"Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Claire!" Everyone sang, half of them off-key and all of them loud.
The room was too small for the crowd and warm because of it. Kremidal stood stiffly near the back with a wrapped box held in both hands. Zephyr winced at every high note. June hovered beside the little ones, one hand on a kid's shoulder, watching the candles like. Misty was clapping out of rhythm and shouting "Davai!" over the top of everyone.
"Happy 14th birthday, Claire!" Abby shouted. "Now make a wish and blow out your candles!"
Claire closed her eyes. The smell of wax and frosting filled her nose. She thought of one thing, only one, and blew.
Fwooooo.
Everyone cheered
The smoke curled up. Poppy squeezed her shoulders from behind. "So, Claire, what did you wish for?"
"I just w-wish..." Claire's voice caught. "I wish my sister was here. Celebrating our birthday with us."
A voice cut in from the doorway, soft and warm.
"So you miss me that much?"
All of the noise behind her was snuffed out.
Claire turned.
Something stood in the doorway, tall and narrow, its limbs too long. It was covered head to toe in feathers, with wings folded at the hips, the back, the shoulders, and two tiny ones crossed over its face like hands hiding a face. They parted slowly.
It was Clarice. Tufts of down clung to the edges of her face. Her sclera was black, her irises the same blue Claire had known her whole life. She smiled ear to ear, and a thin line of blood ran down her chin.
Claire's breath left her. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and her legs wouldn't move.
"Oh, little pixie," Clarice said, "destined to die alone in the dark. Pathetic as ever. And this time, there's no one to shield you."
Something warm crept over Claire's shoes. She looked down. The floor was wet, and the wetness was spreading. She looked around her.
Poppy's hands were still on her shoulders, but her chest was slumped against Claire's back. Behind her, Kremidal's box lay on its side. Zephyr, June, Misty, Abby, the kids, everyone, sat or lay where they had been standing, their throats torn open, the blood running into one slow puddle toward her feet.
Clarice laughed, high and wild.
A sigh followed, then she lunged.
GASP.
Claire jerked upright on Poppy's bed, the sheets soaked through with cold sweat. She sat there, chest heaving, until her breathing slowed and she let out a long, shaky sigh.
Then she was up. She stuck her head into one room, then the next, checking each corner, until she reached the kitchen.
Poppy was there, cooking breakfast.
Claire crossed the floor in three steps and hugged her from behind. Poppy jolted, and the spatula froze mid-flip over the pan. "Woah!" She twisted to look over her shoulder and saw it was Claire. "Oh, hey! Happy birthday, Claire! Excited today are 'ya?"
Claire hugs tighter "Nah I just had a bad dream"
She loosens her grip as Poppy turns to face her "Forget about it, we're having your birthday breakfast. Go sit on the table, I'll have it ready"
As soon as Claire climbed onto one of the chairs, she finally sat still. Poppy slides down a plate of fried rice, a scoop of chili and a sunny side up.
As soon as Poppy sat down with her plate of the same meal, she asked "So uhh… What was your 'bad dream' about?"
Claire swallows her food down, "We were celebrating my birthday; cake, and all - the whole package"
"Oh?"
Then she cheekily smirked "Then we all died OOOOHH!" she reaches out her hands at Poppy, wiggling her fingers.
Poppy giggled "Yeah, yeah, finish your food, we've got a long day~" as soon as Poppy took a bite, her face shot up, quickly chewing her food and swallowing it "I forgot!" she takes another bite, this time talking with her mouth full "I ermersh furgoh, ishe shuposhe thoo thick you chew ja jurge fer yer porsche"
"What?" Claire tilts her head
Poppy swallows her food after chewing "gulp. I said I almost forgot to take you Krem's church for your powers"
"Oooohhh~" Claire leaned in. "So what element do you think I can control?"
Poppy dangled her spoon at her. "Don't know yet. Your element's what we're testing for. But my hunch is your energy type is thermal. And don't get me wrong, that's not bad. It'll get a lot of jobs done. Try cooling that orange juice next to you." She points it beside Claire
Claire wraps her hand on the glass of orange juice, grips it tight, grits her teeth, flares her nose and…
Nothing's happening.
Poppy fanned her hand backwards at Claire "Nah, forget it. We'll have better chances at the lab, trust me."
Fast forward further into the day.
They were looking at the church.
"Wooooooooooooow" both girls said in unison
They gaze above the church as they see scaffoldings wrapped around the main gate, dozens of construction workers banding together rebuilding the massive door. Even more scaffoldings can be seen on the very top of the church. This time the workers were placing shingles. Most of the workers were locals from the church.
Inside, the air smelled of wet plaster, sawdust, and fresh varnish. A thin drip of paint landed a few steps ahead of them, a bright blue splat on the stone. Claire tilted her head back. Dozens of artists lay flat on the scaffolding, brushing inches from the vaulted ceiling, bringing the murals back to life one patch of color at a time. Below, masons polished the columns while carpenters varnished the kneelers, one row of them marked with a hand-lettered sign: DON'T SIT, I MEAN IT. Hammers, saws, and drills rang off the stone.
In the elevator, Poppy pressed the button and it lit up. "They actually fixed it."
"Where's your lab?" Claire asked.
"Bottom floor."
"Your lab?"
Poppy only grinned.
The doors opened on a cold breath of metal and dust. Sheet-covered machines stood in rows, rippling in the elevator's draft like ghosts at a party. Far in the back, something glowed faint and blue. Poppy cut through it all at a brisk walk, one hand trailing along the sheets, and Claire hurried to keep up. They passed a long wall of colored squares, each labeled in neat handwriting. All of it organized like an actual periodic table of elements, and Claire's reflection slid across them, small and hunched.
"What's this wall? Claire asked
Poppy rests her fists onto her hips saying "That's the wall of elements; if they don't glow, then you're an arcana"
Claire pouted as she nodded. Then she sees a plaque in the corner of the room
"You have a PhD?" she said, reading a framed certificate by the door.
Poppy replied "-In chemistry. It's just a piece of paper, I don't dwell on it too much"
The next room was bare, with nothing but air vents and sprinklers. "This is the Blooming Room," Poppy said. "Arcanas in the tactical departments come here to test what their powers really are." She nudged Claire to the middle, pulled out a remote, and pressed it. The room beeped. "Aight, I need you to relax and tense up at the same time."
Claire shook out her legs and hands and cracked her neck. "Wait, what?"
"Think about what stresses you out, but like you're ready to face it." Poppy pressed the remote again, and the humidity climbed.
A faint silhouette of Clarice flashed in Claire's mind, staring straight at her. The room began to crystallize. Frost crept over the floor, Poppy's shoes froze to the mat, and her sleeves went stiff. She jabbed the remote twice, but the humidity wouldn't drop. Icicles sprouted from the floor like veins, and snowflake patterns bloomed across Claire's fingertips. On Poppy's smartwatch, the temperature plunged into the negatives.
"Err... Claire, don't stress out too much or you'll fatigue."
Mist curled from their breath, and Claire's breathing grew heavier.
"Claire!"
Claire gasped and whipped her head around. She tried to turn, but ice had crawled over her laces. "Oh, um... s-sorry."
"It's okay." Poppy tugged at her own frozen boots, gave up, and stepped out of them in her socks. "Nobody gets it the first time. Not me, though."
"How do you control yours?"
"Watch." Poppy rose onto her toes, arms sweeping wide. "This is mine. I think better when I move like this." She marched across the frost, stiff as a toy soldier, then flailed like a wet noodle. "Right now your flow's somewhere between those two. Too stiff to move, too wild to steer."
Claire tried to copy the march and ended up in a half-kick stance. Poppy burst out laughing. "Hey, that's good! That's you. Do that."
She spun in a quiet pirouette, stumbled on the ice, and caught herself with a wobbly cartwheel. "...Don't tell anyone that happened."
Claire snickered.
Poppy stood up and held out a knife. It rose from her palm and hovered between her hands, turning slowly in the cold air. "Magnetism was my first one. The kaboom part took a lot of stress to awaken, which is how it usually goes. Mine looks like dancing because I've done it since I was little. Yours is gonna look different. Kremidal says you've got an impressive Muay Thai background."
She stepped in front of Claire and set a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be like me, though. Relying on stress wears out your brain. Hold out your hand."
Poppy touched her fingertips. "Feel that quiet buzzing? That's your energy traveling through your nerves. And where do nerves connect?"
"To our brains."
"Correct! A healthy brain keeps your flow smooth like butter." She pulled out a butter knife, smirking. "Pun entirely intended."
Claire blinked. "So it's basically locking in?"
Poppy let go of her hand and shrugged. "Yep, that too. You know when you're so deep in a game you forget to blink? Same thing, except your whole body's the controller."
Claire's face lit up. "That's so tuff! But what about elements? How do Gods control them?"
Poppy looked to the side and hissed through her teeth. "Sorry, there aren't many Gods around. They're a rare breed. But you get the gist: they control all types of energy, and energy can create elements, so that's that."
She raised her hands with elbows bent, and the ice melted away. She pressed the remote to steady the room. "Here, catch." Poppy tossed the remote at Claire, and she caught it on reflex.
SHING.
In a split second, a knife flew past her and grazed her cheek. She touched the spot and saw blood on her fingertips.
"What the?"
Poppy already had her hand stretched toward her, waving a taunt. "Square up, pixie, show me watchu got!"
Claire scoffed, resting her hands on her hips. "I've chopped down trees taller than you, 'pinky'!"
Poppy came in with straights, jabs, and crosses, some of them doubles. Claire kept bobbing around the barrage, slipping past her guard and shoulders, and Poppy's fists only grazed her skin. The shots were fast, but she was clearly holding back.
Once Claire got close, she threw a shovel punch at Poppy's stomach.
Poppy dropped into a crouch with her backside nearly on the floor, rolling her body into a roundhouse kick at Claire's ribs. Claire blocked it with her elbow down, then grabbed the leg and went for a leg lock. Poppy yanked it back, breaking the grab.
"Don't try to pull that crap on me, Zephyr does that to me all the time!" She dropped into a capoeira stance and threw a low kick. Claire tucked her leg back to dodge, but it was a feint. A high roundhouse followed straight at her face. Off balance, she got her arms up just in time. It didn't have enough force to rattle her, so she answered with a hard, fast low kick to Poppy's stomach, knocking the air out of her.
Poppy dropped to the mat on her side. "Hey! We're just light sparring, don't hit me too hard!"
"You could've said that earlier when your knife grazed me!" Claire shouted
"I thought you were fast enough to react!" She breaks out of Claire's grab. Poppy stood up, huffing, and brushed her hair out of her face. "Alright, this time try to use your powers." She squared up again.
Claire did the same, and this time her stance wasn't as jumpy. "Alright," Poppy said, "how about you start by shelling your fists with ice?"
As Claire concentrated, crystal lattices crawled over her forearms. Poppy slowly grew a smile. "You're pickin' up quick, huh? Try blocking this one!" She raised her voice as she threw a hard punch.
In seconds, Claire raised her guard, and the ice on her forearms thickened like frost in a freezer. Tink. The punch rang off the ice.
Poppy peeked over Claire's guard. "So did you feel anything?"
Claire answered with a reverse roundhouse kick. Poppy responded with a lean back, dodging the kick entirely. Claire followed with a jab, straight, both were parried. Low kick - dodged tucking her leg in; high kick to the head - blocked with both arms. "Damn! You're fast Claire!"
The fight briefly halts to a reset, Claire reaches for a low kick - Poppy flips over it, then follows with a straight kick right onto Claire's face mid-air. In a split second she tries to block it by icing up her face.
But it was too late - Poppy kicked her in the face in time, knocking her down flat to the ground as shards of ice flew to the sides. But also in seconds, she forms an ice pillar to prop herself back up back to stance
"Ooooooh~ you pickin' up quick huh?"
Claire rolls her shoulders while saying "Hey that shook me! I thought we're just sparring?"
"We are - you see, using your powers for offense is easy, but for defense is a lot harder"
As Claire got up straight, a tiny ice ramp propped up under her heel, she lunged at Poppy. In blazing speeds she threw a straight with her full bodyweight. Poppy tried to slice her with a back handed slash, Claire used an ice ramp again, this time to move aside. Successfully dodging it, she answers with a hook, Poppy ducks under it. Tossing her knife to the other hand she tries to stab Claire - in response Claire tucks her elbow in as she ices it up, completely blocking the stab. She delivers a bolo punch right onto Poppy's chin. As Poppy was about to step back, she realized that her feet was stuck on the floor on ice again.
Claire took this opportunity to deliver a combo; Jab, straight, both weaved off. Round house kick, Poppy bent herself backwards - donkey kick, Poppy was able break the ice on her left foot, allowing her to step back, and catching Claire's leg.
Poppy broke the ice on the other foot, now attempting to kick the remaining leg that's keeping Claire up.
Despite having one leg locked to a grab, Claire jumped over the low kick. Her locked leg slips away from the grab - in mid air, Claire throws a roundhouse kick, square onto Poppy's face.
BOOM
Blood, sweat and ice flew across the room, splattering the grey wall. This left Poppy's knees buckle over her, as blood began to flow down her nose. In a split second she locks the fuck in, as her eyes snaps back at Claire, kicking her on her stomach, forcing her to hunch down. She boosts onto Claire's shoulder, slid past her back, then her waist, then her chest, her body spinning and wrapping around Claire. Until she finally grabs hold of her arm with her whole body weight, forcing Claire to slam on the ground, putting her in an arm bar.
"Tap out Claire!"
"No!"
"I don't wanna break your arm! Tap out NOW!"
She yells with her eyes shut tight "Argh! I don't care, just break it! AAAAAAAAAAARGH!" a drop of blood plopped onto her cheek, she opens her eyes, her screaming stopped realizing Poppy was already standing up
"Get up you drama queen" She reaches out for Claire, grabbing it Poppy pulls her up saying "You've still got a long road to go - goddamn you hit like a truck" she said as she wipes the blood off of her nose with her thumb.
Claire asks "So I won right?"
"No you did not, I'm not evil enough to break your arm" she lets out a long, sharp sigh "good fight though - you've still got a lot to learn"
"That still doesn't explain why you tossed a knife at face" Claire grimaced
Poppy stammed while twisting her hand "Relaaaaax… I'm aware enough about your Muay Thai career to not get killed by my knives"
Claire frowned as her nose flared "That's still inexcusable!" she shook her head "Forget it, how can I find out what my energy type is?"
They keep talking while exiting the Blooming Room "I already told you pixie, the sample wall in my lab is gonna indicate - regardless, I'm pretty sure you're an Arcana with thermal energy."
"How can you be so sure about that?" asked Claire
But then as they exit the hallway from the Blooming Room, Poppy suddenly stopped
"Pops?"
"Oh my god" Poppy whispered
"Hey what's wrong?" Claire said as she peeked beside Poppy
In one of the boxes of the wall of elements, at the top left was a square labeled "hydrogen", blinking blue light.
Poppy looks back at Claire calmly saying
"Claire, you're a god…" right before looking back at the wall again
Claire whispered under her breath, silent enough for Poppy to miss it "Like my sister!"
*Later that night, back at Poppy's apartment*
Right as both girls barged in, Poppy threw her handbag on the sofa while yelling "Of course you're a god, why wouldn't you be? How didn't I see that from a mile away?"
Claire stuttered "W-why? Is it bad that I'm a god?"
Poppy darts her head back at Claire, saying as she shook her head "What? No, no! I'm mad at myself because my analysis is completely off! Which also means, your sister is likely a god too, huh?" she said with both her arms pressed against the back of her head, she clicks her tongue "What a detour… shit!" her eyes suddenly widened, saying while pulling her face down "Ah crap I was supposed to buy a tub of ice-cream on the way home, brb Pixie!"
Claire does a quick side eye before saying "Err- yeah, oh if they've got some matcha donuts, could you buy me two?"
"Nooooo problemo!" Poppy finally left
Claire sighed and plopped her back against the sofa
The entire apartment was eerily quiet, so she pulled out her phone to watch short-form vertical content. Minutes turned to hours, then she suddenly got a message from Poppy saying
"[Hey rly sry, can't celebrate ur b-day today
Kremmy called me 4 help, brb later tonite]"
She sends out a picture of her keycard to Claire
"[if u plan to go out, js lock da door k?]"
Claire replied "[gotcha 🥀]"
"[Don't wry, we'll celebrate ur b-day tmrw 😉]"
She rests her head against the armrest of the sofa, letting out a long sigh. Slowly, she closes her eyes
Then her phone rang I WANNA BE A BIMBO DOLL- it was loud enough to wake her up. Without looking who it was, she picks it up to shut it up.
"Yello~"
"Where's my birthday bonita?"
Claire got up from the sofa"Abby?! Open yer damn camera!"
Right as both of them opened their cameras, both of them stuck out their tongue while shaking their head
"BLEEEEEEEEEH!"
"BLAAAAAAARG!"
When they stopped, Abby asked "are you free toni-"
She grabbed her phone tight right before he could finish "Yes! I am very free right now, whe're we going?"
"There's a rave tonight in the outskirts of Cydonia, it's completely free; I was thinking you and i could celebra-"
She answers before he could finish again "YES! I mean, yeah sure!"
"Well, get dressed, I'll wait for you at the chin of Cydonia"
*more than half an hour passes*
Half an hour later, Poppy still wasn't home. Claire stood at the mirror in a yellow crop top spray-painted with a pink skull and crossbones, fixing a pair of hoop earrings that glowed pink. She swiped on blue lipstick, grabbed her bag, and called a taxi on the way out.
On her way out of the apartment, she calls a taxi
Once she got inside, she texted Poppy "[Hey Pops, I'm going to a rave outside the city]"
No response, 'eh… she's probably busy' the thought to herself
Once she arrived at the Chin of Cydonia's Terminal. She saw the familiar long black wavy hair of Abby as she shouted from the taxi
she spotted a familiar head of long, black, wavy hair and shouted out the window. Abby waved back, grinning in a pastel blue shirt with hermoso printed across the chest.
Claire got out of the taxi, as soon as she approaches him, she hugs him really tight
He wheezed "Oof! I miss you too~"
Claire stopped hugging "So err… where's this rave you're talkin' about?"
"C'mon follow me"
Abby pulled her to the city walls, there they find a crack, in which both of them fit snugly enough to pass through, however Claire was smaller, and he struggled a bit, right before she pulled both of his arms through the crack. Past the wall was a thick grove, in which thousands of unseen creatures fill the environment with chirps and buzzing. Walking through the thicket, the natural ambience of the forest gradually got quiet the more they pressed on, then.
The bass reached Claire's chest before she could see the crowd. The impacts felt stronger as they got closer.
Past the last row of parked trucks, the red desert gave way to green. A ring of scrubby palms and reeds circled a wide pool of dark water, the only real color for miles, and the whole oasis had been taken over. A stage rig stood on the far bank, its lasers cutting green lines through the mist and scattering across the surface in a thousand broken pieces. Cydonia glowed low on the horizon behind the dunes.
Thousands of teens and young adults packed the shore. Kids in oversized hoodies and glow-stick necklaces shouted lyrics over each other, ankle-deep in the shallows. College-age ravers in neon face paint stood on the beds of pickup trucks, throwing their arms up on every drop. A girl with pink hair crowd-surfed past, laughing, her shoes trailing glitter. Somebody snapped a wristband that glowed blue onto Claire's wrist without asking, then just continued to snap more glow bands on other people.
Abby had her by the sleeve, tugging her toward the water's edge, and the music swallowed everything else. Claire tilts her head up, mouth open and stray laser light crosses her face.
"This place looks crazy"
Abby skipped in front of Claire, with his arms stretched shouting "Happy birthday Claire!" then he waves his hand at her "C'mon let's party"
While they were merging in the crowd, a stranger from the crowd both gave them cocktail drinks. Abby accepts it, but when it was time to hand it out to Claire she reluctantly asked "You're not gonna charge this from me?"
The person answered "don't sweat it, it's on the house" said the person as they reached the drink out to Claire, she took it and chugged it right away as she shouted "WHOOOOO! Happy birthday to me!" All of the people around her noticed and all of them started to crowd up on the couple. All of them jumping up and down, flailing their arms in the air, some other couple were making out while dancing, some were arm in arm with their group of friends spilling their canned beers, chanting along with the lyrics of the music.
However, in a nearby mosh pit. A guy was flailing his arms on the pit, hitting nearby moshers within. Then when he got close to the edge of the pit, he even flailed his arms even harder like a wild animal, within the wall of strangers around the pit, the guy moshing actually hits a girls drink, spilling it from her hand and hitting her with a backhand on the mouth, causing her to tear her lips. The girl screams, her boyfriend grabbed the mosher by the collar and punched him in the mouth. Knocking him in the mud, kicking the guy back that punched him, the boyfriend mounted the mosher on the stomach, pummeling him further down into the mud. The girlfriend that got hit tried to stop him, but then another person joined in the violence, pushing her to the side. The pit began to dogpile on the scene, turning the scene into a drunken brawl.
But the scent of blood from the brawl began to spread across the crowd, one vampire caught a whiff. They turned their head to the source of the stench, as they caught the source, they blitz through the crowd like jelly, squeezing past people through the smallest gaps. Then another vampire zooms through, then another, then another, reaching tens, twenties, and more.
The DJ on the stage noticed the commotion, as the squabble started to become hard to ignore, weirding out the other partygoers. Scratching the music to a halt.
"Ay yo! YO! YOOOOO! What the fuck is going on?"
The brawl doesn't seem to stop, it just got even bigger.
"Security! Kick them buzzkills outta my house NOW!"
A shadow slid across the moon.
It came in low over the oasis, and the water shivered beneath it, every laser and glow stick on the surface breaking into pieces. Claire felt it before she saw it: a pressure in her ears, a cold that crawled up the back of her neck. Abby's hand closed on her sleeve.
Then the wind hit. Each beat of the wings kicked mud and dust into the air, and the nearest ravers staggered. A tower of speakers swayed. Fog tore out of the stage lights in long, ragged ribbons.
The creature landed in the center of the field with a thud Claire felt in her heels. It stood tall and narrow, covered head to toe in black feathers like a cloak that glinted blue under the lasers. Wings folded at its hips, its back, and its shoulders, and two small ones crossed over its face, hiding it.
Every vampire in the crowd stopped. One was halfway through a lunge, mouth smeared red, and he went still as a statue. Others dropped to their knees in the mud, heads bowed, as the wings rustled and settled. Even the security guards froze, batons half-raised.
Up on the stage, the DJ's mic hung in his hand. "...Yo."
As the creature landed, it took a few steps, leaving footprints of blue fire on the sand. The crowd split open around her without being asked, and the music was gone, so the only sound left was feathers brushing against feathers.
Claire's chest tightened. She didn't know why.
The DJ began to raise his voice "YO!"
The figures wings began to spread, from the bottom to top
"YO! LOOK WHO'S LATE TO HER PARTY!"
Everyone was on edge, eyes wide, mouths hovered open, all limbs tucked behind. While the winged creature walked towards the very front of the stage. Flapped its wings once to land on the stage.
The DJ continues yelling "Ya'll are under arrest! Cuz put your hands up for the NOCTUM QUEEN: CLARICE PHOENIX!"
Clarice turns around facing the crowd; Claire witnesses her entire image, a silhouette tall and narrow, its limbs too long. It was covered head to toe in feathers, with wings folded at the hips, the back, the shoulders, and two tiny ones crossed over its face like hands hiding a face. They parted slowly.
It was Clarice. Tufts of down clung to the edges of her face. Her sclera was black, her irises the same blue Claire had known her whole life. She smiled ear to ear, and a thin line of blood ran down her chin. The exact image from what she saw in her dream.
The DJ starts playing a track, immediately playing it on the chorus "SO LET'S GET ON WITH IT!" with bass quaking, ear-rattling electric trumpets, and eerie piano creeping like a villain's theme. The entire crowd in the rave bounced on the sand like nothing violent just happened.
Clarice spreads a smile ear to ear, her hands sparked in blue flames as she sways them upward, creating a pillar of flame on each hand, she practically became pyrotechnics for the entire party.
Claire's eyes drooped at the sight as she lightly shook her head whispering "Reece?...No"
Abby was celebrating,as soon as he turned around to check on Claire, seeing her face made his smile disappear, changing into eyebrows pressed together "Hey, are you good?"
"Abs, I'm sorry - we need to go" she tugs Abby's sleeve, pulling him enough to notice
He looks back saying "What?! Why? We just got here, plus the party's just got better"
Claire pulls him by the collar close to her face "No, pendejo listen to me! The Noctum Queen is bad news! Let's ditch this joint before it gets bloody… please"
Both of them looked at each others' eyes drooped , Claire's however was quivering, while Abby's was sharp. He gently closes his eyes and sighed "okay"
Claire nodded, she started to run away while pulling Abby's sleeve as he followed.
Leaving the oasis, they finally reached the thicket. Abby asks as he was huffing his breath as they ran "Hey *pant* slow down! I'm really *pant* not built for this!"
Claire exclaimed without skipping a beat "We gotta get outta there before one of her minions notices us!"
"How *pant* do you know that? What are you, *pant* her sister?"
"YES! Yes she's my sister! She's gone crazy, ever since she got her hands on that vampire juice - she's never been the same"
In the Distance both of them see the light at the end of the grove, indicating the hidden crack to the path back to Cydonia. Claire panted "Keep going we're close!"
But just a foot away, they were blocked by a winged creature, thudding its weight onto the ground, stopping in their tracks.
Claire stood her ground, while Abby was hiding behind her. Claire said calmly "Reece…"
Clarice unfolded her wings one by one, and Claire finally saw all of her. Something was off. She was taller than Claire remembered, her jaw sharper, the round cheeks gone. She looked like she was in her early twenties.
"Hello, little pixie." Her gaze dropped to Claire's hands, where a layer of ice was already crystallizing over the knuckles. "I see you've already found your element... so you're a god like me. Just weaker."
"What do you want from us, Reece?" Claire said sternly.
"Can't a woman see her sister even once?"
Claire formed an icicle in her palm and pointed it at her. "You're neither a woman nor my sister! No matter how old you look, you're still an immature brat!"
Clarice squatted to Claire's level. "Spare me the threats, Claire. You're no Phoenix. I can hear your heart shaking like a little chick." She leered past her at Abby. "And your boyfriend here can barely stand on his fake-ass Jordans."
Ice rose around them in vein-like ridges, forming a fence. "LEAVE HIM ALONE, REECE! If it's me you want, then kill me. I can hear your minions spying from the treetops."
Clarice sighed. "Guys, leave us alone. I can handle this." The trees rustled, and silhouettes slunk back into the canopy. She turned to Claire, gentle now. "Claire, please. I'll show you a better world with Noctum, where nothing can hurt us, not even your boyfriend. You, me, all of us in our prime for our entire lives. We wouldn't have to worry or rush anything anymore."
"So Noctum gives you an excuse to be lazy? Fuck off, Reece! Take your soapbox somewhere else!"
Clarice shrugged. "Okay."
She walked toward them, and they tensed. She passed between them, close enough that her feathers brushed Claire's arm, and the shortcut to Cydonia opened up behind her. They let out a breath.
Clarice looked back. "I can't blame you for refusing, so I'm letting you both go scot-free.
Just make sure to get out of my way."
In one gust of her eight wings, she soared through the sky, leaving a few tufts of black feathers falling behind.
"Claire, I think I'm gonna throw up"