Thankfully, the point blank recipient of a tidal wave didn’t mind having been splashed once the entire situation was explained to them.

Meanwhile, Lilly’s rounds of apology gave Sue enough time to wrap up her own clean-up, letting them head out soon after. The dancer was a godsend in more than one way, eagerly helping carry the still-wet swaths of Sue’s all-natural dress, protecting them from getting dirty again.

Doubly so, since it let her walk right beside the Forest Guardian she was crushing on the entire way over. Sundance’s ambient warmth was even more appreciated than usual with the creeping evening chill.

The question of who had been watching over the toothy girl was answered once the trio finally arrived at the clearing. Their presence drew various expressions of joy from those gathered, Joy included. The little one waved at them from Astra’s lap, the dragon herself sitting on the grass next to the group’s table as she sipped from a heavy wooden tankard.

And she wasn’t the only one there, either!

Once Comet had scrambled his way out of his and Spark’s play tussle, he greeted the recent arrivals with an elated squeak and an uncoordinated wave. He was held back from rushing over to them by Spark cutting him off the moment Sue sat down. The lil’ firefox leaped onto a seat beside Sue’s, the water saturating her friend’s dress preventing her from dirtying it any more.

“Hi Sue! Why are you so wet!?”

Pardon.

“I-I had to shower.”

“Why?”

“For this~!”

Solstice’s words caught the attention of both the vixen and her favorite once-human as she slid over, holding a short, flint knife. She lightly patted the firefox to make her scoot away and give her better access to Sue’s dress. Spark first attempted to get comfortable on Lilly’s lap, and then, once she realized it was just as wet as Sue’s, she laid down on the ground beside their legs.

“What that?”

“A kind of knife that’s used for trimming our dress, Lilly. Has to be really sharp, but doesn’t need to be very hard. Flint works well for that.”

“Cut dress? Like hair?”

“Yep, Pretty much just like hair! I remember when I was Sue’s age, there were a few very popular trimming patterns where I grew up. I’m gonna try to replicate one of those from memory, ha.”

“Not hurt?”

“Oh no, it’s just dead skin, there’s no sensation there, thankfully. By the Pale Lady, it’d be really bad if there was...”

Sue viscerally felt that comment, even if nowhere near to the same extent as Solstice. The thought of feeling every single blade of grass that her dress rubbed against made the younger Forest Guardian involuntarily cringe. Solstice’s mention of hair tingled Sue’s attention, though.

If the Mayor was any sign, this stiff hairdo was a species-wide trait, but not one Sue particularly enjoyed. The chaos of the past few days may not have left much room in her mind to ponder about how she’d prefer to style it instead, but that was about to change.

“Since you mentioned hair. Are there any ways to straighten it out?”

The question had the older Forest Guardian blink confusedly as she grabbed the nearest flap of dead skin.

“I... think so, though I’ve never explored them in depth. Wouldn’t surprise me if all one needed was a hefty application of heat and an appropriate chemical solution. Still, with just how stiff our kind of hair is, it’ll be a struggle even then, ha.”

“I’d imagine Patina could advise something.”

“Oh, for sure, Sundance. She’s the best person to ask about anything involving fur, and chemistry in general. I remember her mentioning tinkering with making the pigments in her dyes persistent, so that a light rain can’t wash it off. That sounds like a task you could try to get done tomorrow on your own, Sue~. I’m sure Willow won’t mind guiding you over to her workshop.”

“Me too!”

Lilly’s addition was very appreciated, lifting everyone’s mood while making her seem even sweeter. Sue reached around to hold her closer as she chewed through her kneejerk reaction to Solstice’s words.

Her plans were already set, and much different from what everyone gathered wanted them to be.

Thankfully, Lilly’s adorable reaction to being hugged distracted Sue from any further unpleasant pondering in that general direction. Her ecstatic whistle made the Forest Guardian giggle, her delighted thoughts made her blush. It was almost enough to make her overlook almost everything else happening around the table.

But only almost.

*thud!*

The four mugs Sundance had just set down seemed identical to the one Astra had just finished drinking from. Sue’s curious glance at their contents prompted a rather unhelpful comment from the dragon.

“Phew, they spared no punch this time!”

Only one way to find out what this really is, isn’t there.

Sue grabbed the mug with both hands and lifted it to take a good sniff. A multitude of fruity aromas, some of them growing increasingly familiar. Cinnamon, or something treacherously similar to it. A handful of other nose-tingling spices. And, besides all that—

“Oh, it’s just spiced cider, Sue. First time having something like it?”

Indeed.

Aside from a couple of cheap, terrible beers she’d grabbed from some party before regretting it shortly after, she’d never had any booze in her life to begin with. The incomparably nicer scent of this brew was enough to convince her to give that particular poison a second try.

Ooooohhh.

Whatever alcohol the drink contained was the least interesting part of the mix. The mixture of several different kinds of sourness and sweetness was delightful on its own, and was only enhanced further by all the zesty, fresh spices.

Step aside, ethanol, you’re boring.

One gulp was followed by another as Sue got into it, looking around as she worked at her mug.

Lilly was no less enthusiastic than her at the prospect of a good drink. Her warm, leafy body loosened up almost immediately as she leaned on the once-human. The precious sound of her stray hiccup almost made Sue spill some of her own portion in all her giggling.

Further in that direction, Astra was playing with Comet. The little martian’s attention was so attached to the pretty cup in the dragon’s hand that she made him spin as she moved it around, much to her amusement. After one more glance at Sue, Joy finally acted on the infant’s distraction by tickling his exposed sides, sending them both into a playful tussle.

Spark wasted no time before joining in. Her and Joy’s combined efforts made Comet flail on the spot. His desire to laugh struggled against the limitations of this tiny body, high-pitched squeaks interspersed with occasional winded gasps.

The fiery cub wouldn’t remain there for long, especially not after noticing Lilly having dried out in the meantime. With the lil’ psychic exhausted and gasping, she leaped up onto the dancer’s lap and leaned in to nuzzle Sue’s side.

While almost making the once-human spill her drink all over her freshly cleaned flesh garment.

And with how well Solstice’s trimming was going, it would’ve been such a shame for that to happen.

Sue’s eyes studied the pattern as the Mayor went through one flap after another, her expression deeply focused. First, she cut off about three to four inches from the edge of each flap, the excess material forming a small mound under their seats. Each flap’s corners were then rounded into almost a semicircle, and had regularly spaced, lightning bolt shaped notches cut into it.

The real magic happened afterwards. The handful of straight lines she sliced across the bulk of the flap came together to look like a star, without weakening the structural integrity. Solstice couldn’t help but chuckle at noticing Sue’s increasingly tipsy amazement.

“Like the pattern?”

“It’s amazing! D-didn’t think it’d be so pretty...”

“Hah. And this is one of the simpler, more pragmatic designs. I remember some people carving whole artworks on those, usually only one flap at a time. Some folks ended up turning into walking galleries for a while. It was so pretty to look at, ah...”

“Aww!”

Solstice’s wistful remark had Sue smile at seeing her mentor revisit some of the good her past offered. Though, her own dress was completely plain aside from being trimmed for length. The once-human wanted to bring that fact up, but eventually erred on the side of not wanting to possibly aggravate any underlying muck.

Only for Lilly to err on the exact opposite side immediately afterwards.

“This very pretty! Why you have not, Solstice?”

The older Forest Guardian paused mid-cut at the words, her body recoiling. She forcibly straightened herself back out with a deep breath, making both of the increasingly drunk women beside her regret the question having been asked.

“It’s, it’s something you’re not supposed to do to yourself, only to others. I-I’ve been trying to hold that tradition. I’m just happy that I finally can...”

If not for the careful procedure being done on her and the sharp knife it involved, Sue would’ve reached out to hold her mentor there and then. Instead, she limited herself to just a drawn out ‘awwwwh’ in between gulps, soon reaching the mug’s bottom.

“It’s alright, don’t you two worry. Maybe once you have a moment, you could try your hand at this too, Sue~?”

“But, I-I don’t-”

“It doesn’t have to be complex. Even a simple pattern along the edges has its beauty to it.”

Sue wasn’t really opposed to that idea, merely worried about possibly messing it up. And if that weight were to be removed, then… maybe?

Maybe I could even give these nicer patterns a stab, ha. Why not?

“Sure then! W-we could try tomorrow?”

“After we’re back? I like the sound of that! Have any specific—”

“Oh?”

Astra’s surprised expression snagged Sue’s attention away from her mentor’s words. Thankfully, as opposed to something having possibly happened with the kids, it was aimed at the stony, bipedal rhino that had walked up to her. Sundance was too busy to have noticed their arrival, not including them in her translation.

Thankfully, the dragon’s side was enough to make the exchange’s subject clear.

“What’s up, Bedrock?”

*grumble, grumble*

“Am I free? Well, I’m looking after Joy and Comet right now, not really. Tomorrow? I’m not sure, I’ll have to hear from Root first. What do you have in mind?”

*grumble… grumble grumble, grumble.*

“Aaahh. Umm… sorry Bedrock, I don’t think I’m really interested. Sorry.”

*grumble, grumble!*

“Oh, it’s alright. Well, good luck with your search!”

To give the stony rhino credit, they weren’t discouraged that hard by being shot down again. Especially with the steady chanting coming from the table next to theirs growing louder and louder, as if to cover for them.

Sue and Lilly’s increasingly floaty attention was drawn to the large gray four-arms. The once-human’s increasingly cloudy mind barely fished out the accompanying name of ‘Granite’ from the recesses of her memory as she watched them attempt to down a mug of cider in a single go. 

The repetitive cheers came from the rest of the builders’ team, including the friendly blue rhino and soon enough the gray rhino once more. As their intensity grew, they spread to more and more tables and voices. Even Kantaro got convinced eventually, remaining quiet until then despite sitting right beside the four-arms. His low, gravely voice carried the sounds throughout their clearing, their purpose becoming clarified soon after.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon!”

And Granite would not disappoint.

He growled triumphantly as he slammed the now emptied mug on the table, utterly shattering it as his growl turned into an elongated burp. Cheers turned into laughter at the situation, but thankfully not at Granite’s expense directly, avoiding any embarrassment that wasn’t self inflicted.

That must be nice.

The sound of another full mug getting set down made Sue grab it on autopilot and take a sip before calling out to the craftsbug.

“K-Kantaro!”

Hearing an even-cruder-than-usual approximation of his name made the bipedal beetle look at their table and the kinda-mute-but-not-really Forest Guardian that sat beside Solstice. He raised the bit of chitin that vaguely corresponded to an eyebrow at her, but didn’t speak up directly. The quickly thickening haze filling Sue’s mind lowered her inhibitions enough to let her blurt out a question she’s had in the back of her mind for a good while now.

“What’s- what’s ya name mean?”

His name might have been vaguely understandable, but the barrage of gibberish that followed it wasn’t. Neither was his brief comment coherent for Sue, prompting her to take matters into her own mental hands.

She tried to repeat the simple ritual Solstice had taught her, the invisible mental reach making it all of three inches out of her skull before being forcibly stopped by a presence much, much stronger than itself.

“^Best I handle this, Sue. We don’t want a repeat of the Basil incident now, do we?^”

The light chiding in the Mayor’s voice hit Sue harder than intended. All the shameful worry that accompanied that entire disaster immediately crept out of the recesses of Sue’s recollection and back to the forefront of her mind. Before panic could grip her body any further, a sufficient distraction presented itself through Kantaro repeating himself.

“What did you say?”

“O-oh I- I was curious about your name! Wh-what’s it mean?”

“My name? Kantaro?”

The beetle’s own pronunciation revealed that the name everyone in Moonview used for him wasn’t a translation. Instead, it was just a very limited transliteration, missing no less than four distinctive, guttural sounds compared to how he pronounced it.

Sue had no hopes of ever pronouncing any of them short of a piece of food getting stuck in her throat.

“Yeah!”

The clarification didn’t get rid of all of Kantaro’s confusion, but now her question at least made sense. It still wasn’t a particularly interesting one, making him shrug, take a large swig of his mug, and finally respond.

“I believe that in Moonview’s language, ‘Stone God’s Gift’ comes close enough.”

That’s a baller name.

Sue and Lilly alike getting further fascinated at hearing that was not what Kantaro expected or particularly wanted to happen. The unintended implication perked his chitin shell up before he elaborated.

“It was a common name in the colony I grew up in. I knew two other Kantaro when I lived there.”

“Why’dja- why did ya leeeave?”

Yet another swig from her mug was unlikely to help with the increasing blurriness of Sue’s thoughts and words alike. Even despite her incapacitated state, she could still sense the pang of darker emotions inside the craftsman’s mind in response to her words.

The worry that sensation brought was overcome with Lilly’s continued affection on her front and shoulder, her pleasant warmth making Sue want to melt.

“It was many things. My colony was a talented place, but deeply stifling and focused only on itself. At some point, one desires to create more, so much more than another variation of the same banal icon. After hearing for the twentieth time about how good of a broodmother I would make, I had enough, and left there and then. I marched westward in a straight line for weeks before stumbling on Moonview’s quarry, right as Granite was in the middle of cutting stone down to size.”

The four arms responded with a comment that had all of theirs and most of Sue’s table burst into laughter. Even Kantaro slipped out a chuckle before following up.

“I had to intervene, Granite. Your technique was atrocious!”

This time, Sue had managed to piece together just barely enough context to chuckle, too. A stray wisp of cold, evening wind had her holding Lilly much closer; the dancer’s warmth appreciated even without an accompanying heartbeat. And, of course, Spark didn’t hesitate to help too, nuzzling into her side all the while.

“Following that, I settled for good. Abundant material, welcome hospitality, exquisite food, inspiration for the subjects of my creations. What else is an honest worker to want?”

Kantaro’s table cheered for that. Sue’s head swam as she tried to pet Spark’s back, inadvertently tickling Lilly’s side as the dancer continued her questions.

“And then stay until leave for pilgrimage?”

The beetle flinched at Lilly’s question. The rest of his table looked at him with concern, Granite in particular trying to reassure him with a couple of pats on the back of his head, behind his horn. Eventually, the craftsbug himself replied with a sigh.

“It was no pilgrimage, Lilly, not the usual sort at least. Imagine… imagine a splinter. Underneath the shell, stabbing your side. At first, it’s tiny, but it grows with you and follows you everywhere, aching you at all times. Every time you look at your own reflection or someone even mentions you, it stabs your guts especially hard. And each time, it feels like there’s no reprieve.” 

Kantaro took a deeper breath to sort his thoughts out, continuing the recollection afterwards.

“I ran from my colony in part to get away from it. Not long after I found Moonview, I realized it had followed me all the way here. It hurt so much I was afraid of looking down at my body and suddenly seeing blood. I tried distracting myself from my body. I gave my entire self to the Pale Lady, I worshiped Her through my efforts, I put up the two monuments. It felt like I finally reached the pinnacle of my work, if for an instant. But the splinter was still there, still goring my insides every day. And the pain only grew.”

The builder’s table listened in silence, their expressions all various shades of concern. Most of them were familiar with the broad strokes of the tale because of having known Kantaro the entire time, but not with the exact details.

How it all felt for him.

“One day, I simply could not take it anymore. I ran before the brink of dawn. Away from people, away from water, hoping that it would at least briefly help. It did, and that fact hurt unspeakably. I felt forced to choose between the ones closest to me and even a momentary reprieve. The realization filled me with fury at Fate for striking me with such torment. I thrashed blindly, felling timber around me in a blind rage…”

Kantaro paused with a low chuckle, catching his breath afterwards.

“And then, a tree fell on me.”

Oh fuck.

“Were you alright!?”

“Yes, yes. If the Gate desires me, it needs much more than merely a tree. It hurt greatly, but it snapped me out of the worst of my anger. It also… broke most of my horn off. I shambled towards the nearest stream to make sure it wasn’t bleeding, and then, I finally saw it. My reflection with its broken horn. The splinter was gone. I stared and pondered for hours, trying to make sense of it all, a sense of this sudden relief. Until one moment, the truth hit me harder than even that tree.” 

Another sip gave him a moment to gather his bearings. His free hand reached up, feeling along the recently trimmed tip of his horn.

“That splinter wasn’t a curse placed on me. It was a part of me, a part I could carve away. A part I could get rid of. And so I did, spending days whittling my horn down to its current shape, grinding through dozens and dozens of boulders. And it was all worth it, every single moment. I was finally in the shape I should’ve been in all along. I was Kantaro no longer, now, I was Kantaro, and the pain had finally left.”

The difference between the two versions of seemingly the same word was subtle, differing only in parts Sue couldn’t pronounce. But it was still present all the same. Sue didn’t have the time to dwell on that for too long, though. Especially not once Granite had yanked the craftsbug into a massive hug, the rest of his table joining in from all around afterwards. It was enough to make even his stoic voice waver.

“And then, I returned, formed anew, and was welcomed all the same.”

Sue couldn’t exactly tell what, but something in his story touched her deeply all the same.

Soon enough, the craftsmen’s table swerved into a different topic amongst itself. Sue had dissolved enough of her restraint in her mug that she simply leaned on Lilly afterwards with all her weight.

Her weight didn’t bother the dancer even slightly.

Sue’s increasingly blurry vision picked up on the rest of her flaps having gotten trimmed in the meantime. She had no idea where all the trimmings had gone, but was glad for Solstice taking care of that unsightly mess all the same.

“Th-that was so nice, o-oh- hick- oh goshhh...”

The Forest Guardian’s words growing increasingly incoherent had Lilly laugh louder and louder, whistled sounds only interrupted by an occasional hiccup. After barely managing to settle her mug on the table without flipping it over, Sue returned the favor, embracing the leafy girl with both arms.

Spark’s warmth, Lilly’s arms petting her back, the undefined amount of booze in her bloodstream all combined into a heap of comfort that threatened to turn Sue into a puddle.

That me, a very happy puddle.

“Is! Like you!”

An attempt to respond to the tease had Sue mumble something not even she could understand before leaning forwards. The sensations of her front fin resting against Lilly’s side made her shudder, especially with her warm bliss becoming even easier to sense. It made her mumble happily, mumble and take a deep breath of the jubilant atmosphere. The giddy aroma Lilly carried with herself was even nicer than usual, convincing Sue to crane her head and take a sniff right at its source.

Oooh, that’s even better—Lilly?

The leafy girl’s abrupt emotional shift was all the clearer to sense with her closeness. Jubilant glee, immense, stunned fluster, and then a deluge of excitable squirminess. Her leafy arms held Sue that much firmer, that much harder, that much closer.

Lilly’s attempt at speaking didn’t go far either. All she managed was a drawn out, elated squeak, leaving Sue equal parts enthused and amused. The once-human broke into affectionate giggling as she reached to grab another mug—

“...which cup is that for you, Sue?”

“U-ughhhgh... th-third—HEY!”

The moment a number left her mouth, Solstice’s telepathy forcibly yanked the mug out of her grasp. Her mentor’s expression was somewhere between concerned, impressed, and slightly tipsy itself as she stared at her pupil.

“That’s more than enough for you today!”

“B-b-but it’s- it’s jhusht chider—”

“And~? You can hardly even stand up right now.”

“That’sh nhot thrue—”

Fortunately, Spark’s continued presence of her lap, accentuated by her giggling at the once-human’s antics, stopped Sue an instant before she would’ve attempted to stand up, anyway. Instead, she reached down to give the lil’ firefox some more pets, Solstice commenting on her doomed attempt shortly after.

“I think it’s about time you got some rest, Sue.”

“Bhut I-I’m all ghood—”

“She right Sue!”

As much as she wanted to oppose Solstice’s judgment, Sue didn’t have the drive to do the same with Lilly’s.

She gave up with a sigh, Lilly’s gentle hair ruffling that followed helped greatly with accepting such an unfair decision. Solstice didn’t keep her amusement bottled up either, her tattooed arm reaching over to join in on the affection, the blue dye particularly striking in the surrounding lighting.

“F-fine, fine, fine...”

“Let’s get you back to the clinic now—”

“I help!”

Lilly enacted her plan before either Sue or Solstice could react. Spark only barely hopped off her friend’s lap before the leafy dancer effortlessly lifted Sue’s entire body up. It took Sue’s mind to catch up with what was happening, the realization of how cute Lilly was from this closer perspective not helping in thinking straight, either.

“Are you sure Lilly? It’s really no problem-“

“I sure! Can move Sue!”

Solstice’s eye roll and hiccup-interrupted chuckle told it all.

Still, she was in no position to butt into their little display of dorky affection, about to nod in affirmation before undertaking one of her own tricks. Sue felt something ticklish in the back of her head as the extension of her mind was pulled out of her skull and manipulated by the Mayor. Her dulled thoughts only found that sensation funny, and so did Lilly’s once the link was established between them, neither of them any wiser.

“Alrighty then, suit yourselves~. Sleep well Sue, Sleep well Lilly. May She keep your rest safe.”

“Night!”

“Byeeeeee~”

As Sue was being carried off, she spared no goodbyes for everyone around. Astra looked like she was on the brink of joining the sleeping baby martian and toothy girl in her arms. Sundance only barely held her laughter in, shooting Sue a wink.

The builders’ table was near unanimous in their amusement. Granite and the blue rhino pointed and laughed; Kantaro smiled despite his best effort; Bedrock gave them a wistful look before sighing and joining in on the chuckles. The brown pangolin chittered to themselves, massive claws covering their expression as the red robot insect… exhaled through their nose and took another swig of the cider.

Poppy excitedly pointed them out while shaking Hazel’s shoulder, the distance making it hard to tell whether she was amused, excited, or both. The humanoid ladybug she and Solstice grabbed food a couple days back didn’t notice them passing by, but caught Sue’s attention by drinking on their own away from anyone else, regardless.

“How are you sho strong...”

Sue’s comment made Lilly break out into even more whistled giggling as they neared the exit from the clearing.

---

By vk.com/meokichu!

---

The sight on a nearby light pole caught the once-human’s attention, even if she was in no state to think through its implications. In the place of one of the plentiful red-purplish fireballs stood Crackle, without the shroud that kept his body obscured no less.

The light blue flame at his core burned bright; somehow, it wasn’t hurting her the way it apparently had back at Willow’s clinic. This time, it was just eye-catching as opposed to… soul-catching. Even despite his apparent harmlessness, he didn’t remain uncovered like that for long.

Right as they turned the counter, Crackle pulled his usual white shroud back over his body and hovered off to the side of the light pole. And then, he pulled another of those magical fireballs from underneath his disguise, placed it in his place, and floated off further into Moonview, away from the evening chatter.

Such a pretty sky…

Moonview’s light pollution was thankfully weak enough for most stars to still be visible. A new Moon laid smack dab in the middle, at least if the circular, pitch-black hole in the stellar backdrop was any sign.

“Hehe, new Moon tonight...”

Lilly’s upward glance had her hold Sue even closer to herself. The once-human sure didn’t mind that, though she didn’t understand what might’ve caused it. The dancer’s follow-up made sense, though considering what Sue’s plan was for tomorrow, it still stung.

“No Moon, scary. Night people time. I protect!”

“Nooo, they’re not scary, they won’t hurt us.”

“Think that Sue?”

“Yes! It’s sad they’re not here.”

Lilly was unsure how to respond. Though if Sue said that, then there was probably merit to it.

She was still keen to protect Sue should the need ever arise, but she no longer feared that Newmoon’s denizens would threaten her life. Or, at least, not as much.

One corner later, their brief trip had reached its end. Lilly kicked the door to Willow’s clinic open, hopefully without damaging it too much, before she carried Sue in, not letting go of the Forest Guardian until she was laid down on the bed, all snuggly and cozy.

“Thank you so much, Lilly...”

“Thank for day, Sue!”

The dancer had sat down on the edge of her bed. Her leafy arm reached out to grab Sue’s hand, only to be cupped by both of them, making Lilly squirm even more.

“I... happy, happy happy.”

“M-me too, hehehe... i-it’s so soft here, and...”

Before Sue could get lost in all the bliss, a single remaining strand of coherent thought realized a very important omission in the room.

“Oh, we left the crutch...”

The remark snapped Lilly out of her own daze, right before she could finish psyching herself into shooting her shot and laying down beside Sue. The dancer glanced around what she could make of the room, before confirming her crush’s observation and hopping off of the bed.

“I grab and back!”

By the time Sue managed to nod in affirmation, Lilly was long gone.

The Forest Guardian was on her own again, focusing on enduring the arduous wait until the dancer got back. Or, at least, she tried to.

By the time Lilly finally made her way back, the combination of silence, exhaustion, inebriation, and warmth had long since knocked Sue out; the dancer left kicking herself over not acting sooner.

---

♪ B♭ F E♭ B♭   D. D. E♭- ♪

Sue’s impromptu dreamed up jamming session was abruptly stopped by her blinking and finally coming to. She stared at her mom’s guitar for a few moments, to the backdrop of now just the crackle of flames.

She’d never learned how to play it properly; her mom had only given her a couple of basic lessons. Heck, she didn’t even know how to read sheet music. And yet, despite all that, she felt…

Oddly confident, as if everything was completely alright.

Before she could give that peaceful observation more thought, the shadowy figures she’d just noticed off in the corners of her vision sent shivers down her spine. One of them sat on the spot she’d been waking up in her dreams previously, to her left, and the other sat to her right. Her attempt to investigate what they actually were predictably ended in failure; the shadows gone as soon as they’d arrived.

The rest of the clearing was exactly how she’d remembered it, unaltered to the best of her ability to tell. Above her, the same new Moon as in the waking world, and a falling star beside it.

For once they haven’t messed with it.

The thought brought Sue some well-needed reassurance as she put the guitar away and stood up from her mom’s seat. Despite the surrounding serenity, though, the once-human’s worries didn’t hesitate immediately trying to chime in, their input rational if somewhat unwelcome.

No way I got thrown in here for no reason. There has to be a hitch.

There has to be something to demolish any hopes of this sacred memory ever being mine and mine alone ever again.

And indeed, there was.

To give the responsible entity the credit it deserved—namely none—the alteration was respectfully distanced from the rest of the scene. The doorway loomed in the distance, far away from the campfire to be only barely visible. Still far from preferable, but Sue would live.

Not that she had a choice.

Despite the doorway and the downwards staircase on its other side being completely dark, the once-human could still see them perfectly clear. By the time she’d descended the stairs, her surroundings were pitch black, any and all ambient light gone completely.

Sue found herself on an endless field underneath thousands upon thousands of stars, awe-inspiringly beautiful—

“Greetings.”

It wasn’t her first time hearing Night Father’s low, gravely voice, but it still startled her. He seemed to have gotten the same idea as she, observing the stars before His attention slowly shifted to her. His pronunciation was… weird, as if He had to utterly contort His voice to end up with something she could comprehend, but being able to understand him was appreciated all the same.

“Wait, how- how do you speak my language?”

“Effort.”

Even with the ability to speak English, though, it seemed He wasn’t particularly talkative. The Forest Guardian had no choice but to accept the non-answer with a hesitant nod.

“I, alright. Wh-why are you here, again?”

“Ideas.”

“...of?”

“Suspect.”

The record-breakingly curt answer immediately caught her attention, dreamed-up eyes going wide.

“Do you have an idea of who could’ve brought me here?”

“Several.”

“A-alright, what are they?”

The question made the imaginary field beneath them shudder as His blue eye closed in thought. It didn’t seem to accomplish much beyond just startling her though, at least if His words, accompanying the end of the shakes, were any sign.

“Multiple exceed comprehension. Singular.”

“One at a time, then. Who do you think i-is the most likely?”

“Dependent.”

“On?”

“Death.”

“...m-mine?”

“Previous. Self.”

“Wh-what, no, I don’t, I don’t remember dying, or even b-being close to death. I-I’m, I was young a-and healthy and all that...”

Even if I wasn’t eating as many veggies as I should have been...

“Possibility.”

“I-I guess... who did you have in mind first, then?”

The moment she finished asking her question, she felt even stronger tremors than before, almost toppling her over immediately. They were coming from somewhere, making her look at its source—

IT was incomprehensibly large.

Golden scales decorated ITS lower limbs, blindingly bright in the light of ITS own glory. ITS quadruped body was made of purest marble and filled up the entire sky. The halo surrounding ITS head was too holy for her mortal senses to comprehend, forcing Sue to cower pitifully.

An infinitely detailed lattice ran through ITS core. On it, golden threads, green gemstones—one of them being this very planet—and stone tablets carved with divine truths.

Sue could only perceive the latter as colors.

“Demiurge. Hollow.”

She trembled pitifully under the god’s might, feebly trying to shield her body as she was forced down onto her knees. The few parts of her psyche that weren’t being utterly overwhelmed by the deity couldn’t recognize IT in the slightest.

There’s no way in hell I would’ve ever forgotten a sight like that.

The realization made the dreamed-up deity dissolve into fog, letting Sue finally breathe again.

“Wh-what the fuck, was that—was that fucking God!?”

“Equivalent.”

She might have just found the one weird trick for her homeworld’s churches to use if they ever complained about attendance rates.

As profoundly overwhelming as that experience was, Sue knew they were nowhere near done. If there was even a chance she could finally figure out who did this to her, she was willing to go through more, so much more.

Especially with the prospect of returning to her normal life on the line.

“O-okay, who else?”

Her eagerness took the Night Father slightly aback. He did the closest thing possible to lifting an eyebrow up as He stared at her, remaining expressionless. Before long, though, His focus returned to the task at hand; the dreamscape rumbled once more while the next deity manifested Itself.

Any physical distance that separated It and Sue became undone in an instant as Its scarlet eyes stared her down. Its body was made of stars and super-heated metal, their combined white and ultraviolet glare burning itself into Sue’s dreamed up eyes.

Despite being magnitudes smaller than the first one, It felt no less holy because of it. Even the slightest movements of Its colossal arms distorted the land and sky around them, the dimension of space warbling under Its mere presence.

“Sculptor. Cautious. Unlikely.”

The spatial deity was gone as soon as It had appeared. As her dream returned to the largely featureless emptiness from before, Sue processed what she just saw, thankfully taking the mind-bending sight better this time.

“Was th-that a god of light—”

“Space. Presence.”

“Space. O-okay.”

Even if Sue misunderstood the answer, it didn’t matter for the Night Father’s purpose. She had no recollection of Its influence either way, and of all the suspects, It was by far the least likely to have threatened the stability of the fabric of reality to begin with.

“Wh-what next?”

“Gate. Return.”

A cacophony of murmurs filled the heavens immediately, bringing Sue’s gaze up at the sky.

The first deity’s sky-spanning body comprised three fleshy, crimson arms. A bloodied, grayish plume sprouted from where they connected, and from it, a tiny, low-hung head. Black veins bulged out of Its limbs as they held a colossal portal open, their tremors making the immense strain of their duty abundantly clear.

Legions of tiny, white sprites flowed into their portal, pouring in from beyond the reaches of Sue’s mind. Each of them whispered about the demise they had met, be it with grief, fear, or relief.

The sight occupying the opposite end of the horizon was similarly massive. The second deity’s immense, rainbow-studded wings rained sacred fire with their every flap. Its shrill cry brought indescribable warmth to Sue’s soul as it crossed the sky.

Each tiny ember Its wings shed turned out to be one of the white sprites, swaddled in seven-colored flames. As they fell, they turned into flesh in an uncountable myriad of forms.

Some of them even looked familiar.

“Inevitable. Cycle.”

“A-are these the d-dead—”

“Correct.”

“Wait, d-do you mean that I-I died and ended up here—”

“Death. Rebirth. Identical. Possibility.”

This world certainly wasn’t like any afterlife she ever imagined, her mind giving preference to the ‘rebirth’ possibility. Though, when it came down to it, was there any difference between the two when put like that?

Either of them required that she had died back on Earth, the realization chilling her to the core. Especially with the loud bang she could just barely recall before she ended up here.

Regardless of how much less improbable this idea sounded compared to interference by a deity further up on the divine pecking order, the evidence for it wasn’t there. After a few moments, Sue forcibly let go of that idea for the time being, even if just to hear the rest out.

“I- I see. Not impossible I guess, but...” 

Right before Sue could throw herself into being overwhelmed or hurt once more, her thoughts veered in a very different direction. She'd been assuming that the deity beside her had been benevolent in His investigation, but what if that wasn't true?

What if He'd just been trying to cover His tracks?

“What–what about you?”

His single eye stared blankly at her at the question. Moments dragged on as an utter silence returned to Sue's dream, making her worry that she'd both got it right and wouldn't leave unpunished because of–

“Incapable.”

Oh.

…

I'm not buying that.

"Aren't you a god, too?”

“Half.”

The word made the once-human think back to her chat with Sundance earlier in the day. Him being a 'half-god' would make sense since Duck is apparently one, too.

“A half-god?”

“One of Two.”

Sue blinked at the clarification, guessing uncertainly–

“A half of a god?”

“Correct.”

“Is… She the other half?”

The dark deity didn't even verbally answer, nodding his plume of a head before turning His attention skyward, at the uncountable stars gracing the ceiling of her imagination. She didn't remember seeing a moon there earlier, but supposed it only made sense for it to be there.

And then half the sky moved, together with the moon itself; stars whizzed across as if they'd been painted on the surface of wings spanning from horizon to horizon. Sue could only stare, uncertain whether it was her own senses playing a joke or her or not.

She sure hoped it was the former, at least.

“Continue?”

“Um, sure. Wh-who’s next?”

Deep silence shrouded the dreamed-up clearing at her question, snuffing out any and all ambiance. Night Father’s eventual answer pierced the quiet, but sounded impossibly distant, like it was fading away.

“Grief...”

Before Sue knew it, she was surrounded by dense, pale fog. Salt in the air stung her eyes as she tried to make sense of what was happening.

“Wh-what’s, where are you—”

“Sue?”

M-mom?

Her mother’s voice froze the once-human where she stood, face contorting into a gasp as she faced the origin of the sound. There she was, she was right there, alive and just as pretty as she was the last time Sue had seen her! Her expression brightened at seeing her daughter again, even if she looked so, so very different now.

“Sue! My goodness, how much you’ve grown!”

“MOM!”

Everything else can wait, has to wait, MOM!

This wasn’t just some memory; she was here; she was real; she was alive!

Sue ran towards her mom, every step filling her with more and more happiness. Tears of joy ran down her face as her mom opened her arms for a hug, the girl closing her eyes as she prepared to take it—

Only for pitch-black tentacles to shoot past her and wrap tightly around her, stopping her in place.

Sue thrashed against His influence, wailing in grief once He began to forcibly drag her back. She was mere feet away from someone she thought she’d lost for good, the pain of being torn away from her again making her want to scream.

“ LIAR! ”

And then, Sue finally saw It.

A black, shriveled body laid inside a spiked, purple shell. Sea foam hair flowed down Its face, sparse and tattered. Its opalescent eyes, devoid of hope, stared straight through Sue as she began to choke up.

The joy she had felt bloom inside her was painfully coughed out of her lungs. The sheer quantity of murky brine that had left her mouth formed a small puddle underneath her as she cried in pain.

“Broken.”

Sue shambled away from where her mom’s image and the cruel deity had manifested Itself, Its accompanying fog long gone. All the sensations she had to relive in these few moments made her want to cry, to break down like a baby at having to relive her loss once more.

But she couldn’t.

Not now, not yet.

“H-how many left...”

“Two. Chaotic. Unpredictable. Inexcludable.”

Okay, I can manage two, I can do this…

“Okay, n-next then.”

For once, nothing happened right away. Sue tried to look around for any changes to her surroundings, but only found Night Father standing in the exact same spot as before, staring blankly at her.

“Certain?”

“No, but... what other choice d-do I have?”

The dark deity thought on her words for a few moments before closing His eye once more.

The scene that awaited the once-human right behind her shoulder was stunningly beautiful. A vast field of blooming pink flowers and fluttering butterflies, all of them facing the figure in the center.

Sue couldn’t see much of it, but what she made out was similarly gorgeous. A massive shell, covered with incredibly intricate etchings. Pinks, reds, blacks and whites combined to depict life in all its forms and vividness. She took a step closer to take a better look—

“Cruelty.”

Suddenly, the shell creature turned around, and everything turned to suffering.

The force of nature locked eyes with Sue, obliterating her mental defenses and flooding her mind with visions of pain. Nails driven into her eyes, joints forcibly twisted the other way, her insides doused in acid, her head burning alive.

Bringing her until the brink of death, right in front of the Gate, but never further. The deity of death barred her from escaping as she was brought back to health before being tortured again, and again, and again, and again.

Sue shrieked and ran, her mind reduced to its basest of impulses as she felt her body be mangled repeatedly.

By the time she could think again, her throat had worn itself dry from the involuntary screams. She was thrashing on the grassy floor of the dreamscape, a look around her body revealing it to be completely unharmed. Shouts gave way to whimpers as suffering finally began to recede from her mind, left only with sorrow and trauma.

I can’t do it, I’m too weak, I’ll never make it out of here. This world, these deities, they’re too evil, I can’t…

It felt like an eternity had passed before Sue could do anything but sob and shake. Night Father stood over her, making her spit out words in anger.

“Wh-why did you do this to me—”

“Incorrect.”

“Y-you brought that fucking thing in here!”

“Divine. Uncontrollable.”

“I-it’s just an illusion—”

“Fragment. Divine.”

Sue had no idea if He was bullshitting her, but by that point, she didn’t care anymore.

All she wanted was to storm out of this nightmare and never see Him or other deities again, to spend the rest of her days in this world, figuring out a way back through regular, not-divine means.

Even if she knew as well as He did it was naught but an agonized, impossible fantasy.

“Final. Harmless.”

Sue couldn’t tell whether His words were a promise or a reassurance, but she didn’t care either way. She was about to ask Him to do away with all this and let her go.

But it was too late.

“Caprice—”

“No, fuck this, fuck you! I’m, I’m not looking!”

And indeed, she didn’t.

She tried her absolute hardest to not pay attention to the squeaky, androgynous voice that spoke up behind her. The way It enunciated its words sent a deep, frightful shiver down her back.

Night Father’s final remark made Sue want to throw hands as she continued her hissy fit of a march, only speeding her steps up.

“Very. Annoying.”

Fuck you too.

Part of her wondered how the hell was this dream still ongoing with how much suffering she’d experienced. The realization made her tense up, fear mixing with hope of finally getting a reprieve from it all.

Destiny, however, had different plans.

A fluttering sheet of paper floated into Sue’s peripheral vision, intersecting her path. The once human wanted to tear it to shreds there and then, but the glimpse of its contents stopped her in her tracks.

Don’t turn around.

The elegant, silver-inked cursive reminded Sue of what she saw in her previous dream. The accompanying mental image of her own gravestone sent an icy chill through her body as her breathing grew shallow. She was afraid to shift her gaze anywhere else, muttering her words directly at the piece of paper.

“Wh-who are you?”

A stray gust made the page thrash enough to let her spot more writing on its other side. With a deep breath, Sue flipped it around, bracing herself for what she might see.

An ally.

“Ally? Wh-what do you mean—which of these unholy things are you!?”

After flipping the page again, the previous message was replaced with a drawing that defied comprehension.

A silver octahedron was depicted on the tattered page with a mathematical precision, looking more like a platonic ideal of a shape rather than a mere drawing. It slowly rotated when watched, its shining surface mesmerizing. Perfectly ordered.

You can call me JUSTICE.

“Justice. Okay. What- what did you mean b-by us being allies?”

We share a goal.

“Goal? Wh-what are you talking about?”

We both want to make the being who’d done this to you suffer and pay.

The words gave Sue a pause, her breaths growing shallow.

“Do you know who th-that is?”

Yes.

“Who is it then!?”

Another flip of the page revealed yet another scribble, this one much more headache inducing.

A golden line twisted and thrashed into shapes unknown and unknowable, writhing on the page with enough speed to render the result little more than a blur. Chaos incarnate.

“That’s not—THAT’S NOT AN ANSWER!”

It’s as much of an answer as I can presently give. Idiot covered Its tracks well.

Sue screamed in frustration at being denied the truth yet again. She was about to crumple the page up into a small, tight ball, before seeing a new message—

I would not advise that.

“Why did you contact me like this if you won’t even tell me anything that’s going on!?”

I have a plan to ensure Its compliance.

“Compliance!?”

It promised you a way home. I can make sure that comes to pass, and make It pay.

The mixture of anger and pain finally loosened its grip on Sue’s psyche as she considered the words. Regardless of anything else, the offer of getting out of this hellish world and back to Earth was very alluring, especially right now.

Right as she was about to agree, though, a stray, bitter thought crossed her mind again.

“Will it even matter if I say no?”

Sue hesitated for a while after asking. She knew deep down what the answer was inevitably going to be, but was afraid to face it.

Another flip of the page confirmed her fears.

No.

Of course. Of fucking course I’m just playing into another deity’s sick fucking game.

“What do you want me to do?”

For now, nothing. Continue as you did. Before my plan can come to pass, Its plan must be accomplished first. Before the trap can be sprung, we need the—

Before Sue could finish reading the sentence, a louder call coming from that same squeaky, androgynous voice she heard earlier made her look over her shoulder out of reflex—

And wake up back at Willow’s clinic, the air reeking faintly of brine.