Inside a bar, two girls are sitting at the counter with glasses in their hands; the girl with long blonde hair and diamond-blue eyes is drinking lemonade, whilst the girl next to her—with short blonde hair and ruby-red eyes—is sipping orange soda.
The girl with the red pupils is none other than me. This is the sort of place girls our age really shouldn't be coming to, but the drinks here are so delicious that we just can't resist.
We've also built up a fearsome reputation here, which means none of the other customers dare to come near us—I mean, who wouldn't be scared when they see someone who has no qualms about firing a shotgun and someone who carries a card capable of producing anything from within it?
I glanced at the bartender, who had absolutely no hair except for his eyebrows and eyelashes. He noticed my glance—I didn't want to be seen as having a crush on him—so I held out my empty glass. "Humpty! Another one" I said, and the bartender nodded then started filling my glass again.
The bartender's name was Humpty Dumpty—what a daft name—I'm sure his parents lost a bet when they named him.
Without warning, the girl sitting next to me slammed her glass down on the table—luckily, she didn't break it. "Purple, you must be bored with that same old job, right?!" She'd got my name wrong again.
"My name's Red," I replied briefly.
"I mean, why aren't we given jobs that go BOOM! or WOW!" Although she went on to explain further with the help of body language, I still didn't understand what she was trying to get at.
"If you want a job with lots of explosions, become a terrorist" I retorted before accepting the orange soda handed to me by Humpty, who gave a little chuckle at what I'd said.
"Magenta, you piece of...." she growled angrily, seemingly ready to strangle me right there and then.
"My name's Red," I corrected her again.
The man in front of us couldn't contain his curiosity. "Can't you just ask for the job you want?" he asked, which only served to annoy Alice even more.
"We have… But this idiot next to me just won't stop doing the most ridiculous things!" she said, pointing at me with her thumb. "We always end up failing and end up creating new jobs for other Fables instead."
"She's always taking risks at every opportunity," Alice said, burying her face in the counter before growling in annoyance.
"As the owner of Everafter Cards, shouldn't you be the one placing the most bets?" I retorted. Her eyes met mine, her hand poised as if ready to do something that certainly wouldn't be good.
"I'll throw out your barbells and other gym equipment at home." she threatened.
"I'll shoot all your dolls in your room." I threatened back.
Realising the tension in the air, Humpty let out a long sigh—he'd seen our arguments countless times but didn't dare to ban us. "Come on, you two, stop arguing here."
"Shut up, egghead!" we shouted in unison. After I'd finished the orange soda in my glass, I could hear something outside.
I glanced out of the window and could see a root emerging from the ground; I tapped Alice on the shoulder, but she just gave me an annoyed look. "What do you want, Pink?"
"My name's Red—and look at that," I pointed out of the window. Alice followed my gesture and her eyes widened in surprise. "Is that normal?"
"Of course not, you idiot," Alice leapt out of her seat and spun round. "Everyone out of this bar! There's a root coming out of the ground and it might grow under here too!" The customers rushed out the moment they saw the evidence through the window; they scattered through the front door, but there were so many of them that it was hard for us to get through.
I pulled my shotgun out of thin air and fired at the wall. "NO!" Humpty shouted, before I grabbed his wrist and guided him out through the hole.
"Brace yourself for something far worse" I said, and just as we stepped out onto the ground—a root burst through the bar from below, lifting it up.
Humpty fell silent before dropping to his knees. "MY BELOVED BARBARA!" he screamed, tears streaming down his cheeks. Alice and I could only exchange glances before commenting.
"Barbara? Seriously?" Alice looked utterly incredulous at what she'd heard, and didn't hesitate to give him a look of disgust.
"I told you to brace yourself for the worst," I said before looking out at the city of London, which ought to be beautiful but was now marred by wild roots sprouting from beneath the ground.
I glanced at Alice before saying, "This is what you wanted, isn't it? Something that's a real 'WOW'," I taunted, only to be met with an immediate elbow to the ribs.
"This is far too much of a 'WOW'," she retorted.