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Penelope Everpetal layed on her bed and held her new toy in her hand, turning it every which way so that the edges caught the light and created patterns on her walls.
“An Oracle in a palimpsest,” she mused out loud, “it’s kind of like a magic eight ball when you think about it.”
Said Oracle, Aelwyn’s brat of a little sister, did not answer. Or maybe she did, Penelope would have no way to hear her either way. She could see her though, and it looked like the freshman had finally cried herself out. The miniature soul of the girl was still sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest but she was now glaring out at Penelope instead of clutching her head and sobbing.
Penelope smirked and shook the crystal like it was a snow globe. “Oh, mighty Oracle, am I the prettiest, most talented girl in the whole world?” When she stopped shaking the girl trapped inside apparently hadn’t bounced around like a pinball like Penelope had hopped. But she did seem disoriented and queasy so that was a plus. “Would you look at that? All signs point to yes.”
Adaine flipped her off.
Penelope clicked her tongue and wagged her finger. “Now, now, is that anyway to treat your Queen?”
The other hand went up.
Penelope rolled her eyes and sat up, dangling the crystal over the side of the bed. “I’d be more careful if I was you. You could startle my poor sensibilities and I might just accidentally drop what I’m holding. And I honestly have no idea what would happen if one of these palimpsests got a crack in it.”
Through the refracted panes in the crystal Penelope could see Adaine’s expression flash with fear.
Perfect.
She cast Detect Thoughts on the palimpsest and lazily tossed it back and forth in her hands. The spell couldn’t actually detect thoughts, not for people trapped, but it could detect emotions. So Penelope got to sense every juicy spike of panic in her prisoner as she played with the prison.
She wondered if she could, somehow, get the fact that she had The Oracle sitting in her palm to work in her favor. These were weird little computer things, yeah? Surely there could be a way to like… capture a vision that the girl got and project it so Penelope could see or something? Could she even get visions while trapped?
“Do you know how your visions work?” She stopped playing with the palimpsest and held it up to her face, squinting inside.
Confusion mixed with the fear and anger Adaine was feeling, though she was putting up a good show of just glaring defiantly.
Penelope tsked in disappointment. “That’s obviously a no. Maybe I can ask that pixie nerd about it…” But then she would have to talk to him more than necessary and that was, uhg.
Disgust radiated from the palimpsest and Penelope gave it an amused smile. “You think he sucks too, huh? I know! He is so creepy and gross. What a freak.”
Agreement. Confusion.
“Biz,” Penelope clarified for her audience, “that stupid little fairy who undresses girls with his eyes.”
Agreement. Confusion. Frustration.
Penelope just watched, completely entertained, as Adaine’s expression went from screwed up contemplation to wide eyed realization.
Horror. Pride. Self-hatred. Disgust. Worry.
Penelope laughed. “Just figured it out? Yeah, he’s been working for us the whole time. I hate him so much but he’s useful. So,” she shrugged, “gotta keep him around, ya know?”
Disbelief. Fear. Worry.
“Aww,” Penelope cooed, trailing her nail over the crystal, “are you worried about your little friends? That’s so sweet of you. And probably valid. I’m going to kill them the first chance I get.”
Fear. Anger. Hatred.
“You should feel lucky!” Penelope insisted, laying back down on her bed and holding the palimpsest above her. “I’m not planning on killing you anymore, now that you’re in there. I was going to give you to Biz so he could like, drool on you or whatever, but as we established, he sucks a lot. So I think I’m gonna just keep you.”
A practical war of emotions spilled out and from Penelope’s vantage point she could see Adaine actively shaking.
Penelope tapped on the glass. “Be grateful. You’re going to be the queen’s little hamster in your hamster ball forever. But you won’t be alone! I plan on putting your sis in there to keep you company when all’s said and done.”
The emotions settled to one strong one, confusion , and Adaine seemed to literally freeze under the amount she didn’t understand.
Penelope sighed and rolled onto her stomach, setting the palimpsest on her blankets and cupping her chin in her hand. “Yeah, I mean, I do think Aelwyn’s hot and really good in bed…” Penelope paused and let her words sink in.
Confusion. Horror. Disgust.
She giggled and flipped her hair in mock offense. “She didn’t tell you about her girlfriend? We’ve been going out for a while now. And we go all out.”
Disgust. Fear.
Penelope glanced at the palimpsest and stifled a laugh at the sight of Adaine pressing her hands to her ears like she was a toddler hearing a naughty word. “Okay, okay, I’ll spare you the details.” For now. That might be a good punishment if the brat pissed her off too much. “But anyway, even though she’s got some good qualities I can tell that her heart just isn’t in it, ya know? Like, I had to make her modify her memory for her to even agree to be my girlfriend! And who wouldn’t want to be with me? I’m perfect.”
She sighed, longer this time, and ran her finger on the crystal again. Adaine’s face was expressing annoyance but through the spell Penelope could sense the lingering confusion and some disbelief .
“I know!” Penelope said with an eye roll. “She’s insane. I don’t even know why she’s helping us, besides all the memories I’ve made her wipe, of course. I could do it myself but it’s much more satisfying to convince her to, ya know? Anyway, it doesn’t really seem like she has a horse in the race like the rest of us. But even though I don’t trust her and she’s stupid she’s still really hot and, like, my first crush? So I don’t just want to kill her when I could keep her as a trophy. Which is super embarrassing and crazy to admit to her little sister.” She winked. “Don’t tell, ‘kay?”
Adaine had on a flat, deadpan, expression. Anger. Confusion. And then, just a brief flicker. Hope.
Penelope paused. “What part piqued your interest? That you’ll get to spend eternity on my shelf? Or that you’ll have plenty of bonding time with your dear big sis?”
Anger. Hatred.
Penelope gave her a cheeky grin, guessing Adaine was going to be stubborn now. “You know, this has been a great talk. Let’s do it again sometime?” She dismissed the spell and stuffed the crystal into her bag before she could detect a response. Maybe she would do it again. That had been fun.
***
Penelope honestly forgot about her toy for a few days, leaving it to collect dust in her bag.
She didn’t remember it until that demon girl and pirate boy approached her, asking if she’d seen Aelwyn’s little sister anywhere.
It was only a testament to Penelope’s amazing acting skills that she didn’t burst out laughing from the irony. Instead, she managed to keep a straight face as she denied ever even knowing about the girl that was currently tucked into her purse.
When Penelope got home that day she eagerly took it out once more and cast Detect Thoughts. “How much are you aware of in there? Were you able to hear your little friends? They are so worried about you it’s honestly pathetic. The demon looked like she was going to cry!”
Longing. Sympathy. Worry.
From what Penelope could make out it looked like the tiny soul had been crying herself.
“Aww,” Penelope cooed. Her little pet was honestly kind of cute all tucked away and miserable. “Do you miss your friends? Did it just eat you up inside to be so close? Too bad they’re too stupid to notice when you’re right under their noses.”
Fury. Sorrow.
Penelope laughed and shook her head. “I totally forgot you were in my bag. Can you hear everything from in there?” She snickered. “At least you’re still going to classes, huh? Even eternal imprisonment won’t stop you from getting a good education.”
Rage. Hatred.
Penelope ignored Adaine’s clear inability to take a joke and kept talking. “Anyway, did you notice the way that halfling girl in Sorcery kept raising her hand at every question? Like, desperate for attention much? So embarrassing.”
Hatred. Hatred. Hatred.
***
Penelope ended up talking to Adaine a lot after that. Sometimes with Detect Thoughts running, sometimes not. Honestly, it just felt good to talk. There were so many secrets she was keeping in her life and she hadn’t realized how much that was weighing her down until she had someone to unload onto.
It was like having a pet or a diary that could react if she let it. The seething hatred Adaine felt for her had waned a bit as the days turned into weeks. Penelope was sure it was still there but it was just dull background noise that got smothered by the girl’s other emotions. And whenever her toy had a response that Penelope didn’t like she could just turn her spell off and continue on like nothing happened.
Like when she had her little fits and the only emotion was raw panic. The first time it had happened had been kind of interesting but it grew old quickly and Penelope had taken to just dispelling the magic and ignoring her whenever she got like that.
But even without any kind of response it was relaxing to rant to someone who had to listen. Plus, it wasn’t like Adaine was going to tell anyone.
So Penelope talked to her, about her day, about her parents or her boyfriend, about her plans to take over the world and become the eternal prom queen. Just anything that crossed her mind.
***
Two weeks in, Penelope was sitting on her bed, scrolling through the news on her crystal and talking aimlessly when something caught her eye and she gasped out loud. “Oh. Em. Gee. Adaine!”
Alarm. Which was fair, even though she talked to her Penelope almost never addressed her audience directly. This, though, definitely called for it.
“You have an obituary!” She clicked on the link and read deeper. “Your parents have totally given up on the search and declared you dead.”
Shock. But then that quickly faded. Resignation. Bitterness.
Penelope chewed on her lip as she read. “This is a sucky obituary. You know I kinda figured this would happen eventually but it’s been, what, two weeks? That’s pretty quick to just give up.”
Bitterness. Pain. Anger.
Penelope glanced at the palimpsest. It was kind of hard to see through all the reflecting light but she was pretty sure Adaine had her fists screwed up. “Hey, don’t get mad at me. I didn’t tell Aelwyn to say anything to them one way or the other.”
Denial. Frustration. Bitterness.
What was Adaine looking at? Not her, it didn’t seem, the crystal? Penelope’s eyes flicked back and forth before it finally clicked. “Oh! Are you mad at them? Lol, I probably would be too. Listen to what they wrote for your obituary. It’s like a fourth as long as the other ones.”
***
“So then Dayne was like, ‘it’s actually the symbolism of the dove that means blah blah blah whatever’. And he knows that I hate when he talks nerdy about language and stuff so I just kissed him so his tongue would have something better to do-“
Disgust.
Penelope paused in her storytelling and in her nail painting to look over at Adaine. She was all the way over in her charging station so Penelope couldn’t really see her but the Detect Thoughts spell had been going for a while now.
“You think that’s gross?” Penelope asked, cocking her head curiously, “I mean, I know you hate it when I talk about doing that kind of stuff with your sister but this is just Dayne. ”
Irritation. Disgust.
Penelope snorted. “What? Are you, like, a lesbian or something? Makes sense. I can totally see you swapping spit with that loser cleric friend of yours.”
Denial. Disgust. Indignation.
Penelope raised a brow. “No? What, are you some kind of prude? Do you not like anyone or something?”
Agreement. Embarrassment.
“Shut up!” Penelope squealed, sitting up straighter, “Are you serious? You’re not into anyone ?”
Embarrassment. Panic. Frustration.
Penelope cackled gleefully. “You are such a loser! Who would have guessed that Aelwyn Bangs-Anything-That-Moves would be sisters with a prude. That is sooo pathetic. Does she know?”
Disgust. Denial. Fear.
“I’m telling,” Penelope sing-songed, trying to keep her smile off her face, “have you ever even kissed anybody or are you too lame for even that?”
Panic. Indignation. Embarrassment.
Penelope honestly wasn’t sure how to interpret that. So she picked the funniest option. “Not even once, huh? You know I was kind of thinking, after I’m eternal prom queen and have Aelwyn in there with you, that I’d let her out once and awhile for fun. If you wanted I could let you out too so you could have your first kiss?”
Horror. Disgust. Rage.
“Oh, come on.” Penelope got up from her bed, making sure to not touch anything as her nails dried, and walked over to peer into the palimpsest. “It would just be a little smooch. And I’m great at it, as I’m sure your sister would attest, so it would be a really good first kiss. We could see if you’re as good as her!”
Adaine had her hands to her ears again and her eyes closed like she could block Penelope out. Disgust and horror radiated from her in waves.
Penelope giggled and thought about how she’d slip this bit of information into her next conversation with Aelwyn.
***
“Are you any good at math?” Penelope asked one night as she tried to do her homework. Why did she even need to get good grades? She was going to be eternal prom queen. It was stupid she even went to school at all nowadays.
The palimpsest was on her desk next to her. She hadn’t cast Detect Thoughts, because she hadn’t really been talking, too busy trying to crack the stupid assignment. But she still saw the movement of Adaine looking up at being addressed. (Penelope had no idea what she did when not listening to her. And, frankly, did not care.)
“You’re, like, a nerd, right?” Penelope elaborate. “Nod if you’re good at math.”
Hesitantly, the trapped girl nodded.
“Great.” Penelope pushed the homework towards the crystal and cast her spell. “Help me out here, my teacher sucks at explaining things.”
Confusion. Disbelief.
Penelope raised a brow. “Are you not good at math? Or is this stuff just so insane that not even the great Oracle can figure it out?”
Denial. Frustration. Disbelief. In the crystal Adaine mimed writing something.
“Write what?”
Annoyance.
“Hey!” Penelope snapped, “Don’t get annoyed at me. Just tell me what the answer is!”
Adaine rolled her eyes. Annoyance. Disbelief. Amusement.
“Are you messing with me?” Penelope snatched up the crystal and glared into it. “If you can’t help just say so.”
Agreement. Frustration.
“Uhg, whatever.” Suddenly feeling embarrassed by arguing with a freshman trapped in a crystal Penelope dismissed her spell and shoved the palimpsest in her desk. “Don’t need your help anyway.”
***
Penelope stormed into her room, absolutely pissed off. She hadn’t taken the palimpsest with her that day and so she snatched it off its charging port as she collapsed onto her bed. “Your sister is such a bitch.”
She waited for a moment in silence before she remembered to cast her spell.
Agreement. Curiosity. Worry.
“She has been soooo mopey ever since you ‘died’,” Penelope explained, waving her hands around for emphasis, “and now she’s totally blowing our dates off. Like, I get that you're her little sister but come on, I thought she hated you! And we all have to make sacrifices! I’m going to sacrifice my best friend and she can’t even-“
Penelope’s voice hitched. She had been trying not to think about it. Trying not to let herself feel bad or guilty for betraying Sam. Because it was worth it. It was totally worth it! Or, at least, it would be once Kalvaxus regained his power. But right now it was just lonely and sucky and her stupid girlfriend wasn’t helping matters.
She squeezed the crystal in her hands and glared down at the little girl trapped inside. “I want to hurt you.”
Shock. Alarm.
Penelope laughed, forcing it out through the lump in her throat. “Does that surprise you? Really? I’m sick of all your pesky friends sticking their noses everywhere, your sister’s a horrible girlfriend who keeps ditching me to do drugs, and you’re a little brat.” She took a shaky breath through her nose. “And I hate all of you so much. So much! But I can’t do anything to any of them right now and that sucks. ”
Fear. Worry. Disappointment.
Penelope held the crystal up to peer through it. The stupid girl looked afraid too, which was satisfying. “What? Do you think we’ve gotten chummy over these past few months? I do like talking to you but I hate you as much as you do me. Do you understand? I hate you.”
Dread.
Good. Penelope tapped on the palimpsest as she thought. “I don’t know how to hurt you, though. Biz mentioned something of, like, an electric shock?”
She paused for a moment, sensing the panic rip through her captive. It was a bluff, of course, Biz had also mentioned exploding in the same sentence and Penelope wasn’t pissed off enough to risk killing.
But that did give her an idea.
“I think about killing your friends sometimes,” she said calmly, tracing her finger along the crystal’s edges, “When they’re being particularly annoying. I know Kalvaxus is just going to eat them but I still fantasize how I’d do it, given the chance. Do you want to hear about that?”
Terror. Fear. Despair.
Penelope smiled a little and laid back in her bed, resting the palimpsest on her chest.
“Okay, so first, those horns on your demon friend look so stupid. I’d totally cut them off right away…”
***
“Okay, so, I have some news.” Penelope cast Detect Thoughts on her bag as she walked down the street. She usually never did that, just in case someone might see, but the text she had just gotten was huge and she wanted to make sure Adaine heard.
Confusion. Curiosity.
“Good news: your friends are in jail.”
Shock. Concern.
“No, no, this is good,” Penelope assured, “now you’re all imprisoned so it’s almost like you’re together again, right? And with them sitting in cells they don’t can’t keep messing stuff up and almost getting killed in the process. Bad news though? They killed Biz.”
Satisfaction. Self-hatred.
Penelope wrinkled her nose. “I know. I’m kinda conflicted about it too. Like, on one hand, those are my allies. But on the other Biz was so gross I’m kind of glad he’s dead. But we got the last madain downloaded before he kicked the bucket so everything’s still going to go perfect at prom.”
Worry.
***
Aelwyn sat on the steps of the school, handcuffed and feeling exhaustion in every bone in her body. That must just be what the after effects of dying were.
At least they had brought her back. With everything she had helped Penelope and Kalvaxus do Aelwyn had been shocked when Adaine’s friends had resurrected her. She had been certain she was going to spend the rest of eternity in hell with her ‘girlfriend’.
The goblin cop woman was standing nearbyish, talking to the big demon guy. But even though they were definitely keeping one eye on her they weren’t as close and hovering as Aelwyn would have thought. Why hadn’t they just taken her to jail yet?
“Ael-“ A voice said, immediately followed by coughing, “Ack. Sorry, I’m not used to talking yet…”
Aelwyn spun around to see her little sister standing at the top of the steps, giving her a weary smile.
“You’re out!” Aelwyn blurted. She hadn’t thought they’d be able to do it so quick. The fight had ended a little less than twenty minutes ago.
Adaine nodded and came to sit next to her. “Yes. With all the AV club equipment and Arthur Aguefort it didn’t seem to be a problem.”
Aelwyn turned away, unable to look her sister (who was still dressed in the clothes she had been kidnapped in, of course she was) in the eye. “So, are you going to join the maidens in their revenge now?”
Adaine let out a shaky little laugh, her voice hoarse. “No, you took care of the person I mainly wanted revenge on. Which, lightning, seriously? You know I was in an electronic container, right? Couldn’t you have killed her in a way that was less likely to short circuit my soul?”
Aelwyn tensed and slowly turned back. “Were you… aware in there? Of what was happening outside the palimpsest?”
Adaine’s eyes grew glassy and her mouth pressed into a thin line. “Extremely.”
Aelwyn put a hand to her mouth in horror.
Adaine nodded, as if Aelwyn had said something, and swallowed thickly. “Penelope, while I was trapped, she told me everything.”
“What do you-“
“ Everything, ” Adaine emphasized, still staring out a bit vacantly, “She told me every single thing she did and every thought she had. I think she was lonely.” She winced and shook her head, rubbing at her eyes. “I don’t mean that in a sympathetic way, she’s the one who sacrificed her best friend to a dragon, but it’s just the reason why she was always talking to me.”
“Okay,” Aelwyn said quietly, guilt rolling in her gut. She didn’t want to even think about what her little sister might have witnessed at the hands of that monster. “Adaine I’m… I know it doesn’t mean or make up for anything but I’m so sorry.”
Adaine looked at her, her gaze burrowing into Aelwyn and making her want to just shrink away. “Thank you. I forgive you.”
Aelwyn froze. “W-what?”
“I said I forgive you,” Adaine repeated, a bit louder and clearer, “Penelope told me about the mind wiping and how you never wanted any of this and how our parents started treating you after I was gone. Hell, Penelope essentially forced you to be girlfriends with her. That is insanely messed up.”
“What?” Aelwyn said again, thrown, “Memory… she did what ?”
Adaine wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Yeah, by her account you’ve been modifying your memory so much I’m surprised you even know what’s real at this point.”
Aelwyn’s mind spun at the news enough that she felt sick. She shook her head hard to clear it. “But it doesn’t matter what I wanted or what she… manipulated me into or whatever . I still did it! I still sat around and let Penelope kidnap people, kidnap you! I helped and I worked with them and-“
“Aelwyn.” Adaine put a hand on her shoulder. She wasn’t smiling and her gaze wasn’t soft but she gripped Aelwyn tightly, like she was scared to let go. “I’m not saying you didn’t do anything wrong. Nor am I saying I’m not mad at you. You did and I am. But I forgive you, okay? I honestly do.”
Aelwyn did not want to start crying. “W-why?”
Adaine shrugged. “You’re my big sister, you’re hurting. I know you betrayed Penelope and gave me to Riz before Kalvaxus killed you. I know you feel guilty about what you’ve done, and…and I know you could have been much worse.”
Aelwyn didn’t know what to say. Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. Adaine kept her hand on her shoulder even as her gaze drifted away and the two sister’s lapsed into silence.
“You also make really gross noises when you kiss people, did you know that?”
Aelwyn groaned and buried her head in her hands. “ Please tell me she didn’t.”
“She did,” Adaine said, and there was a hint of a tease in her exhausted voice, “thankfully she would tuck me in the back of the closet when you ‘stayed the night’, she was worried you might find me if she didn’t, but sometimes she would bring me along on your dates. Do normal people start making out mid-sentence or is that just you?”
“I’m going to kill her again,” Aelwyn cursed into her hands, “I’m going to go to hell and find her just to kill her again.”
Adaine let out a small laugh and removed her hand to playfully bump shoulders. “If you do, you have to promise to leave me a piece next time.”
Aelwyn removed her hands to weakly chuckle in return. “Sure, you’ve definitely earned it.”
Adaine smiled at her and Aelwyn just barely stopped herself from crying again. Her sister stood up awkwardly, using Aelwyn’s shoulder as support, and dusted her legs off. “Come on. I made them give us a couple minutes but if I don’t go back inside soon I’m pretty sure my friends will break down the door looking for me.”
Aelwyn winced. “Ah, yeah, I can’t imagine they’re too happy with me either.”
“Honestly? I think we’re all just happy to be back together.”