Episode 11: How Shimmer Left Home And Set Off On Her Own
Three months ago in Jump City, way down the coast from Titans Tower, there sat a Mister Whiskers Cat Food Company manufacturing plant. Only, the thing was, they... didn't actually make cat food there anymore.
Shimmer yawned. It was early in the morning, and the sunshine was lighting up her room, but she didn't want to get up yet. Beside her, Pixy moaned in complaint. "Still sleepy." She murmured.
Shimmer giggled softly and cuddled in closer to her. "Shhh, it's okay. We don't have to get up yet." She promised her.
"Mm, okay..." Pixy agreed, dozing off again. Shimmer closed her eyes and sighed, feeling better about sleeping in for a little while longer. It wasn't just her bed though, she shared it with her twin sister Glimmer, and another set of twins named Mixy & Pixy. There were limited amounts of beds available, and she had lots and lots of sisters. Besides, she really liked having Glimmer, Mixy, and Pixy close to her. She'd always had Glimmer with her, and they'd had Pixy & Mixy with them since not long after they were born. She couldn't imagine not having them with her forever, or at least until she died (which was hopefully not going to be anytime soon).
Momma had told them that when they took over Earth and had all the food they'd ever need, that they'd live out in the open and wouldn't have to hide anymore. They'd be in charge and could have homes of their own, and that some of them might even end up being mommas themselves one day. You had to be strong to be a momma though, so... Shimmer didn't know if she ever would. She didn't know if she wanted to, either. Pixy might though. Pixy was strong. She almost never lost at sparring. Shimmer lost all the time... probably because she could never manage to really want to fight anyone. She did it because she was expected to, but she knew her heart wasn't in it.
Some of their sisters thought she was weird, and, she had to admit, that did bother her... But Shimmer, Mixy, and Pixy didn't think that. They loved her, and they always took care of her.
She daydreamed sometimes of when they took over Earth, that they'd have a house of their own together.
She honestly wished that momma would just listen to Whimsy and Mimsy though, about the cloning thing. Then they could skip the taking over the Earth part and just have normal lives, like the humans she snuck out to see sometimes. Glimmer didn't like her doing that, but had made her promise to always take her along when she went. Pixy and Mixy came along sometimes too.
It bothered her, really... the idea of eating them. A lot of them looked weird, it was true (sometimes even downright bizarre), but some of them looked just like they did... just, you know, with only two eyes for some reason. She couldn't quite get herself to feel alright with eating another girl, just because she only had two eyes. A lot of her sisters felt the same way about it and preferred eating the boy humans whenever there was a choice about it.
Someone stirred in bed with her; either Mixy or Glimmer, she knew, because she was snuggled into Pixy way too much for her not to notice if it was her. Someone yawned then, and Shimmer could tell it was Mixy, because Glimmer's yawned sounded just like her own yawn, just like Mixy's sounded like Pixy's. A lot of her sisters were twins, about two-thirds. Apparently, that was about a typical ratio for Zemrals. Even momma had had a twin when she'd been growing up back on one of the home worlds; but momma's twin, Fae, had become a momma first, and Mae had followed her off-world and through a dimensional portal, along with some of their other sisters, and Fae's first batch of daughters. They'd been attacked by Thanagarians though, and Mae had gotten scared. She'd run away and come here.
It'd taken a long time for her to get strong enough to become a momma.
Shimmer understood wanting to run away sometimes though. If she thought Glimmer, Pixy, and Mixy would go with her, she definitely would run away... probably. She was worried about food though. Here, the others hunted humans for them, while the four of them were assigned to space ship construction. She didn't want to hunt humans, so she needed to come up with a different food they could eat. If she could do that. If she had a plan... If she did, then she thought she could probably convince Pixy to run away with her. Maybe not because of the not having to eat humans things (she knew Pixy didn't feel the same way about that that she did), then she thought she might be able to convince Pixy that momma's plans were too dangerous, and that it would be better to go find someplace safe until they found out if momma ended up winning or not.
If she convinced Pixy, then Pixy would convince Mixy and Glimmer, and Mixy and Glimmer would for sure follow along. Mixy and Glimmer almost always did what Pixy said, because she was stronger. Shimmer herself didn't necessarily think that was fair, just following her because she was better at sparring, but... it wasn't like she didn't want to make Pixy happy either, but that was for a different reason: because Pixy was her girlfriend and she really, really liked kissing her, having sex with her, and snuggling up with her in bed like she was now. She just... wished Pixy would listen to her more.
Oh, Pixy cared about her, and was always super protective of her, growling at anyone who said Shimmer was weird, but she... sometimes got the feeling she just did it because it was how it had always been. Her and Pixy, Glimmer and Mixy. It felt like they'd always been a set. Sure, they all had other friends, but they were almost always together.
Still, even for all that, Pixy just... never seemed to want to really understand her somehow. She could talk and talk, and Pixy would listen, but not really listen. She'd just say she had a pretty voice and silly ideas and ask if they could make out, which lead to sex. That part, Shimmer liked of course, but, in a way, it also... made her feel kind of lonely.
Glimmer listened to her more, and even kind of agreed with her sometimes, but, Shimmer could tell, she didn't really want anything to change. She liked things like they were and always said that things would be better when they conquered Earth like momma was planning to do.
Maybe also, she felt jealous of Glimmer sometimes, of how her relationship with Mixy was better than hers and Pixy's felt some days.
"Sister..." Glimmer said, and Shimmer felt hands on her shoulder rocking her. "Shimmer, wake up already... Wake up..." Glimmer insisted, whining a little.
Shimmer moaned in protest. "Why...?" She asked.
"I'm hungry." Glimmer explained. "Mixy is too."
"I am..." Mixy said, yawning. "Can't you smell the new food?" She asked.
Shimmer groaned a little, because of course she could smell it, now that they'd said it. "You go." Shimmer told her stubbornly, just wanting to stay in bed with Pixy, who was always super lazy in the mornings. Shimmer liked that about her.
Glimmer seemed to hesitate. "You should come with us though. It's weird going places without you." She complained.
"It is weird." Mixy agreed, crawling over to the other side to start to nudge at Pixy. "Come on, Pixy. Hungry now..." She complained to her sister.
Then, of course, Glimmer started doing it again too, to her, and Shimmer couldn't help but start giggling at how silly this was.
Pixy, predictably, pounced on Mixy after a while and they started to roll around tousling with each other. Only in play, of course. They always did that though, and Mixy always let Pixy win... or, at least, never seemed to really try to win.
Shimmer sat up, yawning, and watching Pixy and Mixy with a bemused smile as Glimmer wrapped her arms around her shoulders from behind and lay her chin on her shoulder. "Love you, sister sister." Glimmer said what they always said to each other. Shimmer didn't know which of them had started it, but they were the only two who she'd ever heard saying it. It meant that, even though they were all sisters, twins seemed even more like sisters, double sisters.
"Love you, sister sister." Shimmer said back, nuzzling with her sister and feeling happy all over when Glimmer kissed her on the cheek.
Meanwhile, Pixy and Mixy had collapsed into their usual heap and were giggling with each other like they'd invented having fun. Pixy got up then, untangling herself from her sister. She went over to Simmer then and started kissing he good morning. "Morning..." Pixy murmured to her, sounding all sexy.
Shimmer was so weak when Pixy used that voice on her. "Morning." She said back, blushing a little and feeling lovesick, but also wistful because of what she'd been thinking about before, and because she knew they were going to go eat now, and she... really didn't want to think about what, or, um, you know, who they were going to be eating.
It was that day, after sparring practice, that Whimsy and Mimsy came over to them and said they'd all done well enough to qualify to go out as a hunting pack. Shimmer's mouth dropped open a little and she felt stupid for having put in so much more effort at sparring today because she was feeling so frustrated with things.
Whimsy gave her a sympathetic look when she saw her expression, but Shimmer didn't say anything and they left to go do whatever science things they did. Whimsy was her friend... So was Mimsy, kind of, but she and Whimsy talked sometimes, whereas Mimsy mostly only talked to her twin sister. Up until now, Shimmer, Glimmer, Pixy, and Mixy had all been assigned to ship building, you see, and Whimsy and Mimsy were in charge of that. They were in charge of most things, really, when you came down to it. The practical side of things, anyway. They were two of the oldest, and they were also probably the smartest.
Pixy looked happy, her and Mixy were jumping up and down and celebrating... Even though she knew Mixy was probably mostly just happy because Pixy was. Shimmer was like that where Glimmer was concerned a lot too, so she got what it was like to feel that way. Twins were just... closer than normal sisters were somehow. Even Whimsy and Mimsy didn't know why exactly, Shimmer had asked once. Anyway, that's probably why Glimmer was looking at her, looking indecisive and sympathetic, even though Shimmer could tell that she kind of wanted to be excited about the news too.
They were Zemrals, after all. This was supposed to just be a part of that, just part of what their species was all about. She knew that wasn't always true though, not exactly. Whimsy and Mimsy were proof of that. They didn't want to hunt humans either, they wanted to do cloning, and some others agreed with them about it too. Not momma though, and no one wanted to go against her, not really. She was momma, after all. You couldn't help but want to do what she said, want to make her proud and happy... Shimmer felt that way too, but, the trouble was, she didn't feel that way enough, apparently.
It was depressing.
Pixy caught her eyes then, all smiling, but then she tilted her head in question, the smile replaced by puzzlement. She went over and sat next to her. "What's wrong?" Pixy asked. "This is good news... right?" She asked.
Shimmer sighed. Pixy could be... kind of dense sometimes. She'd known that. "You know I don't like it very much. You know, eating humans like we do?" She said, even as Glimmer sat down behind her and hugged her for comfort. It did make her feel better. It always did.
Pixy sighed. "Yeah... I guess. But we can't do Whimsy's cloning thing; momma said. So, why not at least have fun, right?" She offered. "We have to eat, you know that. What if I promise we only hunt boy humans?" She offered.
"I'm all for that." Mixy agreed. "Eating other girls is weird, even if they're human ones." She said.
"You don't have to actually do the hunting part if you don't want to, either." Pixy offered, sounding optimistic and all looking on the bright side. "You and Glimmer can just be the lookouts. Mixy and me can take care of the actual hunting part." Pixy finished hopefully.
Shimmer let out a breath. "Yeah... okay." She agreed reluctantly, not seeing that she had much of a choice. It was obvious Pixy was right. They had to eat, and she didn't have a plan for how else they could do that. Not yet, anyway.
Pixy broke out into a happy smile and kissed her. "Just wait, you'll have fun after all. You'll see. And I'll keep you safe too. Just try? To have fun with this? For me, okay?" She asked, still hopeful, like she thought that, once Shimmer actually tried hunting for herself, that of course she'd realize that it wasn't as bad as she'd thought. Shimmer had her doubts. Now, more than ever, in fact.
Maybe that was cowardly—maybe she was cowardly—but it'd been easier to just go along when she'd never actually seen the hunting part... She'd seen the food preparation once, but she'd just... tried not to think about it after that. It hadn't worked, really, the not thinking about it... and now, she couldn't just play pretend anymore, could she?
She let out a breath. "Yeah, okay." Shimmer agreed, part of her wondering if it was possible Pixy could be right about things? She didn't know if she wanted that or not. She didn't think she did... but she also didn't like feeling this way, either. It would be so much easier if she didn't... So much easier, if she was just more like the others were about this.
Later, that afternoon, Pixy, using one of Whimsy and Mimsy's human life signs trackers, had led them to an old abandoned factory where there were three boy humans had gotten themselves separated from their herd somehow. Pixy said it was perfect for a hunt, especially their first one, where they especially didn't want to take any chances.
Shimmer at least agreed with the not taking any chances part, and so did the others of course, both because it made sense and because it was Pixy saying it.
After they arrived, Shimmer got given the human tracker and the others went inside, leaving her to watch to make sure more humans didn't come here. Inside, Glimmer would be the inside lookout, and act as reinforcement if Pixy and Mixy ran into trouble, while Pixy and Mixy would do the hunting part. They didn't need the tracker for that anymore, so Shimmer could use it to help her keep watch. Even Shimmer could tell there were humans inside by the scent when they were this close. Pixy, Mixy, and Glimmer would have no trouble at all finding the humans inside that building, none of her sisters would in their place. It would be harder for Glimmer to make herself hang back than it would be for Pixy and Mixy to find the humans. Even now, Shimmer herself did feel a small urge to go inside and help them... hunt with them.
They were a family, and, momma always said, it was their responsibility to always make sure they all had enough to eat. Shimmer understood that, really she did. She felt it. She felt that bond, between her own heart and her sisters. Especially to Glimmer's heart, and to Pixy's and Mixy's. She just... wished there was another way.
She was a little distracted by her thoughts by this point, so she was surprised when she caught another human scent on the breeze. It was close too, closer than it should be. She looked down at her humans tracker and felt dread wash over her when she saw that, yeah, one was heading right this way.
Nervous and indecisive, she tried to think of what she should do.
Pixy would say that she had to hunt this one too, if it got close enough that it might discover them. Secrecy was a rule, and momma would be so very, very upset with them if Shimmer failed to keep the secret. She wouldn't just blame her either, she'd blame Glimmer, Pixy, and Mixy too, Shimmer was sure of it. They were a hunting pack now, after all, and that meant they were all responsible to keep each other safe and to make sure the rules were always followed.
She sat there on the roof of the building, frozen with fretting, when she saw her: The girl, walking toward her, towards the building.
Shimmer swallowed. Even from here, she looked pretty... like someone you could really enjoy kissing with for sure...
She let out a breath, and, just like that, it was simple: she had to save that girl. She couldn't live with herself otherwise.
So, she jumped down off the three story factory and landed on her feet (Zemrals can fall from pretty much any height and not get hurt, you might recall). Then she headed off towards the girl, closing her third eye and hiding it, trying to make herself look and act as human as possible. They all practiced this at home. It was mandatory, so they'd all be able to survive if they ever got separated from the others somehow.
She rushed on towards the girl, only slowing down when she came within view of her.
The girl saw her and looked startled, but then relaxed and seemed to come to the conclusion that she wasn't a threat. Shimmer knew she wasn't, but she also knew that she was supposed to be.
"Hi!" Shimmer called to her.
"Hi..." The girl said back, looking at her in... kind of a flirty way. Shimmer smiled, the attention making her feel good. "I um, wasn't expecting... So, what's your name? I'm Macy." The girl introduced herself.
"Oh, uh, right. My name's Shimmer." Shimmer told her, immediately realizing she should have used a fake name, because human girls weren't normally named the same way momma had named them. For one thing, it was traditional among Zemrals that, for twins, their names always had to rhyme together. Shimmer liked that tradition though. Still, she should have called herself... Sally or something, right? That had been part of the training on secret keeping, now that she thought about it, but, oh well, too late.
"Shimmer, huh? That's a pretty name." Macy said, stepping closer.
"You think so?" Shimmer asked, pleased and relieved (also flattered).
"Yeah, totally." Macy said. "So, um, what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" She asked.
Thinking fast, Shimmer shrugged. "Just walking, really. It's um, it's easier to think sometimes, if there's no one else around." She explained, hoping the lie would convince Macy. At least it was true that she really did think that about walking and how it was easier to think that way sometimes.
"Yeah... I get that." Macy said, sounding like she really did.
"Is um... Is that why you came here too?" Shimmer ventured, realizing she had to move this along faster, otherwise the others might come out and see what she was doing, then... well, Shimmer didn't want to have to try to deal with that. It would be awkward, and she wasn't entirely sure Pixy wouldn't insist on taking Macy home as food if she thought Macy might suspect them of human hunting. That was part of mamma's keep the secret rule, after all: take no chances; which, in this case, might mean when it doubt, eat the witness. Of course, they could use the third eye trick instead, but... it didn't always stick when you did that. It did more often than not, but, really, that wasn't actually what it was meant for. It was meant to capture food, not convince food they'd never seen you. You had to do it right for that part to work, and it wasn't easy to tell when you got it wrong. It depended on the human, and on you, and Shimmer didn't really have that much practice at it (neither did Pixy, Mixy, or Glimmer for that matter).
Macy shook her head. "I wish. No, I came here looking for my stupid brother, Devin. He and his friends hang out here sometimes, doing parkour or whatever. It's dangerous though, you know? Mom hates that he does it." She admitted to her.
"...Your brother, huh?" Shimmer asked, feeling guilt well up inside her, threatening to overwhelm her. She knew that human mommas could give birth to both species of humans, so a boy human could be a girl human's sister, or, yeah, they called it brother when it was a boy human, like Macy had just said. Which seemed just... really weird, she had to admit, but humans were aliens, so, she figured it just made sense that things would work different with them. She didn't understand it, really, and it made her curious to find out more about them, but that wasn't important right now. She thought about what she'd feel like if she was in Macy's place, and it was Glimmer in that factory, being hunted for food... She shivered, and couldn't stand thinking about it for more than a few seconds before her mind just refused to let her keep going there. The way it had started to make her feel... she'd never felt that way before, and she didn't want to ever again.
"Yeah, he's kind of a goof, but I still gotta love him, you know?" Macy said.
Shimmer swallowed. "Um, yeah... Yeah, I know." Shimmer admitted, no longer at all in the mood to flirt or anything. She needed to get Macy away from here, but... what about Macy's brother? "You um, you want me to help you look for him?" She asked, totally making this up as she went.
"Yeah, I'd... really like the company, actually. Thanks." Macy told her, sounding a little shy, but also grateful to her for offing to help her.
Shimmer bit her lower lip, feeling like she needed a shower or something. She knew Macy wasn't trying to, but it was like everything she said was purposefully designed to make Shimmer feel worse about... well, almost everything, really... "Come on, let's go find that brother of yours then." Shimmer said, reaching out to take Macy's hand and opening her third eye as she did. She didn't know if she'd be able to make Macy forget this forever, but, right now, that didn't matter to her as much to her as protecting her did.
Macy gasped, her eyes opening wider, even as Shimmer used her third eye to go inside Macy's mind and make her hers. "Mine now..." Shimmer said the words she'd been taught to say, voice soft and guilt-ridden.
"Yours now." Macy agreed, looking at her adoringly, waiting to be told what to do.
"Come on. I've um, I've gotta find some place to hide you, so you'll be safe." She told her.
"Okay. Whatever you want." Macy agreed easily, letting Shimmer sweep her up in her arms and carry her far enough away so that the others wouldn't be able to sniff her out very easily.
"Hold on tight." She told Macy. Macy did, snuggling up to her, completely trusting her (which only made Shimmer feel like she needed to protect her all the more). Shimmer ran fast, as fast as she could, towards the apartment building next door. When she got there, she knocked on the first door she came to. An old lady answered and Shimmer used her third eye on her and told her to take care of Macy until she got back. She told Macy not to worry, that she'd get her brother back for her. Macy seemed grateful... but she didn't know if that was real, or because she'd captured her mind... She didn't exactly feel that great about that part either, the taking over Macy's mind thing, when Macy had already trusted in her... It felt like she'd betrayed her. Which, yeah, okay... she'd kind of done that... but it had been for a good reason, she told herself.
With Macy safe, Shimmer turned and ran back towards the factory, trying frantically to figure out how she was going to convince the others to let Devin go... preferably, without telling them about Macy. By the time she came to a stop though, seeing Pixy, Mixy, and Glimmer coming out of the factory, each with a human boy slung over their shoulder, she still had no idea what she was going to do or say.
"Shimmer, there you are!" Pixy called to her in relief, and the others rushed over to surround her, concerned.
"What happened?" Glimmer asked, anxious, touching Shimmer's shoulder and looking her over, trying to satisfy herself that Shimmer wasn't hurt at all.
"Were we discovered?" Mixy asked, looking around them, worried.
"Um..." Shimmer shook her head. "No, um, I mean... not exactly?" She found herself saying. Okay, so this obviously wasn't going to work. She'd never had to lie to Pixy or Mixy before, and for sure not to Glimmer. She was somehow pretty certain that her brain would just plain refuse to cooperate with her if she even tried to do that. She'd... just have to tell the truth and hope for the best. They'd take her side... wouldn't they?
"What's that mean?" Pixy asked, furrowing her brow.
"There... was a girl. Her name was Macy. She was nice. She came here, looking for her brother, Devin." Shimmer explained.
"One of these, you mean?" Mixy asked, talking about the human boys they'd just caught to eat.
"Um, yeah... I pretended to be a human and I talked to her for a little while." Shimmer told her.
"So, where is she then?" Pixy asked, clearly confused and not getting it; which... wasn't surprising. Pixy usually took a while to understand things; when she even bothered to try, that was. It made sense that Pixy was wondering though, really, now that Shimmer thought about it. If Macy had come here looking for her brother, then how had Shimmer made her leave without doing the eye thing, which they weren't supposed to do on humans that they weren't planning to eat?
"Safe." Shimmer admitted reluctantly.
"...What did you do, Shimmer?" Pixy asked, sounding worried now.
"I told you: I kept her safe. I did the eye thing, but I could tell it worked, I'm sure it did." Shimmer told her, realizing it was true that she was. She'd felt a connection there, and somehow felt like, because Macy had been flirting with her and was attracted to her, it would make her more, um... more vulnerable to her. "She doesn't know about us, I... I like her. I... I want to give her her brother back." She told her, told them, taking a stand on this because she felt like she had to.
The others looked between themselves, none of them looking like they knew what to do next.
"But... They're food. We caught them." Mixy said about the human boys they'd caught, sounding like she really didn't like the idea of giving up food. Shimmer understood that. Food was... really important, and the idea of giving it up once it was hers wasn't easy to make herself want to do either, but... it felt like stopping Macy from being sad was even more important. More important to her right now than almost anything else.
"So? It's... It's just one human. We can get more. There are plenty." Shimmer pleaded. She wasn't exactly as okay with the get more part anymore either, but it wasn't like she just... They had to eat—all of them did, even her. She realized they had to be practical about it. She did... Sort of, anyway. "Can't we just let this one go? Please?" She asked, hopefully.
Pixy opened her mouth as if to say something, but then stopped, furrowing her brow in thought.
"Are you sure about this, Shimmer?" Glimmer asked, sounding conflicted. She wanted the food because it felt like hers now, and that wasn't a feeling that was easy to go against, but she also didn't want to go against her twin. Shimmer understood that, really she did. She felt the same way whenever she and Glimmer disagreed about something. It just felt... The urge to make the feeling stop could be really strong, so she knew Glimmer had to be feeling pulled in two directions right now. Shimmer felt bad about that, really she did... but saving Macy's brother was worth it. Glimmer would understand if she'd met Macy too, Shimmer was sure of it.
"I am sure." Shimmer told her earnestly. "I really am." She told her, feeling like she could finally say that about something, and... it was a very good feeling.
"What does this mean though?" Mixy asked.
They all looked to her. "What does what mean?" Shimmer asked, not catching on.
"Well... I know you... You have feelings about this, about humans, I mean. You don't like eating them, do you?" Mixy asked. She wasn't saying it to be mean though, she was saying it because she cared, Shimmer could tell that easily.
"I..." Shimmer sighed, and had to shake her head. "No, I mean... they taste yummy, I know that... and I know there's not anything else to eat, except maybe if Whimsy and Mimsy-"
"But they won't." Mixy pointed out gently, interrupting her. "They've said they won't go against momma for that, so we can't eat clones. So... is it... is it just this one human, because um, because his sister's a cute human girl who flirted with you or something? Because I could get that, anyone could. Human girls look just like us mostly, so it's easy to want to do flirty sex things with them instead of eat them, so... it's hard sometimes." Mixy and Glimmer had had threesome sex with one once, one of the times they'd snuck out together, so Shimmer knew she was talking from experience. "So, if that's all it is, then okay, but, Shimmer... is that really all it is?" She asked.
"I..." But Shimmer let out a breath in defeat. Mixy was just... way too smart about emotions and things sometimes. Shimmer shook her head no. "It's not just Macy." She admitted. "I um... I want to find another way; you know, if I can?" She offered. She'd talked about this with them before, they all knew it, but this was the first time she was really... taking a stand over it.
"...Momma wouldn't like it." Pixy finally spoke. "You'll... You'll get us in trouble, if she finds out." She told her, sounding as worried and as unsure of herself as Shimmer had ever heard her.
"We can run away though." Shimmer told her, taking Pixy's hands in hers, and speaking with passion and conviction, wishing with all her heart for Pixy to understand this and support her, finally. "I know... It's not really that much of a plan, but we can just go. We can hunt humans on our own when we need to, and, maybe we can find some kind of Earth animal we can eat instead? Either way, we can do what we want, not what momma wants. I don't want to fight the humans, I don't want to conquer Earth or any of that stuff. Can't we just... Can't we just go and try to find a better life on our own? Just the four of us?" She asked, looking from Pixy, to Glimmer, to Mixy, then back to Pixy again.
"I..." Pixy let out a breath and slumped her shoulders, closing her eyes. Everyone was quiet, waiting for Pixy to say something. Pixy looked up, opened her eyes, and met Shimmer's eyes again. "You really do mean all that, don't you?" She asked, looking hurt and confused.
"I do, Pixy. I really do." Shimmer told her, full of hope.
Pixy just looked back at her, brow furrowed in thought again. Then, slowly, she shook her head. "I don't want to leave home, Shimmer. I'm sorry. You can... You can have the brother human, I guess, but... I... I just don't feel the same way about this you do. I think momma's plan's good, and I want to help her. When we win, we'll have all the food we'll ever need. We'll be safe—all of us will." She told her, and Shimmer knew that protecting their sisters was an important thing to Pixy, even more than it was for the rest of them. It was one of the main things that made Pixy Pixy, Shimmer had known that. "We won't have to hide anymore." She said. "We're supposed to eat humans, Shimmer. I know you... but can't you feel it? Can't you scent it? They're food—our food. You're... You're almost the only one who wants to do things a different way. I love you Shimmer, but that... that doesn't mean I have to think you're right about these things. Can't you just... I mean, can't we just keep things the way they've always been? We can... We can ask Whimsy and Mimsy not to make us go hunting anymore. We can just go back to building the ships." She told her, almost pleading. I was... probably the most Shimmer had ever heard Pixy say at one time. This had really been bothering her, she belatedly realized. She'd just... been pretending that it didn't, so they wouldn't have to argue, just like Shimmer had been doing all along too.
That they had so much more in common than Shimmer had thought they had after all, and it had Shimmer's head swimming a little. How much more about her feelings was there that Pixy had never told her about? "I... That..." But Shimmer deflated, feeling lost. "Yeah... I... guess that would be okay..." She told Pixy, unwilling to argue with her anymore. It hurt too much.
"Really?" Pixy asked, sounding so relieved. "You mean it?" She asked, sounding more insecure about herself than Shimmer had ever heard her.
Shimmer gave her a shy smile. "Yeah... I... just, thanks for listening to me, at least." She told her.
"I always listen to you." Pixy told her adoringly, moving in to kiss her.
Shimmer melted like she always did when Pixy kissed her this way.
...Only, as Pixy's lips left hers, she suddenly realized something. She had no idea what Devin looked like ...Well, that was something obvious I should have thought of, she grumbled to herself internally, wondering what she was going to do now?
That night, Shimmer sat up in bed, looking out at the starry night sky through the window of their room. Pixy, Mixy, and Glimmer were still in a pile on the bed, sleeping, cuddled up together like always when they slept, only... she wasn't with them like she always was anymore, and... in more ways than one...
When she'd told Pixy and the others that she didn't know what Devin looked like, they'd all reluctantly agreed to let all three boy humans go, using their third eyes to make them forget that they'd been caught by hunters, and hoping for the best. Shimmer and Glimmer had gone back to do the same for Macy and the woman Shimmer had left her with, while Pixy and Mixy had put the boy humans back in the building where they'd found them.
She'd been so relieved, and so grateful that they'd done that for her when she'd asked them too. After that and especially after everything Pixy had told her, she'd... really thought she could do what Pixy wanted and stay. That... she could just let everything go back to how it had been, and that she could live with that. For Pixy's sake... and for Glimmer and Mixy's too... She didn't know, maybe she could have even gone through with that, but... it hadn't worked out that way, had it?
Whimsy and Mimsy had said no, you see. They hadn't wanted to, she'd seen how much it had hurt Whimsy to tell her so, but momma needed more hunters, and she wouldn't change her mind. Whimsy had asked her, and momma had told her that Shimmer just needed to toughen up. That there was going to be a battle soon, and that she needed all of her daughters to be strong.
Shimmer didn't want that. Any of it. She didn't want to battle humans for Earth. And, mostly, she didn't ever want to go hunting again. Because they'd had to, after letting those three human boys go. They'd had to go hunting again.
They'd ended up bringing back seven humans today. They hadn't been as easy prey as the first three, either. They were part of a street gang. Shimmer didn't really know what that meant exactly though, but it had been in one of the lessons. Whimsy and Mimsy and their assistants did all sorts of research on humans, and taught what they learned to everyone else. All they'd been taught about street gangs though was that they traveled in packs, were usually mostly made of boy humans, could be feisty, and that other humans shunned them, so they made good prey. They'd... been a little more than just feisty though. It'd been partly their own fault too, of course. The surprise pouncing they'd planned hadn't turned out how they'd planned. The worse thing though, was that the shunned human boys had been so quick to attack them back when one of them had been put to sleep with Pixy's sleep gun, that they hadn't quite known what to do about it at first. The human boys had seen their third eyes and fought back viciously. They'd had guns and knives. Shimmer and her twin had both had to help to bring the prey down. When she'd seen those humans attacking Pixy and Mixy like that, especially when one of them had stabbed Pixy with that knife, something had broken loose inside of her. Inside of all of them... They'd been lost to their emotions. Shimmer had never... felt that way before. Like she wanted to kill things... and she had killed. She'd killed the human boy who'd hurt Pixy. She and Glimmer had eaten him raw, and... it'd felt good, felt so right to her... in the moment, anyway.
Pixy and Mixy had eaten one too. There'd been seven left, so those were the ones they took back home with them. Only four of them had still been alive, so the three dead ones hadn't been quite as fresh, but they'd still be tasty enough to be yummy for a few days after they died. More, if momma made pies from them. Or, you know... Whimsy's friend, Lucky, had started making hamburgers and stuff like that... they were starting to get popular... Shimmer had tried them, and they'd... been good...
Pixy had looked so proud of her, too... She'd been so happy. The sex between them before bed had been... really good too... Shimmer blushed a little, smiling at remembering that part, at least. But... the rest? She... didn't ever, ever want to feel that way again. She didn't want to... She sighed. She actually didn't feel all that bad about the human boys they'd hunted today. They were mean, and even other humans shunned them (obviously, for good reasons). They wouldn't just be hunting shunned mean boys though. Or, even if she convinced Pixy to do that, the other hunting packs wouldn't. For sure not when momma launched the takeover. And, well, maybe even the sunned mean human boys weren't as bad as she was thinking? She and her sisters had been trying to eat them at the time, so... there was that... And, even if they really were as bad as that, there'd be humans like Macy and Devin, and Devin's friends, who just liked to jump and play in old buildings who'd get eaten too, when momma attacked. Shimmer liked jumping and playing too... She liked Macy.
And, she had to figure, more humans were like Macy than like the shunned humans they'd hunted later. Otherwise, human cities wouldn't be as peaceful and fun as they always seemed to her when she snuck out to go exploring, pretending to be one of them.
There had to be a better way. She... just had to find it, that was all. She wasn't so sure anymore if Pixy would go with her, even if she did find that other way though... the idea of leaving Pixy, leaving Glimmer and Mixy, it hurt so, so much to think about, but... she couldn't think of any other way right now. She couldn't stay.
She just... couldn't...
Besides, Pixy had already told her, plain and simple, that she didn't want to leave home, so... how could she ask her to take a risk like that, if she really was happy here? She couldn't. She loved Pixy too much for that. She'd... just have to leave. Maybe find Macy and live with her? If Macy wanted her to, anyway. She didn't know, but... once she was gone, Pixy... would find someone else to love, to be with. She'd... be replaced. And, she tried to tell herself that was good, because she wanted Pixy to be happy. It didn't feel that way, of course, because she was the one who was going to be replaced, but... if she really did love Pixy as much as she thought she did, then she had to do it. Nothing else made sense to her, as much as she wished that it did...
So, resigned, she got up and started to pack up some of her things. When she was done, she sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Glimmer, feeling that pull to always be with her that she'd felt for her entire life. Even more than leaving Pixy, leaving her twin... that would be the hardest thing of all, she realized.
Still... maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to?
Leaning over, she gently shook Glimmer awake. It didn't take much with their twin bond. It was always harder to stay awake when Glimmer was sleeping, and always harder to wake up when Glimmer was still sleeping, and she knew it worked the same way for Glimmer too.
Shimmer groaned in protest. "Sleeping now." She protested, burrowing back into Mixy.
Shimmer sighed and leaned in to lick that spot behind her twin's ear. Glimmer made a Meep sound and startled awake, blinking up at her in confusion. Shimmer couldn't help but giggle softly, just a little bit. She looked so adorable.
"Shimmer?" Glimmer asked. "Why'd you do that to me? It's the middle of the night." She protested groggily.
Shimmer reached out and cupped her twin's cheek, looking her in the eyes. Their eyes met, and Glimmer stilled. "I... I have to go, Glimmer. I can't stay here anymore." She admitted to her.
"Why not?" Glimmer asked, looking like she was trying to get her brain to work completely again. She wasn't good at waking up, neither of them were. She couldn't help the small smile at that. "Wait..." Glimmer shook her head and got up to sitting with her. "Go back. What... What are you saying, sister sister?" She asked softly.
Shimmer shook her head. "I thought I could stay, but... I just can't anymore. I can't do what we did yesterday again. I... I don't... I don't ever want to feel that way again. I don't... I need to go. I need to find a better way than this. I can't... I can't do what momma says anymore. I just can't." She told her softly. "...Come with me?" She asked hopefully.
"I..." Glimmer shook her head. "No, no, we can't leave." She pleaded, sounding like she was starting to panic a little. "What about Mixy? What about Pixy? Can you... You can't really... You wouldn't really leave her, would you?" She asked, her voice sounding small and lost.
"I..." Shimmer closed her eyes, feeling guilty. "I don't want to, but... She won't come with me. She said that she doesn't want to leave, and I know Mixy doesn't want to either. I love her, and Mixy too... You know I do, but... but please come with me anyway?" She pleaded. She knew she wasn't being fair, but... She wanted Glimmer to come with her so much. Everything would be so much better if they stayed together. She... wasn't even sure how she'd function without Glimmer with her, and the reality of that was only just now fully hitting her. Glimmer... just had to come with her. She had to.
"I um..." Glimmer reached out to touch Shimmer's face, looking more scared and hurt and confused than she'd ever been before. Her fault. That look on her twin's face right now was her fault... "Please..." Glimmer pleaded. "Please don't... please, just stay, okay? Just stay, and we'll... we'll talk to Whimsy again, or, you can talk to Pixy some more." She took Shimmer's hands in hers. "Maybe... Maybe she'll go with us after all? Or, I um... well... I don't know, just stay? Please Shimmer..."
Shimmer swallowed. "...I can't stay..." She told her, feeling ashamed and resigned.
Hurt—hurt and betrayal on Glimmer's face. "Please..." She pleaded, tears falling.
Shimmer was crying too, by this point. Why did this have to hurt so much? She shook her head no though. "You can still come with me?" She offered up her last hope, pleading with her eyes and her heart for Glimmer to say yes.
"I..." Ashamed and hurting, Glimmer looked away, down to Mixy. "I can't leave her, Shimmer." She told her, and Shimmer knew, just by how Glimmer said it, that it wasn't something she could change her mind about.
Shimmer sighed, and gave her a sad smile. "I get that." She told her, looking forlornly at Pixy.
"I... I don't think so though." Glimmer told her. "If you did, then... then you wouldn't leave Pixy either. Not... Not even for me."
"I... I guess... yeah, okay. You're probably right..." Shimmer had to admit. Glimmer was obviously right, after all. She was leaving... Leaving both of them, and Mixy too... She felt so guilty in that moment... but the fact that her guilt wasn't enough to make her change her mind told her everything she needed to know, really. "I'm sorry, Glimmer. I... I still love you though. Remember that, okay? I'll... I'll always always love you so much, sister sister." She told her, leaning in to kiss her, even though tears were falling again as she did.
They fell into an embrace then, making out for a long, long time (it's a different culture people, obviously), until, finally... Shimmer pulled away and turned to go.
"I love you too..." Glimmer said in a small, hurt voice.
Shimmer didn't have the courage to look back and see the look on her twin's face. She just left.
Next Episode: How Shimmer Met Wendy!
Heavy emotion! Who knew people eaters from another dimension had that sort of character depth? What's that? Not you? *sigh* You should really learn to be less judgy. I mean, just because a girl wants to bake you into a pie and eat you, it doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings too, am I right? XD But, you agree with me now, right? See, there, I've just made the world that must less judgmental—VICTORY! (or something vaguely similar to VICTORY! maybe?) I don't know, maybe I'm just making stuff up in my head again and you were all wonderfully enlightened sorts of people to begin with and you didn't need me declaring VICTORY! after all? If so, I APOLOGIZE! Moving on!
Next time, Shimmer's story continues as she ventures out into Jump City, on her own for the first time, and meets a girl name Wendy, who has a brother named Marvin, who has a boyfriend named Davy. And, don't worry, there will be even more heavy emotion and people eating antics for you to laugh at and enjoy—aren't you excited? =)