Not My Pyre (A Pearl-Centric Double Life FanFic)

Chapter Three: Scarlet Pearl

I made a cover! That was done by me, using Canva, and I'm really proud of it! It's nice to have my main story have a cover. And to have a story with a cover that isn't as silly as the one for standing with your face to the sun. :)

"Welcome to Lost and Bound! You, Pearl, Scott, and Cleo, are our contestants!" Martyn gestured to the line of netherrack cubicles. "Each of you can step into one of these. And this here goat will hit one of you, and then we'll know who's soulbound to who! Also, are you sure there's no one else without a partner? Scar's looking for his."

"Nope, everybody's found theirs." Cleo shrugged as she headed to one of the boxes.

"That's weird." Pearl commented, but she knew Cleo wasn't lying. She knew Cleo's tells after partnering up in Last Life.

Martyn released the goat, and even though it didn't ram into Pearl, she felt the pain.

Scott cried out.

"Scott and Pearl? I guess that means it's me and Cleo!" Martyn laughed.

"No." Cleo said.

Pearl stepped out of her cubicle to get a better look at the others. Scott and Cleo were standing off to the side, arms crossed.

"No?" She asked.

"No." Scott replied. "We're not partnering up with you." He glared at her.

"Wh- What about Gatekeep, Gaslight, Girlboss? We could add Martyn on as, I dunno, Guilttrip?"

"You two went to the Nether." There was barely disguised anger in Cleo's voice. "You didn't try to find us first. We're teaming up with each other, not you."

"But- we went to get Nether supplies! Nether wart, blaze rods... And we did look for you! We just thought it would be nice to be able to bring some stuff to our soulbounds..."

"Almost dying was not nice! You should've looked for us first." Scott turned and started walking away. "C'mon, Cleo."

Pearl struggled to find words to get her friends - friends? Would friends abandon her like that? - to come back. Then she sighed, giving up. "Well, Martyn, it looks like we'll just have to team up." She turned to him.

"No." He started taking down the set-up for Lost and Bound. "I'm going to convince Cleo to team up with me."

Then he left, following after Scott and Cleo.

"No." Pearl whispered, panic bubbling in her chest. "No, no, no."

This early, in a Game where everyone was supposed to have a partner, she was alone? She was doomed! She'd never been alone in a Game before. She hadn't been there for Third Life, and in Last Life, Scott had come to her asking for a partner and a life almost immediately. Then Cleo joined them.

What had happened to Gatekeep, Gaslight, Girlboss? They'd been friends even after the games, and now they were, if anything, enemies?

Well... Past alliances didn't really mean much in these Games, did they? And even alliances in the current Game...

She remembered how, in Last Life, Grian had immediately scammed Scar - who loved scamming people - out of a life, then left, even after Third Life.

In Third Life, Scott and Jimmy had been married (ish, she wasn't really sure about that) but now they didn't talk, even outside the Games.

Alliances were really temporary in this, weren't they?

Pearl bit back a sob. She didn't really want to be alone... But she could be. She was Pearl Moon, the Scarlet Pearl, fourth place in Last Life. She could be alone, and she could win.

The leaves of a bush behind her rustled, and she whirled around.

"Who's there?" She drew her axe.

From the bush came a dog. No... Not just any dog. She knew this dog.

"Tilly?" Pearl whispered.

Her dog barked back.

Pearl laughed and knelt, setting down the axe. "Hey, girl... How did you get here? Did you run away from the arena?" She ran her fingers through Tilly's fur.

Tilly barked twice, then growled in the direction Martyn, Scott, and Cleo had all gone in.

"Hmm. Maybe you're right, Tilly. Maybe I should be mad. I was just trying to do something nice! And they left me, no loyalty to the Three Gs." Pearl's words were turning into a low growl. "And Martyn! They abandoned us, they aren't coming back! He should see that. We teamed up before, and he was even talking about how he wished he was partnered with me!"

Tilly growled, still looking in the direction they left.

"At least I have you, though." Pearl smiled and fluffed her beloved dog's fur.

Tilly barked and nuzzled Pearl's sweater, then pawed her red collar.

"Hm. You're right, Tilly." Pearl took off her navy hoodie, then pulled from her inventory the red one.

There were little cameras that were given to each contestant, and the Games used them to help broadcast everything better. You weren't allowed to get rid of yours, or you would be expelled from the Games, with heavy fines.

Pearl grabbed hers and turned it on - you were supposed to leave it on, but she liked her privacy, like most of the contestants - then held it up to her face.

"Scarlet Pearl's come out early, my friends."