cascade | kotlc

29. Celestial Festival: Light and Shadow

alright y'all, prepare for the finale!

-

"Bad news, bad news, and even worse news," Sophie told them.

"Well, that's just amazing," Faye remarked, half-sarcastically. "Tell me something I didn't know."

"The Neverseen are likely planning an ambush tomorrow at the Celestial festival, and we will most likely lose because we're never smart enough to actually know what their plan is."

Faye rolled her eyes. "I know that."

"Vespera is most certainly using some trick of light to mask our eyes with illusions and make us do something stupid."

"Been there, done that, got the T-shirt and the scars."

"Also, they're probably going for the alicorns."

Faye blinked. "The cute, snuggly horses? The ones with the- funny wings and the cool horn and the- the- adorable animals?" She snarled. "Alright, they're going to die. What's the plan?"

"That's the bad news. I don't know."

"We don't really know stuff, do we?" Faye muttered. "Alright, how about this. What's the Council doing about all this?"

"That's also the bad news. I don't know."
Faye threw up her hands. "So helpful, sister. I now see why you're regarded as this super-powerful being with the power to destroy worlds with your magical telepathic capabilities."

Sophie gave her a smirking smile. "I've managed."

"I swear to god, you are going to be the death of me someday and I'm not even being sarcastic."

"I love you too."

"Of course you do. Why wouldn't you love me? I'm the most brilliant, beautiful, overachieving, idiotic, unpredictable, absurd, and sometimes fatally stupid girl ever."

Sophie smirked again. "If you say so."

"I do say so! Why wouldn't I say so, what would-"

Her eyes widened. Something gold snatched her, rendering her as helpless as a lifeless doll, and carried her away, and she could dimly hear Sophie scream, and wonder, did she care.

-

"Apologies," Fitz said. "There just wasn't enough time."

She groaned from the metal floor. "You could've at least told me. A transmission would've done. A nice, hey, Faye, gonna come over and abduct you real quick, brb, see ya would've sufficed."

Fitz smiled. "Sorry. I'll make sure to do that next time."

"You better," she grumbled. "Anyway, what's happening? Why am I here? This is..." She frowned as she studied the place. It was narrow, quite narrow, rows of blue-fabriced chairs running up and down, grouped in AB, CDE, and FG. A No Smoking sign glowed a soft yellow.

Windows dotted the sides, and all behind was the boundless blue.

"This is not a- whatever this is," she noted.

"Such astute observations," Fitz said dryly. "Because we are definitely not wherever we are."

She scowled. "You know what I mean. Tell me why I'm here."

"That requires a lot of explanation."

"Give it."

"Well, to be honest, I don't really know. The details are... somewhat ridiculous and probably stupid. You could call it intuition, but I'd call it guesswork. That's really how things work around here. Time is a fragile thing, and there is no sure or unsure when it comes to it." He shrugged. "Anyway, all that I knew was that I needed you here. Your sword, more specifically."