"Are you ready for this?"
"As ready as I'm gonna be!"
Nia smiled as she stood outside behind the Vanguard base. Alexander, Astro, her father, and a few other members of the Vanguard were outside with her. Oh, and AJ of course. "You really sure about this blondie? I mean, I don't totally get what's going on, but if this is really that dangerous then maybe you should-"
She reached out and grabbed AJ's hand. "Trust me, everything is going to be fine. I have a plan… a plan you helped me figure out actually," she said.
AJ looked confused. "Wait, really?"
"I'm gonna request that handholding be kept to a minimum," Astro said as he approached the two, a scowl on his face. "You need to be focusing on the task at hand here. Whatever this plan of yours is won't be easy to pull off. Not if Titania is involved."
The blonde waved him off. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine. It's full proof."
"You just told me inside that it wasn't…"
"Yeah but that was like, five minutes ago. I've had time to iron out all the details."
Alexander sighed as he made his way over towards Nia. "Well, regardless of how 'full proof' your plan is, we need to take precautions. I'll put up a force field around you while you confront Titania. We don't know if she'll have control during this little endeavor. Theoretically you should both be too tied up for either to take control, but better safe than sorry."
The others stood back a few feet and just watched. "You sure we should be letting Mr. Billionaire over there do this? His family is known for pulling some shady shit. For all we know he could be trying to steal her powers for himself or some shit," Cayenne said, crossing her arms.
"We're a little out of our depth here Cayenne," Kingsley said. "Besides, her father seems to trust him at least. I'm sure he and Astro will be able to pick up if he's really trying something. And if they do we'll jump in."
"Well what do we do if that little shit talker pops out again?" Cayenne asked, glaring. "Because Nia or not, if she starts going buckwild and tearing shit up, I'm gonna knock her fucking head off."
Envie smiled. "Or we could just throw AJ at her. I'm sure we could sneak up on her while she snatches up another smooch," she teased.
Junji's eyes widened. "Wait, Titania kissed AJ?! When did that happen?!" Envie and Olevia both moved over and covered the boy's mouth, but it was too late.
Nia whipped her head around, and AJ's face turned crimson. "Wait?! What did she do?!"
Astro's eyes turned black and he looked towards AJ, who shrunk back in fear. "When this is all over, you and I are having a very long conversation…"
Nia's cheeks were glowing brightly, but she looked frustrated. "I can't believe she did that! That's not fair! I'm not even going to remember it!" She was gonna bring this up when she got in there!
Uran looked back and forth at all of them. "Okay… so, I assume we're ready to begin?"
Nia nodded, and stepped back a few feet before taking a seat on the ground. "Alright. I'm going to use a spell to put you in a bit of a trance. You'll be in a deep sleep, and will sink down to your subconscious," Alexander explained. "Once there, it's up to you to deal with Titania. You have to be careful. The subconscious is a very odd and unpredictable place. Anything could happen while there, so stay on your toes."
"Got it," the blonde said before closing her eyes. "I'll be back in a bit."
"Let's hope so. Good luck Nia."
Alexander placed a finger on her forehead, and then began muttering something. Nia kept her eyes closed and focused, and soon… she started to feel tired. Her head began to nod as Alexander backed away and held his hands up, creating a small force field around her. "Stand back everyone. On the off chance Titania gains control, we need to have some distance," he warned.
Nia slowly began to drift off to sleep, everything around her fading out…
"She's gonna be okay right?" AJ asked, looking towards Astro.
"She's gonna be fine. You on the other hand…"
"I didn't do anything!"
Nia gasped as her eyes shot open. She quickly looked around to see where she was and… well, she guessed the spell worked, because she definitely wasn't outside of the Vanguard base anymore. This looked like… actually it didn't look like anywhere. It was just pitch black. Darkness, in every direction.
"Okay… is this actually my sub-thingy? I thought it might be… less depressing." She took a step forward, and the moment her foot touched the ground, a light shot up. She jumped back as it slowly spread and illuminated the entire floor. She looked around and saw that the ground turned into some kind of painting?
It looked like stained glass, and it had a mix of blue, pink, and yellow all over it. It was decorated with small pictures of butterflies and shields. It also had people on it. There was her mother, and Astro. A picture of AJ, Visas, and Envie. There were a few others there too. All of them were people close to her.
"So I guess this really is my dream world thingy… it's pretty."
"What are you doing here?"
Nia jumped once again and then turned around to see… her? Or at least it sort of looked like her. Her eyes were glowing, and her hair looked sort of different. Her blue clothes had all turned pink too. "Oh wow… is that what I look like when I transform? I look awesome," she said smiling.
Titania held her hand out and then flicked her finger. A bust of wind suddenly shot upwards, sending Nia flying back and tumbling against the ground. "You don't belong here. This is my domain," she said glaring.
Nia groaned and sat up. "Rude! Here I am going out of my way to meet you and that's the first thing you do when we come face to face?" she asked. Rather than answer, Titania raised her hand and sent another blast of wind her way. Nia just barely managed to jump out of the way. "Hey! Knock it off!"
"You were absolutely foolish to come here. Did you really think you'd be able to defeat me? This power is mine, and mine alone," Titania said holding her finger up. A ball of energy appeared over it, which she aimed at Nia.
Nia held her hands up. "Wait, hold on! I'm not here to fight!"
"Then you truly did waste your time…"
She launched the attack at the princess, and Nia held her hands out to defend herself. The ball of magic pushed her back a few feet, but with a yell Nia managed to push it and send it flying upwards. It went flying off into the distance, eventually just disappearing into the darkness.
Nia shook and blew on her hands. "Ah! That hurt!" she whined. She looked back towards Titania with a frown. "Knock it off, I just want to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you," Titania said, preparing to attack once more.
"Well I have a lot to say to you! So just stop for a minute and let me talk!"
"I don't want to listen to you either!"
Nia was about to yell back at her, but then stopped. She crossed her arms and then took a seat. "Well, too bad. Because I'm not fighting you," she said.
"Well, then this will somehow be even easier than expected." Titania charged at her, fist raised and glowing brightly as she prepared to strike. Nia just sat and watched as she sped towards her. Titania swung her fist, aiming it right at the other girl's face. But just as she was about to land, she suddenly stopped. The winged girl grit her teeth and glared down at her. "Fight back…"
Nia shook her head. "No."
"I said fight back!" Titania ordered. "FIght back or I'll just beat you!"
"No you won't," Nia said before standing back up to face her. "Because I wouldn't. And when you get down to it we're the same person…"
"Do you think she's gonna be okay?"
Astro looked down towards AJ, who was trying and failing not to look nervous. It had only been a few minutes since Nia seemed to have gone under, but Titania hadn't broken loose so… that was a good thing he supposed. "She's going to be fine. Have some faith in her."
Cayenne scoffed. "Aren't you one to talk. You're the most overprotective dick of an older brother I ever met," she said.
He scowled. "I'm allowed to worry about my little sister, you bug eyed brute."
AJ spoke up and got his attention back before they started to really go at it. "Yeah, I know. But it's just… Titania is like super dangerous right? I know blondie is tough, but can she really tangle with something like that?"
"Nia said she had a plan… and as worried as I am, I'm choosing to believe that this plan will somehow be able succeed."
"Do you actually think it is though?"
"We don't have many other options but to believe at this point, so yes."
"I believe it'll work out!" Uran said happily. They turned towards him looking a little surprised. He was smiling confidently. "I recognize that look she had in her eye. It's the same one Star would get when she had a crazy scheme going on. So I'm positive that everything will work out for the better. She is her mother's daughter after all."
Astro hummed, and AJ leaned over towards him. "How often do your mom's plans usually work out?" he muttered.
"Fifty-fifty…"
He really hoped Nia was okay.
"Why you?" Titania growled, glaring down at Nia. The two of them stood before one another, the former with a displeased expression across her face. "Why does everyone care about getting you back so badly? I'm so much better than you."
Nia scoffed. "Wow, that didn't hurt my feelings at all..."
"It's the truth," Titania said. "I'm easily a hundred times more powerful than you. I know what I'm doing. I know what I want, and I take it. You? You can't even keep yourself under control long enough to keep me at bay. I'm better in every single way, and yet everyone else out there is so desperate you have you."
Nia frowned. "Maybe because I'm not randomly attacking and kissing people," she said, crossing her arms. Her cheeks were lighting up. "I can't believe you did that."
"I can't believe you hadn't yet," Titania said right back. "Watching you from in here, bumbling around, making an absolute fool of yourself. It's insufferable. I won't have it anymore. If you have any pride at all you'll let me take control and settle this. I'll actually get things done."
"That's not happening," Nia said sternly. "You overdo things way too much. I saw all the damage you did outside the base. And I don't even want to know what you did to Astro."
"I beat him, like you should have been able to."
"That's not the point. I'm not going to let you take control if you-"
"I'm not asking permission!"
Titania flew up and into the other girl's face, but Nia stood her ground. "Listen, we shouldn't be arguing over whose in control anyway. We should be working together," Nia said calmly.
Titania's eyes widened. "Excuse me?" she asked. "Working together? And why exactly would I want to work together with you when I can settle everything on my own? I don't need you. Nobody needs you. You're only in the way."
"We're the same person," Nia stated bluntly.
"We are not the same-!"
"Yes we are!" Nia shouted back. "You might be way more mean and powerful, but you're still a part of me! It's why you fought to protect our friends from Cressida. It's why you still hung around the Vanguard base even though you know they couldn't have stopped you from leaving. And it's why… you know, you kissed AJ…"
Titania huffed. "Cressida was just in my way, and I only continued lingering around the base because I had nothing better to do. As for AJ, I've already made my feeling on him abundantly clear," she said.
"Oh c'mon," Nia whined. "You care about the same stuff I care about. You want to stop Oberon don't you? You want to keep everyone from being hurt trying to protect us? Then stop causing trouble and help me out here."
"Why should I be the one helping you?! Why shouldn't I be the one in control?!"
Nia narrowed her eyes. "You know full well why. I'm still feeling worn out from everything you put us through. I'm not ready to use how much power you use. I need to use what I can until we're good enough to-"
"You keep saying we, even though you mean you," Titania argued. "You expect me to settle for just sitting in the background? No, I'm not staying here. It's not fair. I won't."
Nia frowned. "Do you think I'm just going to leave you down here?" she asked. "That I just want to leech off your power? I'm not saying I want you to just stay here, I just want us to meet halfway."
"There is no meeting halfway. One of us is in control, the other isn't. And I'm not planning on being the latter."
Nia sighed. "Look, I'm not going to pretend that I know how all of this works. It's all super confusing to me and I pretty much just came down here flying blind," she admitted. Titania rolled her eyes. "But I meant what I said. We're both the same person, and I'm way past putting any part of myself down because I'm scared."
She held her hand out towards her. "You don't want to be stuck down here, fine. Then let's work something out. A schedule or something… I don't know."
"You honestly expect to bargain with me over this?"
"I mean… kind of."
"...I don't intend to be short changed…"
Astro kept his eyes locked on his baby sister. It had almost been an hour, and he was starting to get more than a little worried. He had expected something to happen. Even if it was Titania taking over again. What could be going on that would take this long?
"She's taking too long," AJ muttered.
"Well, we knew this wasn't going to be easy. We should give her a bit more time," Uran said. It was clear he was also worried, but he was doing his best to hide it. "A few more minutes, then we'll pull her out."
Alexander hummed. Not even he was sure what was going on at this point. In the best case scenario Nia would come back a little worse for wear. In the worst case… well, between the Vanguard and himself he was mostly sure they could stop Titania.
Suddenly, they noticed Nia moved. Everyone seemed to tense up as the girl stood up and stretched her arms. "Oh man, I feel really stiff. How long was I in there?" she asked, turning towards them. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh thank god," Astro said. He didn't want to have to tangle with Titania again. Even if he could deal with her, it wouldn't make it any less painful.
Alexander lowered the force field as Astro and AJ both made their way towards her. "Glad you're okay blondie," AJ said before giving the girl a hug. Nia smiled and hugged him right back
Astro scowled before reaching down and prying the two apart. "Yes, very nice. You don't need to hug it out," he said separating the two. He looked down to Nia. "I'm assuming that everything worked out then?"
Nia smiled, then suddenly began glowing. Both Astro and AJ jumped slightly as she changed into her mewberty form. "Oh crap!" AJ yelled holding his hands up. Astro reached down and grabbed his sword.
"Guys, it's okay, it's still me," Nia said laughing. They looked closer, and sure enough, while her eyes were glowing they hadn't changed like they had when she was Titania. "I told you guys everything would work out. I may not be as powerful as Titania, not yet anyway, but at least I can control it."
Astro smiled. "Wow, I can't believe it. You did it. How?"
"Of course she did!" Uran said proudly. "Like I said, we had nothing to worry about… but between you and me, just how did you do it?"
"Well, we just had a talk and came to an agreement. After what AJ said I realized it was simple. We want the same things, so there wasn't any point in making things harder for each other," she explained. "She's going to help me out dealing with Oberon, and I'm… going to let her have a bit more free time."
Astro looked confused. "Free time…? Wait, does that mean…?"
"She's coming back?!" AJ asked.
"Sometimes… we still haven't completely worked out a schedule yet..."
Astro grabbed his head. "Fuck!"