by R. W. Holmes
Too concerned with making Emily's statement a fact to contradict her, everyone hurried up the ramp and onto the ship. Even with the relative peace they'd found in the starport, the trials of the day had built a pessimism into them that insisted things were about to go poorly. They didn't, though, and everyone was both shocked and relieved to feel the hum of the engines starting and rattling the ship as they departed Enterprise Island for good.
Shay had taken everyone to a 'common room' of sorts, one that was adjoined to a kitchen and offered barely enough room to sport enough seating for the seven bodies present. She then went to a nearby panel on the wall and pressed a large, friendly red button labeled 'cockpit'.
“We are officially at maximum capacity” she called to Emily, who was busy flying the ship. “See if you can find a Spacemart somewhere off the beaten path, otherwise several people will be sleeping on the floor.”
“Can it not be a Spacemart?” asked Angelica. “Maybe a Target? Spacemart is owned by Walmart, and I don't like the way Walmart treats their employees, so I try not to support a business that-,”
“How about you explain instead of complain?” Shay replied aggressively. “We're all very interested to find out how you cheated death.”
“Yeah... we won't be in the air long enough to warrant Spacemart anyway” Emily called out over the ship's intercom. “I'm plotting a course for Mars. Eiffel, probably.”
Angelica frowned as the intercom clicked off, before turning her gaze to the others and folding her arms defensively. “I didn't cheat Death” she said plainly. “I made a deal with him. If you're going to find out how, then Artemis needs to start.”
The goat demon who had, admittedly, been extremely quiet thus far, shot a sullen look at Angelica and stood up as if to leave the room.
“We're in a tiny box flying through space, numb nuts” said Zinerva. “There's nowhere to go.”
“I believe Artemis does not want to tell his story because it would reveal a moment of weakness of his” said Cypress. “It's a common fear among his kind.”
“Good” Angelica growled cruelly. “Artemis, I command you to tell the story, and not to spare any details of your 'moment of weakness'.”
“I will resist until my very essence is torn apart by the laws of reality itself” said Artemis.
“Start an arm wrestling match with Zinerva, and then lose on purpose” replied Angelica. “Or tell the story, your choice.”
Artemis grimaced as if he'd just been asked to choose which arm he'd like to sacrifice.
“I was fleeing War's Domain, convinced I would be subjected to eternal torture for murdering someone I both did not know would stay dead, or was important to Hell itself” said Artemis.
“That was also his 'apology' to me” added Angelica. “I still hate his guts, but he's like a wild animal. You wouldn't blame a bear for being a bear.”
“I was caught, first by great magic, and then by Death's demons” said Artemis. “I think the horseman used his power to bring me to his domain. When I arrived, he already knew a summoner of Hell had been killed. He knows all souls that enter Hell, but he needed something with a connection to her to pull her from the storm.
I also had to be willing.”
“And what did we learn?” asked Angelica.
“Death can kill a demon permanently” replied Artemis. “I had never felt fear until the moment he threatened my existence, and at that moment, I surrendered instantly.
A moment passed as Artemis failed to refrain from gritting his teeth and clenching his fists in rage.
“Using our connection, Death then pulled Angelica from raging storm of hellfire that is one's first stop in Hell” continued Artemis.
Gael nodded. “And then what happened?” he asked Angelica.
“You want to live, don't you?”
“Y-Yes!” Angelica cried out helplessly. “Please, I didn't know what the consequences were. No one ever told me, I'll fix it. I'll repent, and-,”
“Quiet.”
Angelica refused, and continued trying to talk, but Death's onyx palace was suddenly devoid of all sound. No matter how she tried, her words, and her breath, went nowhere.
“I will make demands of you” Death continued. “You will obey, because your soul will still be here. Only when I have what I want will your soul be returned, and only when it is returned will you be able to repent.”
Angelica stared up at Death apprehensively. She already knew she was taking the deal, no matter what it may be, but still, her death had sprouted the beginnings of a cautious nature.
“What do I have to do?” she asked.
“Bring me...”
“He wasn't really all that clear in the end” Angelica concluded. “I don't know, he seemed to think I'd 'end up' in the right place, and that when the time was right he would tell me. Also, my soul is still in hell.”
“Wait, so are you soulless right now, or-,” Kennedy started.
“I'm me” replied Angelica. “Normal, with my soul me. But I feel far away, too. It's like I'm looking out through my eyes instead of just seeing with them.”
“It's a step up from death, though” said Kennedy.
“Yeah, I'm still having a hard time getting over the fact that you're here...” Angelica added uncomfortably. “Don't you two hate each other?”
“Kennedy took a bat to, uh, 'Artemis' over there” replied Gael. “And when that turned out really really bad I saved his life. He's a pretty cool person when he's not inexplicably being a dick to you.”
“Wait, Kennedy? Being uncouth?” Shay queried confusedly. “He's never been anything but a gentleman.”
“I don't like school” Kennedy murmured defensively. “It's like being in a jungle, you know? The only way to prove you're not on the bottom of the food chain is to go after someone else.”
“That did not work out for you” said Angelica.
“Well to be fair, in his analogy I'm probably something that's extremely poisonous” added Gael. “None of this is really important right now, though. We need to sit down and talk about where we're actually at, because if no one's realized, we all just became college dropouts who could get our families killed just by trying to reach out to them.”
“How do we know our families haven't already been attacked?” asked Angelica.
“Because that would be ridiculous” Zinerva chimed in nonchalantly. “Killing people takes a lot of resources, and you saw what they committed to Enterprise Island. They're not going to want to 'spend' more right now, I think... Also, why kill your families when they could use them as bait instead?”
“Sure, but I think the more important topic of discussion is how our lives are completely fucking ruined, and what we're going to do about it” Gael interjected calmly.
“Wow...” Shay murmured in bewilderment. “You're all taking this very well.”
“It helps that my dad is insanely rich” replied Kennedy. “No matter what happens, we're going to be okay so long as we're not found. My family already has twenty-four seven security, so I'm pretty sure we can get away with calling them.”
“Can we talk about how we're supposed to hide Artemis?” asked Angelica. “Because Zinerva is already kind of pushing it, and he's way worse.”
A pinging noise rang out over the ship's intercom, signaling that a course had been set, and the stomping of feet moving precariously through cramped metal hallways preceded Emily joining everyone else in the common room.
“We're on course for Mars” she announced with a smile.
“Can we make calls from this ship without attracting attention to us?” asked Kennedy. “I wanna call my dad and tell him I'm okay, and to meet us there. He's got the resources to make the trip safely, trust me.”
Emily grimaced slightly as she pondered Kennedy's question. “Maybe” she said frankly. “I have a secure channel to a, uh, a facility my 'friends' have somewhere else. I can call them and patch a secure line through to your father, but it'd probably be better to wait
until we've landed and gone somewhere else.”
“Awesome, thanks Emily. You're the best” Kennedy replied with a smile.
“Eh... yeah” Emily murmured concernedly. “You know, I kind of went to Enterprise Island to do all of this without a reason for it. I think I was hoping you'd all turn out to be evil so I could just try and kill you like everyone else, but now that you're here, I really have no idea what to do with you.”
“That seems to be everyone's problem at the moment” said Cypress. “The idea of lying low for the rest of our summoners' lives seems to be very popular at the moment.”
Emily nodded. “Sure, that's great” she said with a smile. “But, and I mean this in the least threatening way possible, you all owe me and my friends a favor, okay? Maybe we'll need to talk to War, or we'll need a professional opinion on if something we've seen is demon related. You know, nothing dangerous.”
“Can we get that nothing dangerous part in writing?” asked Zinerva.
“I'd rather not...” Emily admitted sheepishly. “No one from my group is going to try and hunt you down if you disappear and try to hide from us, though. The fact that you'd be without our support if something like that happened is kind of what keeps 'the group' together.”
“It's fine, Emily” said Kennedy, his tone reassuring, if a little bitter. “The people you'd need help with literally just ruined our lives, so I think a little danger wouldn't bother us if it screwed more of those assholes over.”
Gael, Zinerva, and Cypress smirked knowingly, and Emily donned an appropriately guilty, but thankful, smile with the knowledge that everything she'd done out of the kindness of her heart would net her more than nothing.
“So this is it now” Angelica said suddenly. “This is life. We can literally not be good friends with anyone other than the people in this room, ever.”
“Something like that” admitted Gael.
“I used to romanticize leaving my life behind and just being a different person” Angelica murmured drearily. “It's like when you stand at the edge of a cliff and think about jumping off, except someone shoved us.”
“I mean, technically it was me” said Gael. “I jumped off a cliff and dragged both of you down with me, but apparently I'm not supposed to feel bad because I didn't know what a cliff was.”
Zinerva very calmly sat up and slapped Gael.
“No!” she snapped at him. “Bad! You're supposed to live forever, so that I can live forever.”
“She hit you!” exclaimed Angelica. “Why can she hit you? Haven't you given her orders not to?”
Gael sighed and shrugged. “Either me nearly killing myself changed those rules, or I pumped her full of so much Hell power that she can override them.”
“Wait, when did you nearly kill yourself?” asked Angelica. “What happened with what power? Someone fill me in on what happened while I was dead!”
“Uh, I have a spare bedroom on the ship...” Emily started. “If someone wants to get her caught up, please use it. It's been a long day and the only TVs on the ship are in here and the cockpit.”
“Why is there a TV in the cockpit?” asked Cypress.
“So she can watch the news while she flies” replied Shay. “Also, it's built into the interface. Just... Oh my gosh, we're on a space ship and all of you were literally born yesterday. I need to show you how to live on this ship without getting everyone killed.”
“Shay, I can tell just by looking at you that poking a hole in the ship is the worst thing I could do” replied Zinerva. “And that makes me really really want to do it, so I need you to tell me why I shouldn't first.”
Shay set about the extraordinarily important task of educating the less-informed on the dos and don'ts of a spaceship, which left Gael, Kennedy, and Angelica to talk with Emily about the one thing that truly mattered.
“So, what is our heading?” asked Kennedy.
“Mars” said Emily. “Eiffel, to be specific. I figure people with horns, or sharp teeth and pale skin, or, uh, whatever Artemis is... Regardless, Eiffel is the body modding capital of the galaxy. There will be a lot of strange looking people, but most of them are happy and friendly and you're bringing more so you really shouldn't complain.”
“It'd make hiding a lot easier, too” said Gael.
“I've always wanted to see Mars...” added Angelica, a strange, distant smile coming over her.
“Oh! We should look into what Death wants” said Kennedy. “And find a church... A really good church. We should make lists of things we're supposed to confess, too.”
Gael laughed. “I haven't even been baptized. Maybe that's why I'm so good at this demon stuff.”
“Yeah, um, about that” Emily said carefully. “Angelica, Kennedy, can you give Gael and I a moment? Maybe make sure Shay isn't overwhelmed? I need to talk to Gael about all that craziness in the Cathedral.”
“Why can't we be in the room for that?” asked Angelica.
Kennedy stood up and somewhat forcefully yanked Angelica up to her feet.
“Just come with me and I'll tell you what happened in the Cathedral” he said to her.
“But-,” Angelica started, until Kennedy gave her another good yank and pulled her fully out of the room.
The door shut behind them, and Kennedy rounded on Angelica just as she wound her free hand back to slap him.
“What the hell are you doing!?” he hissed.
“What am I doing?” Angelica queried incredulously. “Why are they allowed to keep secrets?”
“Emily's fairy is a fricken' princess, that's why!” snapped Kennedy. “And at this point, I'm pretty sure Gael is a monster. He's a cool dude and all, but every time he opens his mouth and we hear a secret, things get worse. Let's just... be really good at our stuff, and let him worry about all of that, okay? He can hand out secrets after he's baby-proofed them.”
Angelica grimaced as the inner turmoil of her experience and her own nature butting heads left her too conflicted to respond.
“It killed me last time” she blurted aloud, her own outburst startling her. But then, the wisdom in her own words registered, and she realized exactly what Kennedy was saying.
“Oh my God, you're right” Angelica said next. “These things he figures out are radioactive. I tried to recreate something I saw him do, and now one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse has my soul. Shouldn't we, I don't know, distance ourselves? I know that sounds mean, but-,”
“Angelica, stop” insisted Kennedy. “People want to kill us, and that part isn't actually Gael's fault, but he is probably the only person who can keep us safe. That girl in there, Emily, she's super dangerous. She killed two people who were after us earlier with nothing but a knife, and we saw where they died at. It was in a crowd. No one saw her do it.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” asked Angelica.
“Gael's in there talking to her right now because he's probably more dangerous than her” Kennedy replied seriously. “They're, uh... I don't wanna get in anyone's way, and I feel like what Emily does might be kind of important.”
“Yeah, I'm terrified of it too” agreed Angelica. “Trust me, I've been to Hell. Every fear you have and more is totally justified.”
Within the common room, Gael and Emily sat opposite one another as Emily struggled to find the words to start.
“Shouldn't we have let everyone else stay in here, and we have left?” Gael asked first.
“It's my ship” Emily replied bluntly. “Besides, this is important. You're important. We only have one person like you in my little group of friends, and that's because he has a shoggoth of his own.”
“Okay” said Gael. “And what do you and your friends call yourselves, exactly?”
“We're called Outcasts, but only half of us have actually been 'cast out'” replied Emily. “And like I was saying before, after Argyle, it's just me. I do low profile and quiet better than anyone, and Argyle is loud. But you? You're in between. We need you, Gael.”
Gael b
linked. “Wait, are you asking me something right now?”
“Yes” Emily said with a sigh. “And I know you're still feeling guilty about what happened to Enterprise Island, and yes, I'm absolutely being a terrible person and trying to use that to my advantage. It doesn't matter though, you're needed. With you nearby, Zinerva is a walking artillery cannon, and we have limited resources. It takes a long time to bond with a fae, and the only Outcasts with R'lyehan connections were born that way. You, on the other hand, contain the secrets to create thousands of more summoners.”
“Absolutely not” snapped Gael.
“I agree” Emily replied unexpectedly. “Because threatening it is enough. The very fact that we might do something stupid if we're backed into a corner will make the R'lyehans and The Fae more cautious.”
Gael frowned. “Okay.”
“What?” Emily queried confusedly, too startled to process what had just happened. “Just like that? You didn't even think about it!”
“I said 'Okay'” repeated Gael, ignoring Emily's counterproductive protests. “But until they decide they don't want me around anymore, I live with my friends. I ruined their lives, and now I'm going to protect what they have left. Is that complicated?”
“N-No!” exclaimed Emily, a smile growing on her face. “It's great! And it's great for you too, because I'm your contact and you're super important, so I'll probably be docked in Eiffel and right nearby if there's any trouble.”
Gael nodded and stood up from his seat. “Do you have a matter manipulator on this ship?” he asked next. “I need to call War.”
Half an hour later, Gael, with his mirror, mercury, olive branch, cinnabar, and dagger, sat in the center of the common room surrounded by everyone aboard the ship.
“Right, let's do it” Gael said as he passed the dagger to Zinerva.
“You do it this time” Zinerva said as she then went on to pass the dagger to Cypress, who had, by the mercy of Emily's matter printer, ended up in better fitting clothes once more.