Chapter Text
Your name is Jade Harley. You are currently sailing in a golden ship on a three year long journey across dimensions. Last week, the miniaturized planet LOWAS, the Land of Wind and Shade, suddenly exploded. On said planet were two of your closest friends. And now you may never get to see either of them again. You sit for quite some time feeling very depressed until-
ZAP!
You hear a sound from nearby not unlike the sound electricity would make in a cartoon, followed by the loud thud of two bodies hitting the floor, making you jump out of your seat. The people who those bodies belong to are still very much alive, and stand up and try and get their bearings. They both remind you of someone you knew, although you can't put your finger on who or why. They both have very similar faces, but very different fashion senses. The taller one has short cut hair, round glasses, a metallic right arm, along with shorts and a T-shirt containing a combination of the insignias for the Breath and Light aspects, as well as a faint scar on her neck. The shorter one has slightly longer hair with more square glasses, wearing a dark blue hoodie with a black T-shirt sporting the Breath symbol underneath, along with an unremarkable pair of black cotton shorts. You nearly say something to them before they start talking to each other, not seeming to notice you're there at all.
TALL: 8luuuuuuuugh. where are we?
SHORT: i think i might have an idea, and i don't know if i like it.
TALL: oh gog damn it we are, aren't we! we're on the fucking golden ship again! it's not like every time I tried to retcon back here ended in disaster or anything.
SHORT: it'll be fine! we can just zap out of here and we’ll be-
They turn to you before the taller one says a single word.
TALL: fuck.
JADE: hi! can you please care to explain where in the FUCK you came from and why you are here! and why do both of you-
The shorter one takes a deep breath before cutting you off. Quite rudely, you’d like to add.
SHORT: that is a long story.
TALL: you can say that again.
SHORT: shh! okay so how do i put this...
SHORT: basically, we aren't supposed to be here. we kind of sort of managed to accidentally show up here when trying to go somewhere else, and now if you'll excuse us, we'll be taking our leave!
JADE: WAIT! you explained pretty much nothing!
TALL: I'm sorry J8 this one's a mess.
The tall one points at the shorter one with her thumb, the shorter one shrugs and lets the taller one continue.
TALL: okay so you know... jegus I don't feel right saying that name.
SHORT: you know john, right?
JADE: yeah, he died! i saw it happen! it was really sad and i don’t know why you feel like prying open old wounds like that!
TALL: oh well, we're kind of versions of that person from differing points in time. it's slightly more complicated than that 8ut that's the gist.
TALL: oh and both of us are trans gender.
SHORT: both of our names are "june", like the month, but since that's confusing for two people to have the same name, you can call me "five" and call her "eight."
JADE: why those names?
FIVE: those names are a significantly longer story that i don't have time for right now.
FIVE: let's just say they're both of our favorite numbers and leave it at that.
JADE: wait a minute but… how did you even show up here? and why are you so much older? and how are you even alive if LOWAS exploded last week?!
EIGHT: as much as I'd love to have a catch up explaining everything, I don't have the time. I really care a8out you Jade, I really do, but we have a lot of super important things to get to.
JADE: what are those?
FIVE: sorry jade but explaining what that is is literally the least narratively relevant thing to do right now.
JADE: what the FUCK does that mean? what narrative?
FIVE: uhhhhh...
EIGHT: I got this.
JADE: what are you talking about?! its like no one knows how to give a straight answer ever!
JADE: it's kind of really frustrating!!!!!!!!
JADE: your thing is apparently SO important but yet explaining it is "irrelevant?"
JADE: WOOF WOOF BARK BARK!
JADE: you two better explain to me what's going on or so help me-
EIGHT: this should explain everything I think.
Eight pulls a VHS tape out of her sylladex. Why is that the type of media being used here? Where did she get it? None of this makes sense.
EIGHT: I'm gonna explain a whole lot to you while also 8eing a8le to tell a very important story at the s8me time. 2 for 1 com8ob!
JADE: what is this little tape gonna do?!
EIGHT: give me a sec!
FIVE: we... should probably get a more comfortable viewing arrangement.
Five puts her hand on your shoulder, which you feel a slight discomfort with considering how many layers removed she is from the person you knew. She may be a version of your ecto-sibling, however significantly older, probably from a different timeline, and of a different gender. Does that even classify as the same person any more? You remember reading something about some ship. Thesaurus’ Ship? That doesn’t sound right. Trying to think about it starts to give you a headache so you decide to stop.
Your vision suddenly turns white as the same zapping noise rings through your ears. When your vision returns to you, you notice you are in a dark, mysterious room, complete with a few fairly comfortable looking movie theater-esque chairs, a VHS player, and a large TV screen. Five and Eight seem to already be sitting in two of the chairs on opposite sides, leaving you a seat in the middle of the two of them. They also seem to have an assortment of snacks one would typically imagine at a movie theater. You idly wonder where they got them, making a mental note to ask for some when there aren’t more pressing questions at hand.
JADE: where is this place?
FIVE: pretty sure its called the "universe theater." it's supposed to be a place that "let's stories thrive," whatever that means. we found it on our travels and it's a great medium for being able to write, view, and orchestrate different timelines.
JADE: why am i here then?
FIVE: oh that's easy! eight has a story that's both very important to her and will help explain some things to you, so we're gonna go let her play it on this tape player here.
JADE: why vhs tapes?
EIGHT: dunno. whoever made this theater had a thing for tapes i guess. anyw8y uh watch your step, you might fall if you aren't careful.
JADE: whoa!
It is with her words you notice that the floor and walls seem to be pitch black, because you realize you aren't actually standing on anything, but instead floating above an endless void. You decide to sit in the chair and stop contemplating the rules of this mysterious realm for at least a bit.
EIGHT: thats enough from the peanut gallery.
JADE: who are you talking about?
EIGHT: don’t worry a8out it.
Eight decides to put the tape into the VHS player and get this metaphorical and literal show on the road.
EIGHT: just sit 8ack, relax, and enjoy the story I've helped orchestr8te.
Your name is Jade Harley, and you have no idea what the fuck just happened, what’s happening, or what’s about to happen. Seriously, what the fuck?