From the desk of Art Jefferson, Head of Eternal Muse Marketing Department

Hey, Jerry, just wanted to put together some copy to go with the upcoming rollout of Platinum Muse. 

Do you mind giving it a look over before I shoot it upstairs? You can take your time with this; corporate wants people to get used to the idea of using the Muses first for protection before we roll out the premium packages.

 Thanks!

Compassion. Courage. Hope.

Humanity was close to the brink of extermination when they appeared. We all know them. We all love them. Our beacons of feminine strength, our inspiration for humanity. The Eternal Muses! The last stand of humanity in the face of the threat of Syn.

According to multiple polls conducted through BrandNews Daily, a Hexxon subsidiary, public perception of the Eternal Muses, and by proxy the Eternal Energy Corporation is at an all time high. Brand recognition is through the roof, propelled by an ensemble of extremely high-profile Muses and several buzz-worthy events.

You might be familiar with some or our more popular muses. The Muse of Fencing, known for her grace and poise with the blade. The Muse of Song, author of multiple Billboard Top 100 pop hits, currently back in the United States after her recent “Songs Against Syn” world tour. The Muse of Gardens, capable of coaxing plants to obey her every command. And of course a newer fan favorite, the Muse of Fluff. She uses her tactics and army of stuffed animals to overwhelm her opponents while staying absolutely adorable. 

For fans of all ages, there will now be an easier way to stay connected with all of your favorite heroes!

Because of the extremely positive response to our Eternal Muse program, we at Eternity are now proudly rolling out our next phase in Project Muse. We bring you the Platinum Muse Premium Subscription Service. 

Signing up for the Platinum Muse Premium Subscription Service will grant you and your family the following peace of mind:

• Live updates of your favorite Muses in action

• Lightning Response Time to Prayers: Platinum Subscribers will see intervention by the Muses before non-Platinum app users.

• Special Q&A Meet and Greet time with your favorite Muses

• Early access to exclusive merch preorders 

• Early Alert Messages for SynBeast Attacks

• And Much More…”

  
  

  Now

“Okay, listen. I know I said no shop talk, but can I bitch for a second?” Marz was on her fourth drink, each one larger and fancier than the last. It seemed like she was working her way through every menu item that had whiskey involved in some way.

Gera, now sipping on a cider to give herself a bit of a break from the heavy stuff, just nodded. She could listen to Marz talk about anything. “I don’t mind. I figured it probably would come up anyway.”

“Did you get the email this week?” Marz said, sighing. 

“Uhh, which one? I feel like every other day they give us our numbers and things we need to work on. They want me and the squadron to do a photoshoot soon. Said it would be ‘good for continuing to promote my image.’ Oh my Gosh!” Gera squeaked as a realization hit her. “I’m supposed to be a family-friendly Muse. They would get so upset if they realized I was out drinking.”

“How are they even going to know? It’s not like we’re in uniform.” Marz reached across the table to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Gera’s ear. “You’re allowed to have a life outside of the Muses, cutie. It’s not healthy to follow all their orders. You’re gonna drive yourself nuts. But no, it wasn’t about that. I’m talking about this Platinum Muse bullshit.” 

Gera froze up. Marz couldn’t know, right? Gera had double checked the email when she got it, the invitation to become a Platinum Muse. It would have given her a better hunting fee for the SynBeasts as well as a larger cut of the VOD pay-per-views of her fights. She couldn’t say that it wasn’t tempting. But also nestled in the text was the information that she would be paired with a new partner ‘more suited to your image.’ She hadn’t accepted. Not yet. The thought of not working with Marz anymore sent icy panic into her stomach. 

“Hey, Gera. Earth to Gera, you still with me, fluffy?” Marz was waving her hand in front of Gera’s face to catch her attention. She was close. Too close. “You with me?”

Gera shook her head and took another sip, letting the sharp green apple flavor linger in her mouth a little longer. She could taste light notes of honey at the very end before she swallowed. She wondered how Marz tasted. If she was smokey and harsh like her partner’s favorite whiskeys. “Oh. Oh yeah sorry. Just got lost in thought.” 

“It’s okay. You get like that sometimes. Well, on the field it’s more you get a little too in your head when you command the Paw Patrol--”

“Please don’t call it that.” Gera shuddered at the thought of another Cease-and-Desist letter from Viacom.

Marz chuckled and ruffled Gera’s hair. “Alright, the fluff battalion. Sometimes I say things a few times before you even realize I’m there. It’s cute. You just get so in the zone, even if you’re still flipping and posing and um… Anyway, can you even believe that they’re trying to get away with this? Scamming the general public out of even more money. It’s bad enough that the Federal government isn’t doing anything to protect the average joe and is relying on what is essentially a corporate-run militia.”

“I mean, what can they really do? Regular weapons can’t do anything against a SynBeast. They’re either all energy or magic. Only something on the same wavelength can have an impact.” Gera thought for a moment about some of the early news footage of fighter jets in flames, watching panicked pundits on social media predict that this was the end of the United States as we knew it. This was before the announcement of the Muses. The bad days where hope really did feel lost. 

“Right, but if the Feds weren’t so afraid of every red state screaming ‘Socialism,’ they could have nationalized Eternity. Made the Muse technology a public work. Distributed the magic to everyone, not just a select group of people. Figured out how to make the Muse technology work for guys too. I know some trans masc friends who would kill to get the affirming body that the Muse system delivers for women.” Marz shook her head. The last time Gera had seen her get this worked up was when she had found posts about the two of them on r/muse. “Did you see the rumors, by the way? About Eternity?”

Gera shrugged. “Which ones? There are like a million of them.”

“There have been some leaks recently that seem potentially legit.” Marz shuffled her seat a little closer to Gera. Their legs were touching. Gera’s heart slammed in her chest, drowning out any rational thought. “People claim that Eternity wasn’t actually trying to find alternative energy, instead they were developing some kind of weapon system. Some people think that the SynBeasts are just that technology run amok. Something that Uncle Sam wanted to unleash on some developing nation if they didn’t play ball, but accidentally let loose on us instead.”

“That’s… I would like to say that is too ridiculous to believe, but I’m not so sure anymore.” Gera for her part shuffled closer to the taller Muse. There was comfort in proximity, and Gera desired that closeness.

Marz snorted. “Right? Especially with this whole Platinum Muse situation. Making people pay more to be rescued from monsters that they caused? I feel like they’re just expecting people to pay for it just because they want to bone us.” 

“W-w-what?” 

“Oh, c’mon Gera. I know you saw the Reddit page as well. It seems like plenty of people have a little bit of a thing for the ‘family-friendly cutie with the army of stuffed animals.’ It’s the Brisket effect- hot girl with plushies really bring out the creep in some people. You got a shout-out in the Platinum Muse announcement, too. You’re moving up in the world, girl; I wouldn’t be surprised if they were putting some pressure on you to drop me as your partner and join with someone like the Muse of Glitter.” Marz laughed for a second, but the laughter quickly died as she saw the look on her partner’s face. “Oh you’ve gotta be shitting me. They have, haven’t they.”

“It might have been… floated.” Gera couldn’t even bear to look Marz in the face. “Heavily suggested. Very, very heavily suggested. They want a decision from me soon. It’s good money, but…”

“Well, if it’s good money, you should take it. It’s not like we wouldn’t be friends. Heck, we could even make this a regular thing.” For a moment the unflappable cool seemed to fade from Marz’s face. “If, of course, you would even want to do something like that. We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Up until this point Gera had never seriously weighed the offer to upgrade to a Platinum Muse. Sure, her inherent need to please other people had told her to accept on the spot when some of the Executives from Eternal Energy had her meet with them. They took the time out of their busy day, and they knew just what to say to make the offer sound as perfect as possible. And the emails sounded very official. Very urgent. But there was always one poison pill in all their perfect conditions. Something that Gera could not swallow no matter how “good for her” the corporation swore it was.

“Of course, it would be nice. If I wanted it. But I don’t!” Gera’s tone was all over the place; she was desperately trying to match the frantic energy of her partner, but she struggled to string the words together. There had to be a perfect thing to say right now to show Marz how much continuing their pairing meant to her. Gera yearned to immediately soothe the anxiety of the woman sharing drinks with her. She had to. “Seriously I don’t even want to become a Platinum Muse. Like you said, it’s ridiculous that they would be charging people to clean up their own mess in the first place. And then splitting up our team when we have some of the best SynCounter Rates out of any Muse pair just so they could sell more VODs. It’s… Silly.”

“Silly. Fierce words coming from a small lady. You basically just dropped the f-bomb there.” The cheeky grin was back on the sharpshooter’s face. And at that moment Gera knew that she had done it. She had said exactly what her partner needed to hear at this moment. And she meant it. “Welp… My glass is empty, what about you? Another round?”

Gera, flush from the drinks and the company, couldn’t help but beam. Another round? With Marz? She would drink until the bar closed to spend a few more minutes in her company. “Absolutely! You’re buying this one though! I wanna get something funky!”

Then

Prayer Initiated. 

Muse Requested – Tremont Ave & 17th SE

SynBeast Difficulty Rating: 1/5 Stars. 

Current Destruction: Minimal

Single Muse Requested -> Accept: Yes/No?

Note: Denying Muse Request will be reflected in your Rating unless someone else claims this Prayer

Gera’s hands shook as she looked at the request. It had been less than a week since she had officially accepted the offer and became herself. The Employee Handbook said that she would have two weeks to get adjusted to her new body and powers before she would be added to the system. It must have just been an error. But. . . 

But. . . Gera could potentially help. 

She waited a minute, maybe two. Just to see if anyone else would accept the offer. Checking the map, she was technically the closest Muse to the SynBeast sighting. But she wasn’t supposed to be. She wasn’t supposed to be in the system. And the rules claimed that she wouldn’t be called on. But she was. She was and she couldn’t just wait. Who knew what kind of damage the Beast could do by the time another Muse checked in. 

She stared down at Commander Bun, her first creation. Her anchor. In the time since her rebirth as a Muse, the little stuffed creature had stayed right by her side. The Bun was a quick learner, picking up on Gera’s schedule almost instinctively. 

At this point, Gera wasn’t sure if she could even live without her fluffy friends. She talked over her Muse Reveal post with Bun, bouncing different ideas and approaches off of her silent companion. When her parents insisted on visiting and that visit quickly turned into a shouting match, Gera was holding the Commander the whole time. And when her parents left and Gera cried herself to sleep, Bun was there too, the awful day marginally improved by the gentle stuffed creature petting her hair until Gera passed out. 

“Well,” she said, staring at the stuffed figure at her feet. “Should we get to work?” She wasn’t expecting much of a response, but Commander did snap into a smart salute. “I’ll take that as a yes, then. Alright. Here goes nothing.” 

If you asked Gera to describe what magic felt like, she would be hard pressed to give a solid answer. Sure, there was a warmth that filled her whole body when she began the ritual to transform from Gera the girl into the Muse of Fluff, but that in itself sold the whole experience short. 

She could talk about the joy that came with the transformation. There was a sheer bubbling exhilaration that fired through her whole body when she tapped into her magical core. Being herself every day was a joy. It brought such a smile to her face when drive-through employees referred to her as “young lady” and talked about getting “her” order. Being able to be seen as just another woman was nice. But it was nothing compared to the pure mainlined euphoria that came from assuming the role of Muse. 

“Protecting the soft and cuddly from those who mean them harm, The Muse of Fluff has heard your prayers!” The words rolled off the tip of her tongue, coming as easily to her as the lyrics of her favorite song. They reverberated through her whole spirit, silencing all internal doubts.

Sure, it felt a little silly shouting her transformation phrase in her apartment, but that was part of the fun. The joy. Just letting herself cut loose and be a little silly. She could do that, it was worth the cost. And besides, who would judge her? Bun? Never! The lil gal adored her. 

Gera’s body began to move almost automatically, swaying to a rhythm that only she could hear. Her fuller hips swishing back and forth as if shaking an imaginary skirt. It started light, bright gentle strings building a soft melody that burned through every muscle in her body, violins and violas fluttering and arcing like a whole migratory flight of birds. The gentle strings quickly followed the deeper resonate bass of the cello, creating a steady marching rhythm underneath the breezy chaos of the lighter notes. Gera took a step forward, and then another, breaking into a confident skip. She swooped down and lifted Commander Bun up into her arms, and then with another step or two she tossed her new companion up in the air.

This was new. She had never used Bun to transform before, but something inside Gera told her that this was perfect for her. She was still finding her own way, after all, and every Muse had their own unique transformation that would come to them when the time was right.

She watched for a moment as the little stuffed rabbit sailed through the air with the greatest of ease, flipping once and then twice. When it seemed like the velocity was increasing on the arc down towards the ground, Gera leapt into action. Her skips became longer strides became bounds as she swiftly covered the ground towards where Bun was going to land. Just when it looked like the little creature would smash into the ground, Gera dipped low into a classical pirouette, ballet shoes forming around her feet as they spun into the floor. 

As before when she changed, Gera soaked in the sheer joy of letting her power flow through her. She felt so feminine. So divine. All of the worry and fear that lead to this moment simply melted off the tremendous heat of her euphoria. Clutching Commander Bun to her chest, she spun twice more. This time she could feel her body drawing the ambient magic in the room towards her. Threads of all colors began to spool around her body, tightening around her chest and waist. The magical girl gave one more spin before launching herself forward in one massive push, ripping through the thread as the magic settled into a bright poofy skirt and corset combination.

She wasn’t done yet, however. Placing Commander Bun on the floor, she realized that the gal had undergone her own transformation. The stuffed rabbit was wearing a feminine suit with snappy epaulets on her shoulder. The ensemble looked like a military dress uniform mixed with a fancy tux. Commander Bun held her tiny stuffed arms out and gave Gera the last piece of her costume, a bouquet of roses. Like with the ballet routine, Gera knew exactly what Bun wanted her to do.

Standing on her tiptoes, which put much more strain on her legs than Gera would have thought, she lifted the bouquet into the air, where it burst into a snowstorm of pale red petals. The petals swirled around Gera, forming eventually into an oversized cozy cardigan that slipped itself on her arms. Two roses remained, and the Muse of Fluff reached out to her weapons to be. Gripping one rose in each hand the woman took a bow to an invisible audience. As she did so the roses elongated, warping into knitting needles. The needles themselves were beautiful. At their base, they were a forest green that went well with the more muted green of her skirt. Closer to the razor-sharp point, the colors morphed from green to red, shining in the light.

Before this, when she transformed, all that Gera was able to get to work was her outfit. Maybe at best her skirt and top, but never the whole ensemble at once. Crossing the apartment to look at herself in the mirror, Gera couldn’t help but feel awed at the sight in front of her. She had done it. She was a Magical Girl. The Muse of Fluff was here, and she needed to get to work.

Now

The Muse of Fluff could not really explain how she got here. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with here, that is, she had nothing to complain about per se. And yet here she was, sitting on Marz’s lap. Her mind slightly fuzzy from the accumulated combination of steady drinking and her screaming lesbianism, she could recall going to the bathroom with Marz. She could recall getting another round of drinks with Marz in which the taller girl asked if she wanted to do shots. She did. Oh, she very much did. And then, once they’d brought their new drinks back to the table, someone had taken one of their chairs, leaving them just one behind. 

Marz probably meant it as a joke when she said that “I guess you’ll have to sit on my lap,” but Gera’s inhibitions had long gone past the point where she could easily tell a joke request for a real one. And tone? Who can tell tone with the way some girls talk with one another. There was something about the gentle teasing that Marz would indulge in from time to time, and hell, it worked. It worked so well. So maybe she wasn’t really expecting Gera to climb onto her lap and make herself comfortable. But she did. And you know what? It was worth it just to see the look on the sniper’s face. Marz must not have thought that Gera was brave enough. Well. She’d truly showed her. She could be so so so brave if she wanted to be!

The smaller girl let out a sigh of contentment, happily sipping from one of three different curly straws on her extremely fancy drink. True to her word, she went for the Dragon’s Hoard. A frozen concoction that had plenty of different liquors to knock anybody on their ass and was served in a miniature treasure chest. What was not to love!

Gera had spent a moment pouring over the menu, searching for something fruity and cute and gay. 

Just like her! 

She even said that out loud to Marz which got a laugh from her partner. She was doing amazing. Gera had never really been on a date before, but she hoped this counted. She hoped it was going well. She hoped Marz liked her. And if this maybe-a-date went well, they could have maybe-another-date sometime soon. If Marz wanted to, of course. Or maybe Marz wanted something more. Something… intimate.

Of course this hope also brought up the slight specter of fear that lingered every time she got close to someone now. Gera knew she wasn’t technically lying to Marz, but at the same time did feel like Marz still didn’t know the real her. Being trans was a secret. Nobody outside of whoever handled Gera’s name change and bank account had any idea of who she used to be. But Gera wanted to share. Needed to share. It’s not like she thought that this would be a dealbreaker, but if it was, it had to be now. Before Gera did something brave. 

Before Gera kissed her.

And the more that Gera sat on Marz’s lap, the more she wanted to just lean in and steal a boozy kiss from the lips of her butch buddy. It’s not her fault that the closer she got to her friend, the more she could smell the smoky campfire notes. Once Gera had asked Marz what she smelled like, and Marz teased her a little bit before admitting that she smelled like fresh laundry and warm cookies. Gera had to wonder what Marz could smell now; was it a mingling of their scents? Or was the woman as obsessed with Gera’s scent as Gera was with hers? 

Gera couldn’t put it back any longer; the more she sat on Marz, the more the voice inside her head was screaming at her not to be completely useless. She could do this. She would have to. There were smooches on the line. 

“Hey Marz, I um, I need to tell you something. Before we go any further. Or have any more drinks. Or do whatever it is…” Gera trailed off for a moment, blushing and losing herself in that thought before forcibly bringing her brain back to the moment at hand. “Anyway. This is super serious so please lemme talk and stuff. I have something that I need to tell you. Something truly secret and terrible that might change our relationship forever!” Okay, so maybe Gera was laying it on a little thick, but she was drunk and the words were falling out of her mouth before she could really rope them back into a coherent statement.

“Gera, I am always dead serious. The most serious.” Marz booped the woman on the nose and wrapped her arms around Gera’s soft stomach, pulling her in closer. Gera had thought she was close before, but this was almost too much. 

“Well, actually legit be serious about this. Um… Okay. So, I’m just going to come out and say it because I’m not sure if it’s the same for you as well. But… well. Before becoming an Eternal Muse. I was a boy. Or at least, I thought I was a boy. But obviously,” Gera waved a hand at herself, “I definitely don’t think that anymore. But yeah--”

“Wait. You’re trans? That’s it? I thought you had some terrible secret or something.” Marz laughed. She laughed! “Girl, I thought you were going to tell me you were a Republican or were practicing abstinence til marriage or something. You know, real deal-breaker shit.”

“Hey! This is serious!” Gera huffed, trying hard to hide her smile by resting her head in the crook of Marz’s neck. “I do a big confession and you treat it like it’s nothing.”

“I mean, thank you for telling me. To be honest, I knew you were some kind of gay. I mean, look at us. C’mon.” Marz squeezed Gera, getting a squeak out of the tinier Magical Girl. “Honestly, I thought you might have been like me. Y’know. Using the Eternal Muse app to hook up with other queer women. I thought you were just playing the long game with me, which don’t get me wrong, it is so nice. I usually only partner up with another Magical Girl for one or two missions. It feels… good to have a connection that’s stuck. Even without the extra fun afterwards. Although maybe, if you’re comfortable, we could go back to my place after a mission some time to uh, debrief?”

“What?” said the Muse of Fluff.

DerbyGhost

apologies about some of the weird formatting of this chapter. Scribblehub on the phone has kind of been fighting me on this one. Can you tell i was in the midst of a Madoka Magica hyperfixation when I wrote this one?