This story is intended to be wholesome and for most viewers. However…
*This story contains others’ properties that aren’t my own. Credits are given at the end of the story.
*This story features LGBTQ characters, with a transgender main character.
*This story touches on themes of loss and guilt.
*Crude humor abounds…

A Quiet Day…

Avor and Emilia were doing what they could for Northern Light since it was taken to the Genie Realm. And they certainly missed their daughters, who were out in the mortal word fighting for their return… Or so they thought!

“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Embra cried out as she raced towards them. She ran up and embraced them. She hadn’t seen them in weeks! She decided to use a shadow gate to take her back to Northern Light for a little while, just so she could see them again.

“Embra, darling, what brings you here?” Avor asked.

“Is everything going well?” Emilia added.

“As well as they can. Unfortunately, it still will be some time… We’re only just starting to fight back…” Embra explained. “But…” She pulled out a bow. “I’ve been trying archery. I wanted to see if I inherited some skills from you guys!”

“Your mom’s the archer. I tend to go for a polearm, myself,” Avor explained.

Embra’s eyes widened. She pulled out her new staff from Lumina. “What do you know? It seems I use them too!”

“Atta girl!’ Avor said as he rubbed Embra’s head.

“How’s your archery?” Emilia asked.

“Um, I don’t know?”

“Hang on, I’ll get Lumina. I know I saw her around here just a few minutes ago…”

-------

Embra, Emilia, and Lumina met at an unused property on what was the northern edge of the city (not that a compass will tell you squat here). Lumina set up magic blocks that Embra could target with her shots. Emilia stood behind, ready to offer her advice.

“Alright, Embra, show us what you can do!” said Emilia.

Embra began firing off a flurry of shots, keeping up a good rate of fire, striking all the targets in some way. Emilia smiled.

“Not bad at all! You have astonishing accuracy with rapid-fire! How long have you been training?” she asked.

“Errr, not that long, actually. Three days at most.”

“You really did seem to pick up some skills from us! No doubt, Light Magic enhanced your capabilities!”

“Actually, no,” Lumina replied. “Those abilities are not enhanced by Light Magic, or at least her Shade Magic. She really does get that from you!”

“But I know you’re really good at single shots, mom, and… Well… It seems I stink at that.”

“Why don’t you show me?”

Lumina reset the targets. Embra took aim at a target block, but the longer she held it, the more she shook. When she let go, the arrow flew away from the target, bouncing off and spiraling off to the floor.

Emilia immediately knew what the problem was. She got close to Embra. “You need to relax. Concentrate. Calm your spirit. When your heart slows, you’ll be able to aim better…” she calmly explained to her.

Embra nodded. She pulled back with another arrow.

“Breathe,” Emilia said.

Embra took a deep breath. She aimed the bow at the target. She was no longer shaking. She had the shot lined up perfectly. She let go, and the arrow pierced the target right in the center!

“There you go!” Emilia cheered.

“You never cease to amaze, Embra!” added Lumina. “Just a little advice for you goes a long way!”

“I feel like celebrating!” Embra said gleefully. “I didn’t think it’d be that easy!”

“You learn fast, that’s why,” Lumina suggested.

“Well… Feasting may be out of the question. Your dad and I are carnivores for the most part, thanks to being zombies, and we need to make sure we make our meat stock last until things return to normal… The Light Magic of the Genie Realm is helping, but we need to be sure we can hold out.”

“How about we leave Embra with a reward?” Lumina suggested.

“What are you thinking?”

“A new bow for her. One from both of us!”

“I think that’s a great idea!”

“Can you hand me yours for a moment?”

“Oh, sure,” Emilia said as she handed it over to Lumina.

Lumina carefully examined the bow, committing every detail to memory. She handed it back to Emilia before focusing her magic. Her hands held out, a new one started to form. It was shaped exactly like Emilia’s, except it was made from the magic sky-blue metal of Embra’s outfit and staff. She handed it to Emilia.

“That’s special indeed…” Emilia said as she examined it. “A replica of one mom’s bow, made with the magic of the other, to match what you already have!” She handed it to Embra with a smile. “Here, for your skills in archery!”

Instead of grabbing the bow, she gave Emilia a hug instead. Embra waved for Lumina to join them. She knew she was going to have to return to Siren Island soon, but for now, she was just going to suck up this moment…

=== Siren City. ===

Star needed to make herself useful. Back in Northern Light, she was content to operate the Starlight Inn, make a few hot drinks, and simply talk to travelers and townsfolk alike. But here? She was restless. She couldn’t wait idly by, or she’d go insane. Things HAD to be done. So, whenever they had a quiet day, she was helping with the construction, with speedy or heavy deliveries based on the needs. She was good at that, at least!

This time, her light-enhanced strength was needed for a stack of metal plates. With all the delivery carts capable of carrying the load taken, she quickly volunteered to get them delivered. Everything was going fine until…

Lobbi casually walked by. She saw Star carrying the plates and looked pleased. “Star do good! Keep up work!” she said with a smile.

Star’s heart started beating faster as her face turned red. She lost all concentration, and her strength left her. The stack of plates came crashing down behind the Siren leader, who jumped with a loud screech of surprise.

Lobbi turned around and started talking in Siren language, clearly yelling at Star. But she saw Star on her knees, hands on her face, moaning. Lobbi realized Star knew she made a mistake, and it might be a bit more complicated than “she slipped.”

“Sorry Star. Wrong?”

“I… I still haven’t got over my crush on you!”

“Really?”

“Ugh, I’m a hopeless romantic. I’ve had three girlfriends, all of whom I overwhelmed the moment I shared my first kiss with them. Because I transfer memories with a kiss, if I’m not careful, I can give someone more than they can handle! All three of them, I came to ‘I want to share my life with you,’ and, well, I did just that. Every single moment of my life up to that kiss, from the day I was born, I gave it to them… One wound up in a coma for a week!”

“Oh, sorry Star…”

“And every girl I’ve crushed on, I can’t seem to let them go. Just so cute and adorable and ohmygoshwhatamIsaying?” she said as her face turned even redder and she started speaking at lightning pace.

Lobbi had an idea what to do, based on what she saw from the other humans on the island. She walked up from behind and gave Star a hug. “I no Star deep friend, but I Star friend.”

Star’s blush was now reaching her chest and shoulders. “So soft and smooth…” she muttered.

“Star just need keep finding! She need strong girl like her. For now, I give lonely Star hug!”

Star spurted out unintelligible noises as she processed Lobbi’s attempts to make her more comfortable, make her feel better.

“Star like?”

“Star like…”

=== Beneath Siren Island – the Squid Pit. ===

The elevator stopped at the lowest point it could. Aurora pulled a cart along with something important… Maybe not to the grand scheme of things, but for her, it was. She got Lobbi’s approval to bring it down here and place it. Embra had offered to help her, but this was something Aurora needed to do alone…

She was now past the gateway the Sirens had once been sealed behind. The room was patched and polished, all the necessary repairs made. But what mattered was where it was, not what it looked like.

Aurora pulled the hefty, draped object off the cart, and carefully placed it on the ground. She looked around and saw a well-lit corner that spoke to her. She carefully placed it in the corner. She pulled the drape off to reveal a stone monument.

It read: “This is dedicated to those who did not survive the sealing of the Squid Pit. We dedicate this to your memory, as we work to build a future where no Siren must again suffer the horrors of our past. You will be with us always.”

Aurora smiled as she wiped away some tears. She needed this.

“I don’t think I expected anything less from you, my old friend.”

Aurora spun around. That voice couldn’t be… “Tempest?!”

The ghost of a Siren girl was before her. She got her name from the blue shell with wavy spikes that was on her back, like the waves disturbed by her namesake. “Hello, Aurora,” said the ghost.

“Tempest, I’m so sorr-“

“No, don’t be sorry. I should have listened to you a long time ago. I’m paying the price for that now. Please don’t beat yourself up…”

“I…”

“I know, you feel responsible, but I was the one who cornered you. You defended yourself from my hunger. I can’t ever blame you for that.”

“You’re right…”

“But it seems even despite that, you’re doing very well.”

“I am…”

“Oh? Do I sense a bit of lovelorn in my old girlfriend?”

Aurora’s face reddened. “Oh gosh, is it obvious?”

“Who’s the lucky one?”

“I, um, don’t know right now if she knows… Or should know…”

Tempest’s ghost sat down. “Tell me all about it!”

“Well, it started with me trading with her hometown. Just knew her from the local legends. Then, she came here to hide out from her enemies, and we got to know each other more. I helped her through her first astral projection, then she asked me to help her fight her enemies. In our last fight, I saved her with the life force drain, but I was poisoned by the lifeforce. She then tried her hardest to heal me until a cure could be found… And, um, that’s when I noticed I had feelings for her.”

“It takes a lot to get under your shell. And this happened over a few weeks, it sounds like?”

Aurora nodded.

“Dang, that’s fast for you! It took us years for you to have feelings for me! She’s a lucky gal, if I may say so…”

“But… She doesn’t seem to have interests… Not like that, anyway. I think she said earlier in the week she’s probably ‘asexual’ or something like that. Besides, she’s too busy trying to figure out how to fight our enemy. I don’t think she’s interested in a relationship right now…”

“Doesn’t mean she can’t be interested in you. She could still be romantically interested in you! Just give it some time. Maybe after this whole thing blows over, you and her can be girlfriends!”

Aurora smiled. “You’re right, Tempest. Gosh, I’ve missed you.”

“I know, but hey, you do have my life force…” Tempest’s ghost walked up to her and hugged her. “A part of me is within you, and, well…”

Aurora felt like the spectral hug was sinking into her. She opened her eyes and saw Tempest was gone…

Except she wasn’t. “I’ll be with you, always, my friend.”

Aurora hugged herself, knowing she was now hugging Tempest too…

=== Ammo Baron’s Camp. ===

“So, I was thinkn’ ‘bout some stuff I could do with my hands. I’m tryn’ to decide on a ‘pull my finger’ gag or a play on the finger gun…”

“Boggs, I got to hand it to you, you’re completely mad in all the best ways.”

“Hehe, if the world’s mad enough to me a walkn’ pile of bones, then I get to be as mad as I want!” Boggs playfully declared.

Boggs had returned to Ammo Baron’s encampment after taking care of some errands. Now that he had a better idea of what he and the rest of the team was up against, he figured another upgrade or two would be in order, and he knew just the man to talk to…

“Let’s start with ‘pull my finger.’ Seems like a good shock trap; pull the finger in question, get zapped!”

“Nah, I was thinkn’ more remove finger, duck for cover.”

“Explosive ‘pull my finger?’ Now we’re talking!”

“Hehe, I can just get a replacement later.”

“Oh, but wouldn’t that make it stand out? After all, after the first one, you’d probably be using metal replacements. That’d make it too obvious.”

“Right, right. Dang, I woulda loved seein’ their faces after the finger went off…” Boggs said with genuine disappointment.

“Finger gun might be more doable. Could do a regular firearm, screw off the tip and have an inner barrel…”

“Too regular. Nah, I see what the rest can do. Besides, ammo’s annoyn’ to lug around. After all, you just reminded me I need a few more spare missiles for the leg-launcher.” Bogs pulled out his wallet and handed Ammo Baron a sizable number of gems.

“Gotcha. Men, get this guy some missiles!” Ammo Baron ordered.

A couple of nearby troopers nodded and scrambled off to get them.

“But you’re thinking something more exotic?”

“Why not? The Siren lassie got light guns. What if we do a laser finger gun?”

“Oh heck yes! That’s a grand idea! But we’d need a power core, a big, powerful one. Don’t really have anything on hand at the moment. But we can keep an eye out. Then there’s a matter of where to put it…”

“The heart there ain’t beatn’, just rottn’. Could get rid of that.”

“I know you care about certain things, Boggs. That’s why you keep-“

“Ah, but the heart you’re thinkn’ of ain’t the piece of meat that keeps yah movin’, but the one that’s who yah are. I can get the useless meat ball out and still be me. Besides, it’d be important if I move beyond havin’ a cursed fleshy exterior and go full robot later!”

“Wise words,” Ammo Baron said, nodding. “Alright, we’ll replace your heart with a really powerful power core and work on a schematic for a laser finger gun powered by it. I’ll send news out for you when we got all the pieces!”

“Hehe, looking forward to it, laddie!”

THE END.

By CrystalSeaDragon44

Credits:

- Various characters and concepts come from and are based off of the Shantae video game series. Such characters and concepts belong to Shantae series creators Matt and Erin Bozon and developer WayForward.