Fionna remembers that Bonnie and Marcie exist. Feelings are had. Questions are answered, but only like two so it's not actually all that satisfying.

BdMgSbDmGs

Bad Decisions Make Great Stories

Chapter 14: Shoko

BdMgSbDmGs

I didn't follow either of them. Instead I went back to the room that I was sharing with Bonnie and Marcie. I didn't expect either of them to be up when I returned, but I was surprised to find both of them awake, sitting next to each other on Bonnie's bed.

Marcie sat up when she saw me. "Fionna," she said. "Where've you been? We were getting worried about you."

"Oh," I said, forcing my mouth closed. "Sorry. My walk got a little long, I guess."

Marcie smiled, patting the spot in front of her on the bed. "C'mere. Come talk to us." I complied, slipping my shoes off at the door and sitting on the bed in front of her feet. "It's been a rough week, huh?"

I smiled insincerely. "Talk about the understatement of the year," I said.

Marcie frowned, moving to sit on her knees and hold a hand on my shoulder. "Hey," she said, "look at me."

I did.

"We may not know any more about what's going on than you do—hell we have less of an idea than you do by now—but we're still here." Her grip on my shoulder tightened. "We're here for you, Fi. We may not be what you thought we were a little while ago, and I'm sorry that we had to lie to you for so long, but we're still here now, and we're here to help you get through this." She pulled me into a tight hug. "Hey. Shh, don't cry. Everything's gonna be okay. You don't have to cry now."

I hadn't even noticed I was crying, but I hugged her back tightly and let myself cry into her shoulder. Bonnie jumped in after a moment and they let me turn into a sobbing mess in their arms.

After a while I calmed down, sniffling. "I'm sorry," I said.

"Sorry? What for?" Marcie asked.

"Sorry I've been so distant," I said, feeling my eyes begin to burn again. "I didn't mean to cut you out like that."

"No, Fi, babe. It's not your fault you got pulled into this," Marcie insisted. "It's okay. I just wanted to remind you that you're not alone." Bonnie nodded, burying her cheek on top of my head.

"I know. I know that. Thank you," I said.

Bonnie and Marcie pulled away, smiling at me. I could see that Marcie had started crying sometime during our embrace as well, and Bonnie had a dark look in her eyes.

"Bonnie, is everything alright?" I asked.

She looked up like I'd pulled her out of deep thought. "Oh, yes. I'm fine. It's just… funny."

"What is?" I pressed.

"I…" Bonnie trailed off, glancing down into her lap before chancing a look at Marcie. "Babe, do you remember that old friend that I used to have way back when I was really young, before I met you?"

"I think I know who you mean," Marcie said. "What was her name? Something-ko?"

"Shoko," Bonnie said. "Yeah, her. I don't really know why, but I was reminded of her recently. It was just a little flash of thought, but after that I couldn't stop thinking about her."

"You said a friend you used to have," I started. "Did you have a falling out? Did she pass away or something?"

"Yeah, she…" Bonnie trailed off for a moment, almost like she'd lost the ability to speak. "She disappeared."

"What happened?" I asked. "Tell me about her."

"Well we met when I was really young, about forty human years or so, and she was about two-hundred years older than me," she began. "She was a witch, with very powerful magic for… I want to say it was sympathy magic or something like that? She was born a nomad, so she was just passing through the dimensions when we met. She was very pretty, long black hair like Marcie, but she was missing an arm." Bonnie smiled to herself. "She always used to say she didn't feel like it was gone, because she always felt the bodies and presence of everyone around her. She could be a head in a jar and she said she'd feel the same." Her expression darkened and a frown creased her brow. "We were very close for a time. She would travel, but she would always come back to visit me. She was one of my first close friends.

"But then one day she changed. She got very cold and distant, didn't look at me, wouldn't touch me. She said, 'I'm going away again soon, but this time I won't be coming back.' It was very sudden. And I asked her what she was doing and why she was leaving. And she said, 'I got a job.' And when I reached out to give her a hug goodbye, she wouldn't let me touch her. And for a second she looked angry. She was angry. But she turned away from me and held her shoulder like she did when she was upset. And she cast a spell and she left.

"I didn't see her, after that. She was right. She didn't come back. I waited for her for a long time, too." Bonnie smiled but there was no joy in it. "I know I've told you this before, Marcie, but when I first saw you after your fall, with your hair, I thought that you were her." Her expression warmed up a little when Marcie met her gaze. "Ever since, I hadn't really thought about her much. There was no need. She… Shoko… She was long gone by then anyway. I knew that. I had to know that by then. I just needed a little push, so I could accept it."

"Oh, Bonnie," Marcie said, pulling her into a hug.

"Sorry I brought up so many dark memories, asking you about her and all," I apologized.

"No, Fi, it's okay. I'm way past it now. Plus, it's healthy to reminisce about the past every now and again. It's better than pretending that it never happened," Bonnie said.

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. "Thanks," I said. "Thanks for sharing."

"My god, Fifi, you look like you're about to pass out just sitting there," Marcie remarked, bending down to look up at my face. "Are those bags under your eyes? I thought humans were supposed to absorb life energy! You must be crazy tired. Come on, go to bed!"

"Yeah, bed sounds like a good idea." I paused. "Thanks, you two, for cheering me up. I really appreciate that you're here."

Marcie's expression softened as she shooed me off the bed. "Of course we are. Now get some sleep! We'll be right here in the morning, and by your side everywhere else along the way, too."

I nodded, heading for my own bed for some very much needed rest.

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The next day we spent travelling. Marshall was impatient to get to the next city where supposedly we could catch train to one of Midnaught's seven inner cities. Pride was known to dwell in the depths of the Seventh City, the innermost city and, not coincidentally, the hardest one to get into. Station Two, the town that we were headed for, had a train that went directly into First City.

According to Marshall, the Seven Cities were set up essentially like rings around one another, First City as the outermost ring and Seventh City the innermost; Infernus liked to refer to them as the Seven Levels of Hell. First City was by far the largest and most easily accessible, as it was the trade center of the realm. People from all dimensions gathered in a marketplace metropolis. One could buy almost anything imaginable and then some. Unsurprisingly, Greed had a strong hold over the city's commerce, as well as the organization of Second City and Sixth City, the business and political districts respectively. Third City, Fourth City, and Fifth City tended to meld into each other and had no distinct draws of their own, though Fifth City supposedly had a knack for magic that I thought sounded interesting. And Seventh City, of course, was Pride's domain. It was commonly, and rather stereotypically, referred to as "The City of Eternal Night" because it was totally encased in steel and magic. Only someone with very special permissions could even think about entering Seventh City. Marshall stopped talking after that, though, and I wasn't sure if it was because we'd arrived at Station Two or if it was that he didn't have a plan to explain beyond what he'd told me.

The woman at the station's front desk smiled brightly when we approached. Marshall got us spots on the next outbound train. We were invited to stay at the connected inn until our departure early the next morning, and Marshall paid with a small stack of bills that I didn't even know he was carrying. I didn't know the currency of Midnaught, but train tickets did not appear to be cheap.

I was relieved to have my own room, flopping down face first onto the bed the moment I saw it. Privacy was hard to come by on an interdimensional adventure with four people and a mind reader, so I gladly took any alone time that I could get.

I thought about sleeping but I just ended up thinking for a while, and a couple of questions occurred to me. First, how the hell did Marshall have so much money, and second, what was the deal with this plan that nobody seemed to know? Of course, those were just two of many, many more unanswered questions that constantly bounced around in my head, but they seemed to stick out the most in terms of relevancy at that moment. The evening was still young so I figured I may as well try and pine some answers out of somebody. Neither Gomme nor Marshall seemed to be in a particularly good mood after the previous night's encounter—another unanswered question I'd yet to ask about—so it seemed Infernus was my best bet if I wanted to get answers.

I barely registered knocking on Infernus's door until after I'd already done it. I stared, dazed for a moment, at his face before coming back to my senses and asking to come in.

"Sure. Is something on your mind?" he said, standing aside to let me through. He'd taken off the long jacket that he usually wore and I was almost surprised to see that he had arms underneath the sleeves and not empty voids holding up floating hands.

I shook my head to focus on the task at hand. "Sorry, yeah, a little bit," I said. "Mind if I sit?" I asked, gesturing to the bed seeing that there were no chairs in the room.

He nodded to me, opting to lean against the wall, himself. "What's up?" he asked. "You seem rather…"

"Spacey, I know." I frowned and stared at my hands not entirely sure where to start. "There're a couple of things I've been meaning to ask about lately, actually," I said.

"Yeah?"

"I guess I'll as the easy questions first," I said with a wry smile. "It's about Marshall."

"Now there's a surprise," Infernus said, smirking.

"How the hell does he have so much money, anyway?"

He laughed. "I think the answer to your question might be a little more complicated than you want it to be."

"Well give it to me short and sweet, then."

"I guess the human saying for it would be that he has his fingers in a lot of pies," he explained.

I almost laughed. "I think your human sayings are a little outdated," I said, smiling. "But what do you mean by that? What does he do?"

Infernus sighed, crossing his arms. "A little of this, a little of that. Even I don't know all of the nitty gritty details. I know he gets a good amount from writing spells, though. Nothing mainstream, but you don't have to be to rake in the big bucks with that kind of work. Other than that, he manages a lot of things. A real smooth-talking businessman, you know. He's always got his mind in a hundred different places. Literally."

"Huh." I pursed my lips. "I knew that he could write up spells and things but I didn't know that it was a real talent of his."

"Yeah. He designed the pacts, made up a language spell, so we can all understand each other, you know." It suddenly dawned on me that everyone I'd met on this journey had spoken English, and that it was definitely not a coincidence. "The guy's a genius."

"It sounds exhausting."

"Yeah, well, what do you think you're here for?" Infernus shot me a half-smile that didn't quite touch his eyes. "The guy's brain doesn't stop. It's like he can't turn it off."

"I wonder why that is."

"Honestly? I think it's got something to do with his instability, but that only raises the question of why he's so…"

"Fucked up," I said. Actually, I thought I might have an idea about where that came from. "He's said he's… died seventeen times, yeah?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"And you've died, was it eight times?"

"Yes."

"And I don't guess anything weird started happening with your magic after the first time you 'died,'" I said.

Infernus's eyes widened for a moment. "I—no, I… well maybe more recently, yes… actually…"

I silently urged him to continue.

"It was… after one of my more recent 'waking ups.' I sometimes found my fingertips prickling, and I would look down and see…" He held his hand up as demonstration. Five tiny flames danced at his fingertips, illuminating a subtle glow in his red-orange irises. He closed his fist and the flames were gone. "And it just happens sometimes, against my control."

That had to be the link. There was no doubt about it. "That must be it. All of that instability and excess magic must be a reaction to this repeated temporary 'death.' Maybe that's why he seems to need so much extra attention."

Infernus raised an eyebrow. "Attention? Surely the pact fulfills all of his energy needs, especially now that we're in Midnaught." He saw the look on my face and corrected himself. "But I don't know for sure. This is Marshall's spell after all. It may work differently for all of us."

"Maybe…" It was too late, though. The words had already been spoken. Just another confrontation to add to the list, it seemed. "But speaking of the pacts, that brings me to the other question I wanted to ask. Well, less of a question and more of a general inquiry."

"And that is?"

"What the hell is the plan here? Everyone seems to be dancing around the details of where we're going and how we're getting there. I just want something remotely solid to hold on to, if even for a little bit."

Infernus scoffed. "I'd love to tell you, but I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I mean I don't know."

"You don't know? How can you not know! You've done this before, haven't you?"

The shift in the atmosphere was physical. Infernus crossed his arms tighter and his eyes grew cloudy, less looking at me and more looking through me.

"Haven't you?"

"I'm done talking about this."

"What aren't you telling me? I know something big happened with your first pact-holder. What happened with the first attempt?"

"I said I'm done talking!" he yelled.

"Why won't you answer me!"

He looked up at me, jaws clenched and golden eyes shining. "Please leave."

I stood up and walked to the door, hand on the doorknob. "At least tell me her name," I whispered, jaw clenched.

"Her" name?

I stood there for a moment, waiting, and when he didn't answer I twisted the doorknob.

"Shoko," he said suddenly. I looked up and saw him holding his face in his hands. "Her name was Shoko."

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Okay sorry but if you didn't see that coming at the end there I am hardcore judging you because I'm like 97% certain I couldn't have made it any more obvious if I wrote it in the sky.

I don't remember if I've mentioned this before but I made a tag on tumblr for this story. "#fanfic: bdmgs" I don't actually expect to see anything up there but I track the tag, so, ya know.
Also my tumblr is .com if you wanna drop by and say hi sometime.

Doing the best I can with updates, what with college and all. Only two weeks before finals and then Christmas break! Hopefully that helps? Either way I'll do my best! Thanks so much for all of the support (definitely surpassed my 150 reviews goal last chapter, lol) and please continue to review, fav, follow, whatever it is you guys like doing. Bye for now!