat in safety. So you made your choices. You told the others you needed to talk to David alone, and obviously they relented. For all John remembers, you two were lovebirds. Rose was a bit more wise to it, but you could feel she was confident in the fact you could take care of yourself. She always was- but now, in the wake of seeing you and hearing your stories, you could feel the pride behind that sensation. It was comforting, considering what you had planned.

You led him till you two were far out of sight, far from any sort of hearing range or at least, enough your space powers, still being debugged, would cover the rest. Far enough he ripped his arm from you in disgust, that same arm trying to cock back for a hit.

It wouldn't reach its target.

In an instant your own fist was at his jaw, knuckles cut on teeth and soon to be glass as the other hit his nose. He pulled out his katana in true Strider fashion, trying to run you through like he had done a million times before, only to have it sizzle and melt, viscous and boiling onto himself as you super-heated the stupid shitty thing once it cut your skin. He staggered, opening himself up to get kicked over, one foot on his cracking and straining rib cage and the other on his throat. He spit out your dead-name between broken teeth, trying to reel in some sort of manipulative pity like he had in the past. It's how you became his fiancee, despite the obvious. It's how you became his girlfriend, without a single comforting touch. It's how he had you under his thumb once the boy he use to be died in the wake of what happened. Did you blame him? Not at all. Would you make excuses for how he treated you even with all he had dealt with? Not anymore. Not ever again.

You ground your heel into his throat, growling. “Do not call me that. I'm not Jade Harley. I'm Flora Rhevtal and you won't forget it I'm sure. Not that you'll have to remember it long, darling.”

You took your foot off his throat, but kept him pinned with the other as you shifted to get down on his level, your knees crushing his bones instead.

“Bitch,” he spat, his vitriol coming up blood. You smiled still, watching his bravado make no ground now. You weren't afraid of him. Your hand found his battered throat, and claws tore the flesh clean from bone. You sure he would have had something to say about that, if he had the chance.

“Stay in hell where you belong, David Strider.”

Not long after a loud gurgle did his ghost evaporate into double death, dissapearing from this plane once more. For good. For the better. You knew Roxy having a front row seat was probably blowing up your phone, but you took your time to wash the blood off your hands and switch into your god tier pj's. They were the only clothes you could switch at will, and well, they were clean! You had to act quickly- the longer you stayed here now that your cover was blown to the terrors, the harder they'd try to reap your body again.

You made your way back to the others, explaining David had to go find something and he'd catch up later. That you also had to go sadly and take care of some universe things, but you'd see them again. Lying through your teeth was not a skill you wanted to have, but you did just enough to get the job done. You hugged them tightly, kissed them both, and told them how much you loved them. How much you wish things had been different. How proud you were of them. Them echoing it back in sincerity made you really feel the meaning in your statements. You do wish things were different, but you have one choice now. They would suffer worse than you without it, and you weren't a Life player.

Goodbyes trailed off in the vacuum of space as you popped out of the bubbles. You checked your phone long enough to see if Roxy was in trouble, but all that greeted you was stuff you'd unpack later. Because you were certain there would be a later now. After all, they did their job well. Skirting just outside of the corrupted universe in an instant, even without the cover of Void anymore the horrors couldn't reach you here. They wouldn't, ever again anyway, once you swirl your hands just enough to completely, absolutely, destroy your universe. Your birth place, your birth right, your prize, no longer a presence in the vastness of space, with nary a supernova to announce its departure. Just the deep, yawning void of space left in its wake as you traveled back home. Your home. The home you had truly made for yourself.