Needle and Thread

Spirit Tracks

[@2D3D4D]

Benny got up. He'd broken off his participation in the raid when Roxy had contacted him, and immediately set up the memo. Sure enough, Roxy had shown up.

She seemed to be physically okay, Benny thought as he unsheathed two of his knives. But her psyche must just be in tatters. We need to remove her from her planet ASAP.

It was a Shadow ship, so the crew wasn't taking prisoners unless they spotted their own double, which they usually tid up to Merge with later.

A Shadow launched itself at him with an enormous sword, cackling. Benny sidestepped it and ran towards Nereida. He didn't like killing. However, he had no problem with sending Shadows howling into the water below, which he did several times. He boarded the enemy ship without much trouble and made his way over to Nereida, who, as usual, was fighting like a whirwind at the center of a knot of Shadow soldiers. Benny slashed at the Achilles tendons of the Shadows, going for spots that would render them injured but not dead. Finally, he got to his friend.

"Hey," he said, slipping into the fight easily.

"Hey yourself," She replied, stabbing an attacking Shadow. He slumped over her blade and slid off. "You know, you should seriously get over your 'not killing' thing. You're putting them through so much pain, they probably want to be dead by that point anyways." She kicked one of the remaining enemies, who groaned and rolled into a fetal position.

"I don't want too much blood on my hands," Benny replied. "Besides, what's the point in killing them? They should get Merged. That's the natural way to do things."

"Bleh. THey're gross. Who'd want to Merge with them?" She asked. "Besides. On Croix, it's all about luck! If they aren't lucky or strong enough to Merge before we kill 'em, they don't deserve to Merge."

"You see the world peculiarly," Benny replied, then blinked. A few weeks ago, he would have just said 'weird.' He was forgetting to limit his vocabulary, which was nice, if a little odd.

"Yeah, well you're peculiar too, from my point of view," Nereida replied. "Now come on, let's see what kind of treasure this baby's haulin'."

[Fandom+ (1)]

"Hey, Andesine?" Lyra asked. "I need your help."

"What?" Andesine asked. "It's practically midnight. And I can't get to sleep because of your stupid pinging phone, so it'd better be good."

"Is there a way to get off this planet?" She asked.

"Not that I know," Andesine groaned, sitting up to glare at her. "And this couldn't wait 'til morning because...?"

"Because I'm an annoying lil succubus," she replied.

"Go away," Andesine complained, and dropped onto the ground to get some sleep.

"Psht." Lyra flicked the back of his neck. He grabbed her hand and twisted it, causing her to roll over to escape the pain. "Ouch!"

"Lemme sleep."

"Fine, fine."

[<3 <> <3<]

 Roxy was lying on her back, staring up at the sky in defeat when the Sibyl came to her.

"Are you ready?"

"I guess."

"Then you're not ready."

Roxy closed her eyes, and immediately the images started up again. It seemed almost like a dream: she watched from above as she had her conversation with the Glitch, and how she escaped. She watched as she confronted Orly, and as her eyes threaded with Ravenium red, eventually filling up. She watched as she destroyed the planet, unaware of the fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

The worst part was, nobody seemed to want to stop her. The Glitch didn't even put up a fight. It was almost like it needed to be protected, and once the protection of Roxy's conciense was gone, it had given up.

Great people learn from their mistakes. Her mother used to say that all the time. Well, this was one of her biggest mistakes ever.

But what was she supposed to learn from it? Sometimes you need to kill? That was the overall vibe of the experience. But Roxy refused to believe that. So what was it, then?

In her head, the images rewinded and started again.

Great people learn from their mistakes. The maxim seemed to taunt her. Finally, she sat up, opening her eyes. I am not a great person. So, to heck with it. I'm going to do things my way, and if I make mistakes, I make mistakes.

"Sibyls," Roxy called.

"Yes?" They replied.

"I want to get stronger. I want to protect everyone."

"That's what we like to hear. Breathe in deep, dear. It might hurt a little."

Roxy didn't care. She breathed in, and the Sibyls flowed in through her. They were her heart as it pumped blood furiously to her brain. They were the neurons connecting the synapses in her head, eventually forming thoughts. They were every cell of her body as it grew, divided, and grew again in an endlesss cycle.

Roxy was the Sibyls. She could see all the infinities, every dimension and spark of light, every script penned by desolate artists trying to make a living without abandoning their art, every whisper of the wind as the many worlds turned, not quite in unison but not quite out of sync. Then, in the same heartbeat, it was all gone, and Roxy was just plain old Roxy again.

"What did that do?" She asked the Sibyls. To her surprise, they didn't respond from the air around her, but in her own head. 

We got to be in here, of course. It's roomier. 

"How can my head be roomier than a whole planet?"

You've got a conciense, the Sibyls replied. It makes for more storage space. Don't mind us. We'll be nesting in your subconcious. It might take you a while for you to learn the powers, but don't worry. You'll learn quickly enough.

"Okay," Roxy replied. "What now?"

Well, first off, you can stop speaking out loud. Then, just go practice your powers. You should be okay to use them by now. 

"So, I have to practice my powers... more?" 

Yes. Now, shush.

Why?

Because we're focusing on a spell to bring back Tyanpa. You're going to need her.

Oh. Anything I can do?

Silence would be marvelous. Go practice your Luck magic, that's harmless enough. 

Grumbling, Roxy sat down and tried to summon the vision she'd had before, of the golden strands of luck. It was surprisingly hard, but she got it in the end. Elated, she looked around, and found nothing. She was alone. 

"Right," she muttered, dropping the vision and sitting down. "That got depressing fast. Okay. Let's try it again."