The Story After Briberg

2: If I Don't Think (then it didn't happen)

Rampo looked like a hot mess.

Damp hair plastered to their forehead, body littered with shallow scrapes, hunched over as they caught their heaving breath.

"You." They growled, pointing an accusatory finger at the tiny beast. They finally managed to corner the fox that thieved their trench coat, the worn fabric still hanging from its mouth as it tilted its head. They had sprinted through the forest, tripping over roots, being smacked in the face by branches, and had eaten dirt (literally and figuratively). The perpetrator innocently blinked it's beady little eyes and Rampo had half a mind to punt the little fucker into the stratosphere purely out of spite.

The fox carelessly dropped the coat and at this motion Rampo decided maybe they didn't have a mind. They stomped forward with their body high strung and prepared to hand deliver this fuckwit directly to god.

Crunch.

Rampo jumped, startled out of their anger as they felt something squish underfoot. It was a pomegranate, its seeds mushed under their sole while deep red juice oozed out like molasses.

They were surrounded by pomegranate shrubs, eight feet tall and perfectly maintained. Each one was planted with a small but even distance between them in a grid format.

Rampo recognized this place, albeit vaguely. The sweet and slightly musty scent itched the back of their brain. It fully clicked when they peered through the tight-knit branches and saw the familiar exterior of Anantya's house. The quaint rustic building called to them, they stumbled forward to clumsily grab their coat as they made their own path through the orchard while the beast followed.

The calming atmosphere of the home seeped into Rampo's weary bones, warm and inviting. They attempted to get inside; tried to open the door, jostled the doorknob, pried it open, busted it down, but they only succeeded in putting dents and deep scratches into the hardwood. So Rampo condemned themself to sitting on the steps as they waited for Anantya to get home.

They picked some pomegranates off the ground in their boredom, having never tried one before. Using their knife-like teeth to pierce the rine, taking a huge chunk out of it like an apple only to immediately spit it out due to the unexpected bitterness. They ate the seeds with their bare hands, allowing the juice to stain their fingernails and lips.

It was sweet and a bit tangy, similar to a cherry. Rampo had no molars to chew with - their entire set of teeth being a crude amalgamate of incisors and canines - so instead they squished the seeds between the roof of their mouth and tongue.

They spent the time feeding their leftovers to the beast (could a fox eat pomegranates? Rampo didn't really care) which had settled itself on their lap. Its fur was red and sticky in some places from stray droplets and Rampo's grubby hands, and they considered it a form of revenge. The beast was content to lick itself clean.

The sky was an ombre of purple, pink, and yellow by the time the long awaited silhouettes broke over the road horizon. Her beige hair was messy from the day's events, dual colored eyes now rimmed with red, and dressed in funeral black; Anantya was a bittersweet sight for sore eyes.

Hatsuki and Hanako saw Rampo first,

Hanako grabbed at her mothers skirts while Hatsuki wrapped her arms around her legs in a tight hold. Their small brows were pinched in an attempt to look serious, deep frowns etched into their face, but their eyes were too young and bright to have the desired effect.

Anantya's eyes misted as she looked at Rampo, staring through them as if she had seen a ghost. She calmly, gently pried the young girls' hands off of her- and the beast jumped from Rampo's lap a moment before she threw her arms around them.

With one hand buried in Rampo's tangled hair and the other clutched onto their shirt, Anantya sobbed.

Her cries echoed through the evening air; strangled and tired, heaving breaths with dry tears. She had been consumed by a renewed sadness at the mere sight of Rampo, who didn't know what else to do but hesitantly hug her back and allow her to release her woes into the crook of their shoulder. Over Anantya's, Rampo saw Hanako gather the beast into her arms and quietly shuffle inside with her sister. Then it was just the two of them.

They just stared forward with a stiff body and a blank face as they let Anantya's cries blend with their surroundings. Rampo hated to see people cry- it made them uncomfortable, especially if they were the cause. It reminded them of when they were young, all the times they were punished for 'being too mean'. Maybe they just disliked punishment, maybe that's why they would try and brush off any wrongdoings with a casual toothy grin and carefree attitude, if they ignored it, it would go away, right?

Rampo wanted to get up and leave. They had hoped they'd left their guilt in the woods where the beast found them, using the chase to bury the sadness and covering it with the taste of pomegranate and the warmth of a friend's home.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Rampo hugged Anantya a bit tighter.

"Why did you join them?" Anantya spoke suddenly, her voice hoarse and muffled. Her grip on Rampo tightened when she received no reply. Anantya pulled her face away, face flushed and blotchy with tears, hurt and fury in her eyes. "Why did you let Jupiter convince you- why did you say yes?" Her voice wavered as she asked again but received the same response.

"I-" Rampo wasn't sure how to explain themself, how to put the influence Jupiter had on them into words. How do you describe the feelings of a first love? Something so pure, starting with sweet words and reassuring touches, devolving gradually into isolation and dependance. To Rampo, it was never about the cult, it was the fact that Jupiter wanted them there. "I don't know."

The atmosphere was tense as Anantya pulled away, pulling her legs up to her chest while pressing her wings close to her back. She wipes the tears from her face and buried her face in her knees.

"Why did you come here?" Anantya asked again- she had hundreds of questions she wanted to ask, but she knew she wouldn't get a straight answer to most of them.

"That fox stole my trench coat and ran away with it, I wasn't gonna let it get away."

"Why did you stay?"

Rampo paused for a long moment. The noon air turned frigid, wisps of something dark curled in Anantya's vision like a deadly smoke.

"I wasn't sure what else to do, besides-" there's a playful lilt in their unusually calm even tone "-didn't anyone ever tell you not to feed the wild things? They'll come back, y'know."

The odd chill and smoke fade as soon as Anantya lifts her head- just in time for Rampo to bonk her perfectly between the eyes with a ripe pomegranate.

Anantya rubs her face as they laugh, but picked it up anyway. Pulling a small switchblade from her skirt pocket, she cut a square into the top of the rine and popped it open while Rampo grabbed their own.

A brief pause,"what are you doing?" Rampo had used their teeth to open the shell, but chose to bash it on the sharp edge of the steps to give their nails some leverage after it didn't work. It was a mess. "You're gonna stain your hands."

Rampo looked themself over, taking in the sticky red that coated them, and shrugged. "My hands were already stained," they grabbed a wet handful of seeds and shoved it into their mouth while making unblinking eye contact. Smiling as Anantya let out a small laugh.