Part XII
"Emma!"
Emma sat on her mat, watching Ema doze in the rocking chair. She turned when she heard her name. Wizard Arthur stood in the doorway.
"Emma!" he whispered. Sconey, the sentient scone companion of the mad magician, leapt off his shoulder and scurried over to Emma. The little girl grinned and patted the scone. Wizard Arthur smiled.
"Dadda tell me no talk you," Emma babbled. "No talk. Emma no talk."
"You don't need to talk." Wizard Arthur smiled kindly, conjuring a sphere of light. "Look! Pretty lights!"
"Dream light!" Emma cried, reaching out for the light.
"Dream light, yes! Follow the dream light!"
Emma crawled out after the floating ball of light, followed by Sconey. Right before leaving, Wizard Arthur locked Ema in the nursery. Couldn't afford any distractions, nope.
Mr. Allen was sitting in his office, steeping his fingers together thoughtfully. Shinbun-kun sat in a corner, bouncing with excitement. The Magic Trio assembled itself next to Shinbun; Emma entered the room curiously. Sconey sat on her head. She giggled.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Michael Arch warned from next to Mr. Allen. He had been a bit gloomy since Lucas's departure and Jennifer's disappearance. Lucas had left the day after Christmas day with Karen DuLay. Dirk had tagged along, but Lucas wanted nothing to do with him and had dropped him off at home as soon as possible. "It's witchcraft, after all –"
"Look, at this point all I want to know is what the hell is going on. I don't care if I have to give up my soul to do so," Mr. Allen groused. "Why is Hughie the one who has all the problems?"
"Is it because the writer is more attached to him?" There was a pause, followed by blobbing noises as the Mochis patched up the shattered fourth wall.
"The more logical and less-fourth wall shattering reason is… is because he has a personality similar to that of Arthur and Lovino. Fangirls go crazy for that sort of thing," Shinbun mumbled from the corner.
"Let's get the ball rolling here. Wizard Arthur?" Mr. Allen raised an eyebrow. "Do the honours."
"As you wish," drawled Wizard Arthur as he stepped forward. Light surrounded Emma – dream-lights twirling, dancing, sparkling in the dim office room. As she watched, she became more and more mesmerised by their complex dance.
"Sleep, little one," Mr. Allen murmured sadly. "Sleep."
Alicia watched Julietta warily. Of all the people who could betray her, Julietta seemed highly unlikely. Unless it was all a front? She frowned.
Julietta was one of the most air-brained people Alicia knew, and that was saying something. Julietta had completed her Mary Sue training with honours from Lilith as one of the dumbest airheads in the factory, a distinction reserved for the classic dumb-blonde Mary Sue. To think that she could sport even a miniscule bit of a brain was laughable. She spent far too much of her time daydreaming about her happily ever after with Romeo to care about what was going on.
And yet she had been up to something. Alicia could sense it like she could sense weakness in male Canon characters. Julietta had been doing something before she walked in, and it wasn't conversing with Romeo.
Venezia entered the room. "The desk job is so tedious," she complained. "I'm dying."
"Dying of boredom? Nice try," sneered Alicia.
Venezia still looked downcast. Alicia wondered if it would be worth the trouble to send her to a doctor. The doctors at the Mary Sue Factory were better trained at Tender Loving Care than psychology. She didn't need to scar Venezia any further than her current mental state would allow. That would just exacerbate matters.
"Julietta?" Venezia asked after a moment. The other Mary Sue looked up, eyes wide. "Come with me."
"What are you doing? Where are you going?" Alicia demanded, immediately on alert.
"None of your business," Venezia muttered. "Don't be so paranoid."
"Says the Venetian." Alicia rolled her eyes. "It's just that I don't trust Julietta with you."
"And why is that? Scared I'm going to tell her that her Romeo doesn't exist?"
"No, it's that…" Alicia got up from her seat and walked over to Venezia. "I nearly caught her talking to someone the other day. Could have been a PPC spy."
"Sure, Alicia. I'm sure she was just mistaking someone for Romeo again. Don't worry your perfect little head about it." Venezia rolled her eyes as well. "Can't have you overheating your cranium, now can we?"
"Fuck you." Alicia crossed her arms. Julietta walked over to Venezia, eyes downcast.
"Gladly." Venezia smirked, a shadow of her old self, before sweeping regally from the room. Even when demoted she carried herself with grace and poise. Alicia envied her for a moment, and then checked herself.
Francesca wasn't going to be back from wherever the fuck she went (the last time Alicia checked she was going clubbing with Serenity Moonshine Starlight Unicornbutt and Sakura Kawaii-Sparkles-Ukazime-Uhica-Rainbow-Unicorns-Happehnessnesss-Imnotafuckingmarysuedamnit-Awesomeeee) for quite a while, so Alicia decided to turn on the observation panel again and check on the people in the time loop. However, as soon as she did the screen flickered and turned into a brightly-flashing test panel.
"What? What the actual fuck! Turn on! Turn on, fuckass!" Alicia swore, shielding her eyes from the seizure-inducing flashes.
The screen changed. Rick Astley filled the air. Alicia covered her ears.
"I did not mean rickroll me, you son of a bitch!" she screamed.
The screen turned off. Alicia pounded the screen, hollering at it to cooperate. Had Julietta done this? Did Julietta actually have a brain? The thought threatened to overwhelm her. Alicia swore under her breath.
"JULIETTA!"
"There's no use. I've obviously failed that debate," Peter groaned on Friday afternoon as they piled into the cafeteria for dinner. A UKSey versus FrSey food fight was already in full swing, judging by the fish flying everywhere.
"Even if you lose, they might still let you in," Lila replied consolingly, patting his back.
"I failed the examination, too."
"Pshaw, that thing was a cakewalk," scoffed Ursula. She was carrying a conspicuously large tome of Lovecraftian stories that she had obviously borrowed from Megan Vaughan.
"WHY ARE WE EVEN FIGHTING? SEYCHELLES IS SUCH A BITCH!" Roda Vanille Curtis yelled as she ducked a handful of fish flying her way.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK, BITCH, YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!" Chiara Valenti screamed back at her.
"I WILL NOT!"
"This is giving me a headache," snapped Ursula as they waded through mountains of fish bits to get to the meal line. "I'll just eat in the dorms or something."
"You know they banned that ever since C. Jeanette Hernandez –"
"Fuck that." Ursula paused. "What the heck did she do?"
"Stashed food in her room and attracted Ariana Beatrice Grant and other mice." Lila shrugged. "Malicious One had a field day."
"Bet he did." Ursula began heaping her plate with fish curry. Seychellois cuisine was said to be influenced by Indian, Chinese, African, French, and English cuisine. It focused on spices, fish, coconut milk, and breadfruit, and attention to detail was paramount.
They grabbed their food and left the cafeteria to its furious food fight, seeking instead the solitude of the hallway (and in Ursula's case, the dormitories). "Looking forward to the seminar this Sunday. Do you know what it's going to be about?" Lila asked. Peter shrugged.
"More writing, I think," Kira said through a mouthful of fish. "Yo."
"I don't see why Lila lets you say 'yo' all the time yet never lets me speak in Japanese," Peter noted sullenly.
"Oh come on, it's because you sound unintelligible when you speak Japanese," Lila replied frankly.
"I thought you loved me."
"That has nothing to do with it. And I never said I loved you. Love's much deeper than that."
Peter pouted. Lila rolled her eyes. Kira gagged.
"Get a storage closet, desu yo," she grumbled.
Peter flushed bright red. Lila snorted. "Kira, do you honestly think we do that sort of stuff?"
"Why not, yo? It's what I would do with Sealand, yo –"
"Yes, well, you're infatuated with Sealand. Peter and I are simply going slow. Nothing wrong with it."
"What base, yo?"
Peter's red turned even deeper. "First," he mumbled.
"Other people don't even go up to bat. I'd consider ourselves lucky," Lila sniffed.
"It's easy to get to first, yo," scoffed Kira. "It's harder to go from there."
"And when's the last time you've seen any action? Unless you and Ursula –"
"FUCK NO, YO!"
"Very eloquent," Lila remarked. "You know kissing in kismesis is just as acceptable, right?"
"This isn't Homestuck, Lila," Peter sighed.
"Fine, be that way." Lila pouted. "Back to the seminar. More writing, huh? Are they accepting student work? I heard from Natalie Schön that last time they did."
"I heard they aren't this time because someone turned in something really scarring," Peter replied. "Ulrich was blabbing about it in What's In A Name today, after Austria yelled at us for confusing him with Australia."
Lila sniggered. "There are no kangaroos in Austria. I'll never forget that."
"Doubt anyone will." Much to Kira's disgust, Peter and Lila snuggled in closer in the hallway. "They're going to talk about dialogue, I think. Punctuation. Boring stuff."
"Oh man, if Ursula heard you she'd start ranting about the importance of punctuation in dialogue," Lila drawled, leaning her head against Peter's shoulder. Kira gagged. "Kira, if you're going to be immature about this you could just go cosy up to Ursula in the dormitories –"
"Ewww!"
"Or, I dunno… go stalk Estellantalia Serafianta Sonnolaso-Jones. She likes Sealand, too."
"She ships Sealand and Wy, desu yo! Eww! Sealand-poopsie-kun belongs to me, desu yo!"
"Whatever floats your micronation," Lila groaned, leaning even more heavily against Peter until he was nearly topping over. Kira mimed vomiting some more before grabbing her tray and exiting the scene.
Peter was roughly the colour of a London telephone box. "Lila, that wasn't necessary," he gasped as Lila let up pressure with a giggle.
"No, it wasn't," agreed Lila. "Let's go find somewhere less public."
They headed off in search of an empty classroom.
When Ema awoke, she noticed that Emma was not there. "Emma?" she demanded, getting up. "Emma?"
She tried opening the door, but it was locked. Shit. "EMMA!"
Meanwhile, in Mr. Allen's office, Emma was firmly in a trance. Michael Arch was gripping the desk so hard that his knuckles turned white. Shinbun's hand blurred across the page as he wrote what Emma was saying.
"Mama, Mama please. Mama, tell me, please!"
Ema screamed and pounded against the door a couple of corridors away. "EMMA! EMMA!"
"Mama, who is she? Who is the lady that haunts Dadda?"
"EMMA!" Mr. Hugh heard the screaming and ran down the hall, finding the door locked. He searched his pockets for the key, and came up with a whole ring of them. He made a mental note to colour code them as he started trying them all.
"Lilith." At that, Mr. Allen sat up straighter. Shinbun nearly paused writing.
"Keep the pen moving," snapped Mr. Allen. "Keep the pen moving!"
"Lilith haunts Dadda."
"EMMA!" Ema nearly fell on Mr. Hugh as he opened the door. "THEY'VE TAKEN EMMA!"
"Who?" Mr. Hugh demanded.
"I don't know!"
"Ema, this is absolutely unacceptable! How did you lose sight of her? How?" Mr. Hugh seized her wrist and stormed down the hallway. "Endland! Eevahn! We are looking for my daughter!"
"Rubbish," sniffed Endland.
"Excuse me?"
"Meep." Endland bounced away grumpily.
"Lilith haunts Dadda's dreams. Lilith killed Mama. Lilith is already dead." Emma's voice was getting more and more mechanical. "Lilith wants revenge on Dadda."
"What sort of – why revenge?"
"Dadda harboured fugitives." Apparently hypnotism made precocious eight-month-olds spew SAT vocabulary. "Daddy harboured Satow and Kane."
"Satow and Kane aren't fugitives."
"Who do we know could have taken her?" Mr. Hugh wondered, looking at Ema. She shrugged. He stared down the hallway for a moment before striding towards Mr. Allen's office.
"WHAT'S GOING ON? I HEARD SCREAMING," Karkat Vantas came running down the hall. "NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN THIS FUCKING PLACE."
"Well, you were the only troll who stayed, surprisingly enough." Mr. Hugh continued to walk down the hall. "Tell Feferi I send my greetings."
"Pisces," muttered Ema under her breath. Mr. Hugh raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"Satow and Kane took something from Lilith," Emma whispered, her eyes still fixated on the lights swirling above her. "They took a time machine that she had been working on. They killed Agnes Hill, guardian of the time machine."
The door to the office slammed open and Mr. Hugh, Ema, and Karkat were standing in the doorway, varying degrees of shock and anger etched on their faces.
"What's going on?" Mr. Hugh demanded, glaring at Mr. Allen.
"Shush. Something's happening," Mr. Allen replied quietly. "Emma, why is the time machine important?"
"You can't do this to my daughter!"
"My suspicions exactly!" Michael Arch declared triumphantly. "This was unethical from the beginning!"
"SHUT UP. THE PLOT NEEDS TO THICKEN," Karkat snapped, breaking the fourth wall for the fourth time.
All eyes went back to Emma, who had gotten up on her feet and reached for the lights.
"Satow and Kane are Dadda and Mama from the Mirror Multiverse," Emma intoned as she raised herself on tiptoes. "Satow and Kane have the suitcase. Satow and Kane have the suitcase. Satow and Kane –"
"Stop it!" Mr. Hugh grabbed Emma and pulled her away from the lights. The spell ended. Emma began to cry. Mr. Hugh shoved Emma into Ema's arms and advanced on Mr. Allen, face furious. "What in the world are you trying to do?"
Mr. Allen looked at him coolly. "Your daughter holds a key," he replied, even as Mr. Hugh bristled and steamed. Shinbun and the Magic Trio took that as an excellent cue to sidle away. "She has been communicating with someone she calls her mother –"
"Nothing wrong with a girl trying to find a mother she will never have, is there?"
"The problem is, Hughie, that Takara is dead. She shouldn't be haunting dreams."
"Neither should Lilith!"
"The answer has just been said." Mr. Allen steeped his fingers again and looked at Mr. Hugh levelly. "The Takara that has been talking to Emma is actually Kane, and the Lilith that plagues your dreams is a version of Lilith from the Mirror Multiverse."
"But –"
"Hughie, think about it. It coincides with the reports, doesn't it? This is why we need to get you into FicPsych. The denizens of the Mirror Multiverse are trying to infiltrate us for some reason. You and your daughter must close your minds. It's crucial to preserving the barrier."
They discovered a paper at noon while digging through Satow and Kane's former room. Jennifer thought it was irrelevant because it was merely a string of letters and numbers. R'lyeh thought differently.
The letters and numbers had, after all, been formatted in a way similar to that of the input system on the Remote Activator. There were four slots to dictate the Canon, the fanfic, the location, and the time. The Canon, or the primary Remote Activator code, was always three letters or numbers. Everything else varied.
"You've been staring at that piece of paper for ages," Jennifer remarked after a moment. R'lyeh looked up from his paper with raised eyebrows. "Believe me, that's just rubbish."
"I wouldn't think so," R'lyeh replied calmly. "It seems like coordinates to me."
"I thought coordinates were only numbers in ordered pairs."
"You think of coordinates in such basic, human forms." R'lyeh smirked. "I comprehend this completely."
"Bully for you." Jennifer had pulled out a desk drawer and uncovered a book. "Hey, look, a book."
"You are a poet and you did not know it," deadpanned R'lyeh. Jennifer smiled slightly. "What is it about?"
"It's …" Jennifer opened the notebook. "It's about the Chronotransporter."
R'lyeh leaned over to look at the notebook, pressing lightly against Jennifer as he did so. She did not move; in fact, she seemed to be leaning towards him as she flipped the pages silently.
"Notes," R'lyeh muttered. "Those must be notes on how it was created! This… this is…" he paused. "Good."
"Understatement of the past few cycles," Jennifer retorted. "This is fucking brilliant! It's our ticket out of here!"
R'lyeh frowned. "But that does not give the location. This does." He held up his paper. "I hold the 'ticket out of here' as you so elegantly put it."
"Well, then give it over so I can write it on the calendar!"
"No."
Jennifer paused. "No?" she echoed.
R'lyeh nodded. "No," he said. "I'd like to stay here a bit longer."
Jennifer's jaw dropped, and then she started laughing. "Are you pulling my leg?" she demanded.
"My hands are here."
"I meant, are you joking? I thought you were all for getting out of here as quickly as possible!"
"Now that –"
"Oh, is it because over here you don't have to face responsibility for your actions?" Jennifer's voice seemed to get shriller and shriller by the minute. "Is it that? That you can nuke the school and kill the students because you feel like it? Is that so?"
"It's partly true –"
"Grow up!" Jennifer shot him the dirtiest look she could muster. "Look at you, you overgrown child, refusing to leave this fucking time loop just so that you can blow things up and… have you only thought of yourself these past few days? Give me that paper!"
R'lyeh held it at arm's length. Jennifer had to lean on him in her attempt to grab it. All the blood in his body seemed to be draining into other unmentionable parts. R'lyeh muttered several curses to himself.
"This isn't funny! Give me the paper!"
"No!" R'lyeh darted away from her, tearing the paper up as he went. Jennifer chased him, knocking over the folding screen. "Look, I've got other reasons to stay here! Allow me show you!"
"Why did you just tear up that paper? You heartless worm!"
R'lyeh paused in his running and whirled around to face her, eyes furious.
"You. Will. Not. Call. Me. That," he growled, advancing on her and pinning her against the wall.
To his surprise, Jennifer suddenly deflated; a wide-eyed look appeared in her eyes. Her breath quickened; her skin became clammy.
"Let me go!" she screamed. "LET ME GO!"
R'lyeh immediately let go; Jennifer tore down the hall, sobbing. R'lyeh looked at his hands, unsure of what just happened.
Moments later, he heard the sound of a gun going off. The world went white.
Beep, beep, beep, beep…