Death's Fangirl, Chapter One
Aradia watched the meteor speed off into the void, carrying with it four of her closest friends – and two people who, she thought, could have been friends. But her duty – her life, ironic though it might be – was here. Here, beside the flaming bulk of the Green Sun, among the myriad drifting dream bubbles, shepherdess to the afterlife. And, besides, Sollux was here beside her.
"What now?" he asked.
"Jack will be here soon," she said with a grin. "We'll slow him down, and then we can be on our way."
"Cool." He looked around blankly – blankly was right, with one eye a flat white and the other missing – and shrugged. "Guy's not very punctual, is he."
"Wait for it..."
A black dot appeared in the distance, hardly perceptible against the black void behind it. "There," Aradia said, lifting her hands, a faint red aura surrounding her fingers.
"So, uh." Sollux raised his own fists awkwardly. "You think we can really take him on ourselves?"
"Oh, no, of course not, we'd be killed in seconds," Aradia said cheerfully, turning her sunniest smile on her friend. "But we can stop him for a few seconds. It'll be enough."
Jack Noir – scourge of two sessions, murderer of humans, trolls and Carapacians alike – was nearly upon them, and moving fast. His pitch-black wings spread majestically, lit a faint green by the light of the Sun. Even from here, Aradia could see the tiny glint off of his bared fangs.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
And, abruptly, he was upon them, swinging his bloodied black sword. As the blade came sweeping down toward Aradia's forehead, she thrust out her arms – and a burst of red power, clashing weirdly with the light of the green sun behind, exploded from her palms, enveloping her attacker. He froze, locked in an instant. She couldn't hold it for long, she knew. But even a few moments might be enough.
"What do you need me to do, Aradia?" Sollux asked.
"In a few seconds, I'm going to release him," she said, her voice tight with effort. "When I do, as soon as you see that red light go out, hurl him as far away as you can, as fast as you can."
"Okay."
"Wait for it..." She eyed the distance. Was that a white speck amid the blackness? Was it getting bigger? Closer?
Yes. Someone else was on their way, moving incredibly fast. Faintly, Aradia could make out wings. And in the color scheme of this weirdly twisted pair of sessions, white meant good. No time left. Got to try.
"Three... two... one... go, Sollux!" She released her spell, throwing herself backward and away from the demon's menacing blade. She heard Sollux grunt with effort, and saw crackles of red and blue energies surround Noir. The winged dog-man was abruptly hurled away.
He spread his wings to brake, and came to a halt. Even from this distance, Aradia could see the look of abject hatred on his face. He started back toward them –
And a white figure slammed into him from behind. He turned to confront this new threat, and for a moment Aradia watched him face off with an ivory woman, a twin in negative. In unison, they slowly raised their swords, faces frozen in identical canine snarls, and struck. Blow for blow, they matched each other, Jack trying to draw away and this pale attacker pressing forward.
"Come on, Sollux!" Aradia grabbed his hand. "We've done all we can. Time to go!"
It took them only a few minutes to retreat far enough into the dream bubbles that the Green Sun was no longer visible. "Aradia!" Sollux dragged her to a halt.
"What's the matter, Sollux?"
"I'm lost. Where's the sun? It's not like we're really far away from it."
"Actually, we are." Aradia gazed off into the blackness, in the direction she supposed the Sun might lie. "Space doesn't work logically here, and without a Space player to help..." She shrugged.
"So we're lost? What the fuck, Aradia! This was a terrible idea!"
"Hey, relax," she told him with a smile. "I'm a Time player, remember? I can steer us pretty well. Just stick with me and you'll be fine."
Sollux stared at her for a long moment, his strange half-ghost eyes wide. Finally, he sighed. "Fine. Whatever. What now?"
"Now, we explore." Aradia waved a hand dramatically across the space around them. The bluish forms of a few dream bubbles could be seen floating in the distance – and further still, a slight texture to the darkness, a suggestion of... tentacles? "We've the whole Afterlife to keep us busy, Sollux. Isn't it amazing?" With a flap of her wings, she drifted up and did a little twirl. Grinning, she continued, "Thousands of people to meet. We can see Nepeta, and Equius, and Feferi. We can see the trolls we would have been if we'd made a different choice. We can meet our ancestors, and the humans, and perhaps their ancestors, too... We can see Alternia, and the human world, what was it called – Earth! There's so much to see, Sollux! I've never felt so alive!"
Aradia turned to look at him, and her smile froze. Where she expected to see her floating half-ghost friend, only blackness met her eyes. "...Sollux?"
She looked frantically around, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Sollux?"
"Sollux!"