“Oh,” was the last thing they heard Flock say before her eyes drifted closed. Tee went through several dozen emotions simultaneously, and none of them good. The remains of Haze were crumpled in a heap they didn’t even have the energy to check on. Tore had been fairly clear in her assessment of his health -- or lack thereof. They turned to Ellis, who stood frozen in place.

“Ellis,” Tee said, their voice quaking, “we’re going to find her.” It wasn’t a question, not really, but their words also distinctly lacked conviction. The person apparently responsible for the portals in the first place had been cleanly bisected. “Maybe,” they said, thinking out loud, “they’re not the only one who can do what Haze could!” Ellis barely moved, like he was in shock. Tee shook him softly, and he finally managed to fix his eyes on them. 

“She’s gone,” he mumbled. Tee gritted their teeth. They felt the words too, of course, but they weren’t going to let something as flimsy as transdimensional tears in the fabric of reality get in between them and their family. They grabbed Ellis by the arm and dragged them to Flock’s body, which was carefully being picked up by Shakes. 

“Where are you taking her?” Tee asked. Shakes held up Flock’s limp shape, a question on his face. It was frustrating, and frustratingly understandable, that everyone seemed to be in a state of shock. They waved their hand in front of his face. “I’mma need you to focus, Shakes.” That seemed to help a little bit, at least.

“Uh,” he said. “She ‘ad a custom one built.” Like he was in a trance, he made his way to the entrance to the hangar. Dazed, he walked through the immense complex, holding Flock almost like she was a sacred object. Every guard he passed was frozen in place when they saw her. Tee assumed that the reason none of them panicked was the prominently displayed Deadstone on her chest. She looked almost peaceful. As he walked, Shakes talked mechanically. “Decade an’ a half ago,” he said, “when she took over, she ‘ad the experimental bodies destroyed after she lost ‘er memories. Didn’t want that happenin’ to anyone else, yeah?” He turned a corner and stepped into an elevator. Tee, still dragging Ellis behind them, stepped in behind him.

“So you’re going to put her in a body like mine?” Tee asked. Shakes shook his head.

“Nah. She ‘ad one made to ‘er own speffics. Without the head-gizmo.” He paused. “She’s forward-lookin’ like that.” His voice was unsteady. Tee put a tentative hand on his arm.

“She’ll be fine, Shakes,” they said. They didn’t know, of course, and a part of them was furious that they were making sure someone else was doing okay when what they wanted to be doing was burn a hole through this reality looking for someone like Haze who could find any way to bring Cassandra back. But Flock was their best bet for finding someone like that. And Shakes did need someone to comfort him. “She’ll be fine,” they repeated, more softly. 

They turned a corner to a part of the facility that was clearly not in use as much. The lights flickered on as they walked through the halls, but the cleaning staff hadn’t gone through here yet. Ellis didn’t seem to know where they were going either, but at least he didn’t need to be guided by the hand anymore. A large set of steel doors hissed open after Shakes punched in an overly long code. The room inside looked like an abandoned laboratory. There were old tablets scattered everywhere, their CPU’s probably fried after years of exposure to background magic. What surprised Tee was how much paper there was. There was a surgery table with dozens of papers spread across them, and X-rays lined the walls. And there, in the center of the room, was a giant steel tube. 

Shakes didn’t even clean the papers off the surgery table as he put Flock, or what was left of her on it. Blood quickly soaked into the soft fabric of the table. Shakes was covered in it, but he didn’t seem to notice or care at all. He picked up the Deadstone and walked over to the steel tube, inserting the stone into a small slot. Slowly, the technology that was dormant in the room all began to spool up. 

Tee had only ever been subject to a resurrection like this, and they knew, consciously, that magic was somehow involved in the process, which they still had trouble wrapping their head around. Ellis wrung his hands, deeply nervous. If Tee’s guess was correct, he knew about the Deadstones, but he’d never seen one in action. They grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. Their presence seemed to calm him down slightly. With a loud and dramatic hiss, the tube began to open, and cold smoke bellowed into the room, as the tube was lit from the inside. Within the cloudy liquid, they saw the shape of Flock’s backup body. It stirred. Shakes pressed a button on the console and slowly the fluid drained. He also ran over to a nearby cupboard, where he retrieved what appeared to be a blanket. 

When the plexiglass of the tube finally lowered into the floor, they heard the coughing of someone trying out new lungs for the first time, but it was hard to make out the shape through the mist that clung close to the ground. Shakes quickly covered the shape in the blanket, getting ready to help her up, but he was waved away by a slender hand. 

Slowly, out of the fog, rose the Queen of Black-62, reborn as new. She was in her thirties, and her new body was clearly designed after her old one, but looked more… mature. Higher cheekbones. Short hair, too. Green eyes and full lips. Even with the blanket over her shoulders, Tee could tell she was taller and a bit more muscular than her previously small, slender body had been. They wondered briefly why that was. Tee remembered how disoriented they’d been when they’d first woken up, and was more than a little impressed at how proud Flock stood, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, head held high. 

Then, she almost collapsed and steadied herself against the table, and Shakes helped her stay upright. Flock was face to face with her old body. Tee could only imagine what it was like to see their own body like that. She tucked some hair behind her old body’s ear, and then stood upright. 

“Hi,” she said, her voice still tender from having never been used before. It was lower, more husky than it had been before. 

“Hey,” Tee said softly. Flock waved weakly. Gingerly, Tee and Ellis waved back.

“How much d’you remember, boss?” Shakes asked, worried. “How you feelin’?” As if asking had broken through some kind of barrier, Flock winced and Shakes guided her to a chair. She made a grateful sigh as she sat down. 

“Headache,” she said. “Like someone tried to wash my brain with a fire hydrant.” She smacked her lips a few times. “Why do I taste peanut butter?” Tee and Ellis shared a glance. Flock looked at them again, like she only really saw them now. She pointed at them both. “Tee,” she said. “Ellis.” Then at Shakes, with a smile. “Old friend.” They breathed a sigh of relief, but she rubbed her eyes with a groan. 

“You okay?” Shakes asked, putting one of his coal-shovel hands on her shoulder.

“Yeah. Just… there’s a lot of noise. Give me a moment.” She paused. “This is gonna sound weird,” she said, “but what’s my name?” Shakes looked up at Ellis and Tee, an expression of panic on his face. 

“You remember us but not your name?” Tee asked incredulously. That was some very specific amnesia, and they were having trouble believing it.

“Yeah. Well, no. It’s like… looking at something and seeing like, both an apple and a pear? Hard to explain,” they said. “I mean… I know who I am, I think.” They looked up at Shakes. “Queen of Black-62, right?” Shakes nodded. “But you told me that my name used to be something else, when I woke up the first time. I remember that.”

“I did. Do you remember it?” Flock nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again.

“I do, it’s just that it’s wrong,” she grimaced again and Tee walked closer, crouching down next to her. They wanted Flock to remember who she was, of course, but they also wanted to move things forward. For their own sake -- they needed Flock’s help to save Cass -- and for Ellis’, who seemed to be pretty much head over heels. 

“Why is it wrong?” they probed gently. Flock looked them in the eyes, really looked, like she was trying to peer into their brain, and Tee could see her mouthing words, and cursed slightly at their inability to lip-read. 

“I know you,” Flock said, seemingly more confused the more time went by. Tee was worried that the body they’d given Flock was imperfect somehow, that she was unraveling quickly. Maybe a robotic body would have been better after all, instead of taking a risk on a brand-spanking-new one. But she seemed healthy, at least. “I know you,” Flock said again, more quietly, this time looking at Ellis, the adoration writ large on her face. That part was still very true, at the very least.

“You know us, Flock. We’re here. You are Queen Flock, and we need your help to find our friend,” Tee said again, almost pleading for her to break through whatever troubled waters Flock had suddenly found herself in. 

“My name,” Flock whispered, and touched her lips. “I told you my name,” she again. “I told you my name and it was a lie.” Tee looked up at Shakes, but he just shrugged. This was clearly all still new to him. Was Flock going into a delirious trance? Then, Flock looked Tee in the eyes again, and the green was vibrant and crystal clear. “My name isn’t Loki,” she said. “It wasn’t then and it isn’t now.”

“What,” Tee said. They looked up at Shakes. “Is that a common name here?” they demanded. Shakes shook his head. 

“That’s what she said ‘er name was when we first met,” he said. “but she rejected it after she lost her mem’ries. Said it didn’t fit ‘er.”

“Cass?” Ellis said softly. 

Flock looked up at him. 

“Yeah?”

Elamimax

:3c

So things are, as they always are, scary and difficult and the end of the year is coming up and what even was 2020? If you would consider joining my patreon, I'd really appreciate it. It pays for my medication and my rent, and it lets me write stories like this regularly. Subscribers will get access to every single chapter right now, as well as stories that aren't available to the public right now. Keep in mind that commissions for Among Brighter Stars are open, so people can commission additional chapters to be written. 

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<3