Torn Apart

Despite My Growing Fears

Dulcie tugged on Lewis' sleeve, waiting for him to bend down before whispering to him. Arthur turned to Aji, who sat on the floor, studying the carpet like there was a texture test coming up.

"You gonna just stare, or are you actually going to be a part of this?"

"I'm listening." Aji was barely audible.

Shaking his head, Arthur sat down a couple feet from her, crossing his legs. Lewis opened one massive hand, a flash of pink flame coalescing into a purple sharpie. Dulcie took it, pecked him on the cheek, then turned to Arthur, plopping down on his left side. She took his hand and began drawing on it with the sharpie. Arthur raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and turned his attention to other matters.

"Just so we're clear, shortly after we bring Mrs. Pepper onboard, Demeter is probably going to show up. It's just a guess, but given Dulcie is the last one, it's a decent hunch. So we're sending Lewis with-" he glanced down at his arm. His name was written twice in swirly cursive up and down his flesh arm in purple ink, and Dulcie was going for a third. "Dulcie? What are you doing?"

"Can't forget your name." Dulcie made a long, swooping loop for the 'h' in his name.

Arthur's eyes widened, snippets of his fitful dream surfacing. Dulcie had been there. Had she really been in his mind?

"Can't sing you your name yet. M'sorry." She kept her eyes on his arm, finishing the third pass and starting on the fourth. "I'd try to be real careful if I could, but I can't. I haven't gotten sick yet. So gotta make sure you remember."

Arthur's chest hurt with all the implications of her words. She was trying to stand in for Kay and guide him back. But Kay was gone, and Dulcie hadn't even fledged yet. She must have seen something of the struggle in him, and was trying to bind him to his identity via purple sharpie.

His jaw worked, but his words didn't. He couldn't think of what he had been about to say. He looked to Lewis, blank.

"You're sending me," Lewis prompted.

Right. The Hail Mary pass. "We're sending Lewis with Dulcie. Wherever she ends up, she needs to survive long enough for us to find her again." He put out his prosthetic to block Dulcie's marker from a fifth scrawl. "Thanks, Dulcie. I think I got it." He managed a small smile. "That should last me a good while. You just keep a tight hold on this, okay?" He tapped the rainbow clip in her hair. "Remember to be brave."

She nodded solemnly, and Arthur turned to Lewis. "She'll need your locket, Lew."

Lewis detached the locket from his chest. Pulling a small chain from behind his lapel, he threaded the heart onto it and leaned forward, clasping the chain around Dulcie's neck.

"Hide it away, Dulcie," Arthur advised. "Demeter might not think anything of it, but you never know."

Dulcie tucked it under her shirt out of sight.

"And keep in mind, Dulcie, Lewis might look a lot scarier when he comes out next time. He's going to have to protect you, so he'll have to look terrifying. But it's still Lewis." Arthur ran a finger over the name written all over his arm, remembering the vengeful, flaming skull looming over him. "You'd better settle things with Vivi soon, Lew. Goodbyes and stuff. We don't know when it could happen."

"Understood." Lewis nodded. "So, what about Mom?"

Aji lifted her head. "What about Mom?"

Arthur lifted his head. "Well, to start with, we'll have to jailbreak her and your Dad. She was taken in for singing in public after a certain incident at Juvie Hall."