Walking on Sunshine & Playing With Fire

Walking on Sunshine & Playing with Fire is the second episode of Serena & Sasha's Solar System.

Plot
Sunlight peeked through the cracks in the ceiling, and Serena opened her eyes. Morning already? She slowly sat up in the bed, and hastily shielded her eyes from the brightness which filled the room. Carefully lowering herself onto the floor, she reached to open her wardrobe and her hands flailed through empty space. Where was-

Oh. Right. She wasn’t in her room. Her mood dropped as she remembered the reality of the Ol’ Carrie, of Phyrett and of her being kidnapped in the middle of nowhere. With that realisation, however, brought the question of why it was so incredibly bright. Wasn’t she in the middle of space?

As if to answer that question, Phyrett violently kicked the door open, off its hinges even, and the cabin was met with an impossibly bright flood of light. Serena’s eyes burned vaguely, even through her hands. “GET UP NOW, ALL OF YOU!” A lump on the other side of Serena’ s - or, the spare - bed squealed and fell off in a tangle of cover. As Sasha untangled herself, the other crew members rose out of their beds as if being shouted awake at a random hour was a daily routine for them - though with Phyrett’s attitude, it probably was. Serena kept her eyes covered, and attempted to walk out, tripping over a lump of covers in the middle of the floor.. A white, moth-like face poked out from under it, and hissed at her to “piss off”. Her breath was freezing, and it made Serena realise that everywhere else was incredibly hot. Sasha walked over to her slowly, also shielding her eyes.

“Why is it so bright?” Sasha asked, and Serena shrugged. “Phyrett, why is it so bright?”

Phyrett turned away from overseeing the leaving aliens and looked at her. She didn’t have her eyes shielded at all, but then again, she was an alien. “Why wouldn’t it be? We’re literally in front of two suns.” Phyrett told her and immediately returned to making sure every alien was leaving the cabin.

“Suns? Like, plural?” Serena tried to clarify with Phyrett, but she ignored her.

“The order was to get out! Stop asking me stupid questions and follow it!” She spat. Serena did her best to navigate in the incredible light, and led Sasha to the exit. As they stepped out and up the stairs, more sunlight flooded her vision and her eyes stung. Even with them shut, she could feel nothing but a burning feeling.

“ATTENTION!” Phyrett’s voice resounded from somewhere in front of her. “EVERYONE MUST PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, OUR LIVES ARE AT RISK RIGHT NOW!”

“Use your indoor voice!” A Russian-sounding voice, the same as which told her to piss off earlier, shouted.

“DON’T TEST ME! I ALREADY THREW YOU OVERBOARD ONCE AND I’LL DO IT AGAIN! WE AREN’T EVEN INDOORS!”

“Whatever.” The voice muttered.

“Anyway,” Phyrett continued, slightly quieter, “We’re going to Alpha Centauri AB because we’re out of Dragon’s Breath. As Phyrett explained, a gasp sounded through the members. “I don’t know if the curse affects items stolen after it was set, but I don’t feel like finding out so I will have to actually b...bu...” Phyrett seemed to struggle to say the word, “B-buy the Dragon’s Breath.” She finally said with disgust. “I’ve summoned all of you because as soon as the backup engine goes off, the forcefield around this place will go off, and the byproduct of the Dragon’s Breath will cease soon after, killing anyone who can’t breathe in space. So most of you.” Phyrett paused, letting the gravity of the situation settle in. “Meeting over.”

Phyrett left into a small room that Serena somehow hadn’t noticed before. She watched as each crew member either returned to the cabin or formed huddles of discussion, all with worried looks on their faces. Only one was alone - a blue-furred humanoid cat. Serena walked over to her, Sasha following, her eyes still burning. “D-do you know what’s going on?”

“Aye. Ye know how you breathe something different from me, or another race?” She talked like a pirate you’d see played by Johnny Depp, in contrast to the rest of the pirates talking normally, “Well, Dragon’s Breath’s gas which produces a byproduct which all of ye can breathe. It’s magic. Methinks they use it for the engine, which makes us go n’ all, and also generates a forcefield to keep the air in.” The cat explained. “By the way, the name’s Grayss. The bravest pirate to have ever sailed the seven... uh, wherever. They speak me name, and fear fills their blood, for all know of the fearsome Grayss.” She introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Sasha!” She introduced herself in turn.

“Sasha of what?” Grayss waited for Sasha’s introduction to continue.

“Sasha Thali.”

“Yes, but what’s your title?” Grayss pressed.

“Sasha of Ramstairs Grammar School, leader of the Anime Club there.”

“And when people say your name, they think of... ?”

“Magical Girls?”

“Good enough! Nice to meet ye, Sasha Thali of Ramstairs Grammar School, brave leader of ‘Anime Club’ and representative of Magical Girls!” Grayss extended her hand and Sasha shook it. “And yerself?” She turned to Serena.

“I’m not doing any of that.” Serena told her, and she frowned.

“Yellowbelly.”

“Fine, I’m Serena of also Ramstairs Grammar School, leader of nothing in particular and when people say my name they think of the weird girl who faints a lot.” Serena flatly stated.

“Methinks ye should change up yer title. That wouldn’t strike fear into the heart of yer enemies at all.” Grayss criticised.

“You want me to lie?”

“Yer a pirate now, lassie. Everyone lies. Anyway, you can say pretty much anything if ye say it loud enough. If I said ATTACK! really really loudly. Ye flinched just now, that’s the goal.

“To make me flinch because I didn’t think you’d say that?”

“To strike fear into the heart of yer enemies!”

“That’s pretty overkill.”

“No it ain’t. If it was overkill, I would’ve said OVERKILL! Flinched again.”

“Uh, what are we going to do about the engine then?” Sasha interrupted their... whatever it was.

“Once the captain comes out of her abode, I’ll volunteer to go to those suns meself and get her some of that fuel.” Grayss informed them. Serena hoped that this meant they wouldn’t have to go.

“Won’t your fur get burnt?”

“Aye, but only if I don’t wear one of those suits we have. With those, I’ll be practically invincible.”

“You’ve had suits all this time?” Serena asked incredulously. Those would’ve really helped on Proxima Centauri b.

“Nah, the suits block out almost all light. They’re only for when we’re near or on suns.”

“Oh. Also, suns?”

“Aye. Alpha Centuari is a binary system, it is. The planets spin around dual suns, connected to each other. If they were people, they’d be as thick as sardines in a tin.” Grayss explained. “Anyway, there she is!”

Grayss ran past them, over to the emerging Phyrett, who frowned as soon as she saw her. “Go away Grayss.”

“Nay, I was gunna volunteer for-”

“I refuse to talk to you unless you talk normally.” Phyrett grunted.

“Aye, but where’s the fun in that?” Grayss smirked. Phyrett said nothing. “Ahoy? Phyrett?” Phyrett said nothing. “Ya know, yer name is literally ‘pirate’, ye could at least act like one.”

“It’s not pirate, it’s Phyrett, why is that so hard to remember?” Phyrett corrected angrily.

“Ye talked! I knew ye’d come around!” Grayss attempted to slap Phyrett on the back and she swiftly elbowed her in the gut. Grayss stepped back and caught her breath. “Wh-what was that for?”

“I’m in a bad mood, Grayss.”

“Because we might die soon?”

“Exactly that, how could you tell?” She asked sarcastically.

“I hear ye, I hear ye. Then, let’s get down there smartly n’ get some Dragon’s Breath! There’s no time to waste!”

“I am aware of that. I had to get the protective suits, and make sure they were up to date. We’re leaving right now. Me and the two humans.”

“And me?”

“No. There aren’t enough suits for more.”

“Why don’t ye stay here?” Grayss questioned.

“Because,” Phyrett sighed, “I have to make sure the two humans don’t run off.”

“I can do that!” Grayss exclaimed, and Phyrett would’ve raised an eyebrow if she had any. “I’m serious! I’ll slice their guts out if they go out of line, and I barely ever go on voyages!”

“You go on voyages all the time. Like...” Phyrett paused and thought.

“I swear on Davy Jones, the last voyages I was actually on was months ago! Ye never send me because ye think I’m annoyin’!”

“You are annoying!” Phyrett affirmed, “If you’re willing to go down there, and keep an eye on the humans, AND get my Dragon’s Breath... you can go in my place.”

“Aye, aye! Bless ye captain, I won’t let ye down.”

Less than five minutes later, Serena and Sasha had been fitted into suits that were way too big for them, and they were lined up at the edge of the ship while Grayss was getting Raundarr to teleport - the distance between them and the stars was too far to jump. Serena had barely any idea how it happened, because Grayss had been fast, not-fully-coherent and sometimes aggressive to get them ready in “suitable time to please the captain”.

When Grayss returned, not only did she have Raundarr, but a large (at least 5ft), gelatinous lizard creature was following her. It was greenish in colour, although Serena could easily see through it, like it was made of jelly. A dozen red triangles floated in its head (Serena guessed, there wasn’t much to distinguish it being a head besides the tail on the opposite side), which were either teeth or eyes. Serena wasn’t sure what the create was exactly, but Grayss scratched it on its head and it purred affectionately, rubbing against her, so Serena was sure it was safe enough.

“This is Zim!” Grayss announced.

“Zim?” Serena was sure it was one of those names where it had to be spelt - like every other crew member.

“X-I-M-M.” Raundarr spelt. Knew it.

“Named her ourselves. Poor thing can’t really talk, but she was just alone on Earth when we found ‘er, so I begged Phyrett to keep ‘er.” Grayss explained.

“Phyrett listened to you?” Serena remembered the previous exchange and doubted the probability of that was high.

“Aye, Emelee also begged but I’m pretty sure it was me specifically who let ‘er on.” Serena knew it again. “Anyway, she’s comin’ with us. Aren’t you baby? Aren’t you?” Grayss petted it on the head and it made happy-sounding noises, its mass stretching slightly to cuddle Grayss. It was adorable, Serena admitted.

“Remember not to use up your oxygen. We have barely any actual oxygen here, so if you run low we can’t refill it.” Raundarr informed in her normal flat tone, “There’s 24 hours of oxygen in that suit, provided you don’t break it, it will last.” It sounded like Raundarr was reading off pre-written instructions, and while her usual voice sounded like that, Serena was sure she was just repeating what someone else had told her to say.

“Are they easy to break?” Sasha enquired.

“Dunno.”

“Beam us up, Raundarr!” Grayss exclaimed before Sasha could ask anything else.

“I should question why you even have the knowledge to make that reference, but I just remembered that I don’t care.” Raundarr told her monotonously, and a blue-green oval appeared once again, swallowing Grayss. Serena couldn’t help but flinch at the memory of what originally got her in this situation, but she told herself to stay still, and the portal swallowed her too.

The ground under Serena - she realised - wasn’t even ground. She stood in a thick layer of magma, covering her feet. She was about to scream when she remembered her suit. She was safe. She was... cold. She was standing on not just one, but two stars, in an inch of semi-translucent plasma-magma mixture, and she felt kinda lukewarm, if anything. Saving her marvel at technology like this for later, she looked around, and immediately saw something even more marvellous. Across the magma, wooden stalls were planted. Various salesmen - or, salesaliens, all with blue bodies of flame - stood behind these stalls, each adored with a different banner of what they were selling. Dwarf stars, wildlife, metals and whatever a “Lewodan” was, everything Serena could think of was displayed. Grayss appeared next to her, and frowned in disgust.

“What a dump.” She spat.

“Huh? It’s really neatly set up.” Serena wondered what she found gross about it. Maybe it didn’t match her culture?

“Oh, ‘course ye’d find it nice. This whole place is fitted with an SEP Field. I forgot exactly what it stood fer, but basically any being that visits perceives it in the same way they would a marketplace from their home planet. You probably see it as some shop or somethin’. Where I sail from, they don’t have markets so I see it as it really is. A trashhole.” She explained, “This is a black market, ye know.”

“It’s a black market?” Serena gasped. This suddenly wasn’t as safe as she assumed.

“Aye. Yethinks a pirate crew would go anywhere else to buy stuff? Besides, Dragon’s Breath is illegal in most places. Too useful, methinks. Damn capitalists, banning everything that’d trump ‘em.”

“There’s capitalism in space?”

“I dunno what you just said. I said something in my language, and my translator probably chose the closest word in yours.”

“T-translators?” This whole conversation was getting more and more confusing.

“Aye, all of our crew swallows a translation chip when ye join. Sits in yer gut, translates everything. Pretty sure the captain gave ye one while you were sleepin’.” The idea of Phyrett doing anything while Serena was asleep made her faintly sick, but, at the very least, a few of her questions about them understanding each other were solved. “In other speak, you two can do whatever ye want for a few hours, I want to get a new collar fer Ximm.” Grayss dumped a few small, blue crystals into each of their hands

“Didn’t Phyrett tell you to keep an eye on us the whole time?” Sasha questioned, having appeared on the other side of Serena at some point before.

“Aye, and? We’re pirates now, everyone lies.” Before Sasha could ask any more questions, Grayss ran behind Serena, and she turned around in just enough time to see her ride off on the back of an unsuited Ximm. Serena grinned.

“We don’t have someone watching us now.” She began thinking of what they could do on a planet like this. Would swimming in lava be too risky? Could they-

“I don’t think we should do anything we wouldn’t anyway.” Sasha told her.

“Why not? We’re basically alone for the first time since... yesterday?” It felt like years since they were happily in England. It couldn’t have been just the day before. Serena’s mind briefly went to how much longer they would have to do this. 99 days? How long would that feel like?

“This is a Naljian Black Market. The Naljians are famous for having the most advanced technology in the entire universe, the only species to surpass the Galvan - and by a large margin.” Sasha pointed out, “We could get into a lot of trouble by doing whatever we want with these guys around.”

“You’re not supposed to be the voice of reason!” Serena whined jokingly, “You’re supposed to suggest the ideas in the first place!”

“I’ve heard a lot about the Naljians from my mum. They used to terrify me as a kid, I don’t want to get on their bad side.” Sasha looked afraid for a split moment, and then regained her smile. “Let’s just look around.”

“If you say so.” Serena agreed. Every stall looked the same, besides the banner displaying what they were selling, and when Serena looked behind the stall there weren’t any items at all. She watched as a hedgehog-like bipedal came up to the “Dwarf Star” stall, and the Naljian seemingly pulled a small white orb out of nowhere to give to the customer. It had reached into air, and the thing suddenly appeared in its hand, as if it had just apparated on its own. Whichever field or filter this was, it must’ve been incredibly advanced.

She wondered if she could buy something with the crystals Grayss had given her. She really needed a new shirt. Her hoodie was getting dirty from the outings, and she hadn’t seen clothes or a washing machine anywhere on the ship. Some of the crew members wore clothes, and some didn’t, but the clothes she had seen were all in different styles, so surely they were getting them from somewhere. Wandering in the magma, Serena passed the same exact setup at least three times before realising she wasn’t getting anywhere. The banners stayed the same, and just as she passed the furthermost shop, she found herself back at the beginning.

“Ma’am.” A voice said from behind, and she jumped more than she should have. A Naljian, identical to all of the others, stared at her. Or, she thought it stared at her, its facial expression was also identical to all of the others; unreadable. “I believe you don’t understand how this market works.” Serena nervously nodded. Sasha’s warning had put her on edge. “I will show you how to navigate, but you will first have to show me your permit.” The Naljian spoke without any emotion. Serena began to panic.

“P-permit? Uh... right...” She pretended to search herself, probably looking like an idiot, and she began to worry hard. What would they do if they found her without this... permit? Why didn’t Grayss or Phyrett tell her she needed one? The Naljian stood motionless, waiting for her to produce one. She didn’t have a plan. She was going to be taken, or hurt, or...

“I see you do not have a permit.” The Naljian spoke.

“I-I mean... about that...” Serena stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse quickly.

“Do not fear. We ask all customers that question. Welcome to the Black Market.” Her surroundings suddenly spread into a multitude of stores and mall-like structures, as well as the wooden stalls. Different buildings appeared, and spread across the horizon farther than Serena could even see. “We ask that question to ensure you are not law enforcement. Nobody but those would try bringing a permit to an illegal trade planet.” It explained, and Serena’s fear faded. Thank god. “Please enjoy your stay.” It suddenly disappeared, not with a flash or using a portal; just gone. It creeped Serena out, even if she was glad that she wasn’t in any trouble. Yet.

Able to now see the extended market, Serena looked through each of the shops to see what was offered. Some were like supermarkets (she swore she saw at least two ASDAs), while some resembled entire malls, complete with restaurants (which didn’t actually sell food) and toilets (which weren’t actually toilets). At least one resembled the makeshift table stalls her primary school did for their seasonal fairs, and after going inside another to look at some jewellery, she realised she was in a Burger King.

Finally, she entered something labelled as a Marks & Spencer’s, and saw a banner displaying “Clothes in adolescent size”. Once inside, she saw a variety of dresses, jeans and shirts, all looking like they would fit her. She walked to the counter, where a Naljian stood, as expressionless as the rest.

“Do you know how much these clothes cost?” She inquired.

“Tell me a specific size.”

“All of these are in the same size.”

“There are millions of clothes here. It is designed for you to only see clothes in your own specific size, which I do not know.”

“I’ll just bring something here I guess.”

Serena searched through clothes and eventually chose something that resembled what she already had on, but cleaner. She brought them to the counter, and the Naljian only stared.

“Well? How much do these cost?” Serena prompted.

“Thirty taydens.” It spoke.

Serena handed over the crystals had been given earlier, and the Naljian took all of them wordlessly. After a few seconds of it simply staring, Serena assumed they were bought and walked out with them,

Serena put the clothes back and exited the soup store, walking straight into Sasha. She turned, surprised and smiled. “Serena! I haven’t seen you in like, an hour. Where were you?”

Serena held up her clothes in explanation, as Grayss rode in on Ximm, who was wearing a thin, black collar. She dismounted, and immediately snatched Serena’s clothes, tossing them into Ximm’s body.

“Those were new!” Serena protested.

“Ximm ain’t made of anything but Ximm-stuff, it’s fine. She’ll keep ‘em safer than ye just carrying them around.” Grayss explained. Serena hoped they would be wearable, at least. “In other speak, I’ve found the Dragon’s Breath.”

“So we can leave?” Serena wondered. She had spent all of her money, and she didn’t see any reason to be here longer than they needed to.

“Aye and nay. Aye, we can leave after we get the Dragon’s Breath. But nay, it costs an arm and a pegged leg.” Grayss told them. Serena swore most of what she was saying wasn’t even real pirate talk and she was just aggressively enforcing the fact that she talked like that.

“So we tell Phyrett, and maybe ask for some money?” Sasha suggested.

“We’re pirates, we don’t have money! We steal everythin’.”

“So... what do we do?” Serena didn’t like where this was going.

“We would steal it, but alas, that would probably add onto the curse the poor captain’s going through.”

“So...?”

“You steal it.” Grayss told them. “Ye joined the Ol’ Carrie after we got cursed. Yer not affected.”

“Huh?! That’s...” Serena had expected this, but she still couldn’t believe Grayss was legitimately suggesting it.

“We’ll tell Phyrett we bought it, tis’ fine. Ye just need to not get caught.”

“That’s lying!” Serena protested, “We-”

“Do I even need to say it at this point? Ye know what I’m thinkin’.” Serena sighed. Nothing was going to change Grayss’ mind.

“What do we have to do?”

After a time, the group had formulated a suitable plan. Sasha would distract the Naljian with stupid questions (which Grayss claimed she was good at), and Grayss would pretend to steal something minor, while Serena would steal the actual Dragon’s Breath. Ximm would make cute noises and act as stress relief through hugging.

The group approached the store - which Serena viewed as a Gamestop - and were promptly halted by a line of five Naljians apparating in front of them. They were expressionless as always, but Serena felt something uneasy about them.

“We have intercepted thoughts from you that imply theft. We do not permit this kind of thinking here.” They all spoke in unison.

“Thoughts? Where d’you get off reading our minds?” Grayss spat.

“It is customary. This is the largest, cheapest and most valuable black market in the galaxy, without suitable measures it would become nothing more than a criminal warzone.”

“That’s messed up, ya know? Our thoughts are supposed to be private, ya know?” Grayss growled.

“Thoughtcrime is not permitted. You should be aware of this before visiting.”

“You know what I should’ve been aware of? How creepy ye are all! Go on, read my mind now then!”

“Thinking of disrespectful gestures does nothing to alleviate your previous crimes. Especially if you are thinking of ways to “get away with it anyway” at this moment too.” More Naljians apparated around them. There were at least a dozen, now. Serena tried her best not to be afraid; not to think of how many there were and how powerless she was; not to think of the bracelet most of all. If they found out about it, who knows what they would do.

“What is this bracelet you think of?” They suddenly turned to look at Serena. Or so she thought, it was still hard to tell. She really was stupid, huh. “We recognise it as Matrix tech, which is also not permitted here. You will be taken for interview.” Serena reached for it, as a hand phased through her suit and wrapped around her arm.

“Get away from me, you freaks!” She screamed, as Grayss rushed forward with a scabbard, swiping through their questionably corporeal forms. They did not move, instead phasing a hand through Grayss’ head, making her pass out.

“It seems you feel more comfortable when you are with your partner. She will be taken too. The Rennovahgander will be returned to her last remembered place other than here, and the... where is the unknown creature?” The Naljians turned around, for the first time visibly looking for something. Ximm had vanished, despite being next to Grayss a few moments before. Maybe her species could teleport? Serena hoped so. She didn’t know where she would be taken, but if Ximm was still on the planet, she had a very small chance of escape. Right? She barely had time to think before she felt a hand inside of her head, and she dropped.

Waking up with her arms bound was a familiar feeling at this point. The panic lasted only a moment before Serena remembered where she was. Abducted on top of being abducted, what a place to be. Determined not to let herself be overwhelmed again, she didn’t open her eyes and instead kept her thoughts on Ximm. The weird jelly dog-lizard-thing. She was still on the planet, right? Well, star, but wherever she was she had managed to evade beings who could read your next move before you could. That was her hope right now, that Ximm would come back, or that she could use her bracelet to escape somehow. She knew vaguely what the abilities of each avatar was from a half-remembered dream - or vision - but she had only seen a few in action. Did Mercury’s venom work on beings like this? She doubted it. She had only seen Venus’ abilities to hide in plain sight during hide-and-seek and she wasn’t sure what they actually were, and Earth was a devout pacifist. If worse came to worst (which it already had, honestly), she could gamble with one she hadn’t used before, but that ran the risk of injuring those around her. Mainly Sasha. There needed to be some way out, Serena was resolute beyond anything else to hold onto that. A way to get out. Grayss would probably get the rest of the Ol’ Carrie to help, anyway. They needed the Dragon’s Breath more than anything, they would surely send a few more of their number to ensure it was gained. But would they try and find Serena and Sasha? Would they just buy the item and leave? Serena tried hard to stop thinking about her various worries, but she felt a flood of anxiety slowly breaking through her dam of optimism.

Finally, she opened her eyes and faced two identical Naljians standing (or, floating) across a metal table, like the one you would see in a police interrogation. This was probably fixed with that SEP Field too, then. Her arms and legs were handcuffed to her chair, and she looked left to see Sasha in the same position. The left Naljian’s eyes narrowed - the first time a Naljian’s face had actually changed, no less out of sync with the others.

“You are finally awake.” It observed.

“Trying to cross the border, right?” Sasha mumbled and Serena giggled.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Ignoring that interruption, we have questions to ask.” The right one informed them, as if they didn’t guess already.

“First of all, I am Yunale and they are Minale. We were born separate from the hivemind, and thus have been confined to interrogative duties.” The left one explained.

“Is that why you can actually like... move your eyes and stuff?” Sasha questioned.

“I am not aware of that statement’s meaning, but in the hivemind each member votes on every action, and thus they do not exhibit personal feelings. We are free from that...” Yunale tried to find the word they were looking for.

“Status quo. We are in control of our own actions.” Minale finished, “Currently, our action is to find out what that bracelet is.”

“Good luck with that, I don’t know myself.” Serena growled.

“This may be done the easy way, or the hard way.” Minale began. Serena didn’t want to know what either way was. “The easy way is that you tell us how to access the blank spot in your memories. The hard way is-”

“Wait, what blank spot?” Serena interrupted Minale again.

“When we were reading your memories, there were multiple blank spots in your past, as well as a memory we simply could not access recently. Explain.” Yunale commanded.

Serena swallowed. She knew part of what they were talking about, but she needed to be sure. “W-when was this?”

“The major one is from only yesterday. While you were based on Proxima Centauri b, your memory cuts out from being attacked, and the earliest part we can access after that is with the Opticoids incapacitated. Additionally, while on that ship we are unable to access patches of memory. Why is this?” Thank god that they weren’t drawing attention to what Serena thought they would. They were talking about when she was transformed. The first time, all of what Mercury saw flooded in at once, but when she was Venus and Earth, it felt like she was just disconnected from her body. A bystander, watching herself act. It felt uncomfortable, but it was bearable, and if the Naljians couldn’t access those parts, it meant they didn’t know what her bracelet could do. It was good.

“No idea, maybe you just need to check your memory-scanners.” Serena bluffed.

“Our software is up to date in every member.” Yunale retorted, “Ours is just out of sync, it takes a few minutes to load.”

“Wait, you have literal memory-scanners?” Sasha wondered.

“Correct. Every Naljian has technology built into them - without it we would be nothing.”

“So... you’re not reading our memories right now?”

“Negative. If you are committing thoughtcrime, we will still punish you.” Serena was so relieved to hear that. She needed them to know as little about the bracelet as possible.

“How?”

“You are in the adolescent stage of your species. Because we have stated right now that we cannot see it, you are most likely deliberately committing thoughtcrime, and thus will be punished for it.”

“That’s not fair!” Sasha protested, “What if we actually aren’t?”

“Are you?”

“... maybe.”

“This will be settled later.” Minale interrupted Yunale and Sasha’s exchange. Sasha tended to have that effect on people; making them go on tangents without realising. “The easy way was described previously, and the hard way is to jumpstart that device and observe the effect.”

“How is that the hard way?” Serena asked.

“The device has a chance of killing or damaging you when activated, correct?”

“No? Not at all.” Serena answered.

“That was reverse psychology. We now know that that device’s effects are not dangerous to the wearer.” Damn it. Serena should’ve seen that coming.

“The actual hard way is forcefully bring back those holes in your memory. It will be very painful and may invoke brain death.” Serena’s face went white. There were things she refused to remember. She repressed them, deep inside, and didn’t let herself think about it for years. Even with the actual trauma repressed, she had panic attacks and fainted far too frequently still. If she had to live through it again, she’d surely just break.

“Y-you can’t do that.” She didn’t realise she was crying at first. It was too sudden.

“Explain those gaps.” Yunale ordered.

“I’ll s-show you. W-why there are gaps.” Serena desperately reached for the bracelet through the handcuffs. She prayed that if she could reach it, the avatar would be useful enough to escape this place. Where was she, anyway? She hadn’t paid any attention to her surroundings until now. The walls and ceiling were made of a red liquid, flowing around the cube of the room but never dripping off. The same she had been standing in on the surface. Magma. They were inside Alpha Centauri AB. Serena realised, too, that her suit was still on. So many things she missed, so stupid. She had been trying to touch something on the other side of white fabric this whole time. But if the handcuffs were on the suit...

“We do not need a visual explanation. Do not activate the bracelet!” Yunale demanded, now. Serena’s arms slipped out of the suit arms, and she pressed down on the bracelet immediately.

Serena was standing in what felt like nowhere. She couldn’t feel her body, and she couldn’t move, but she could still see the whole room where Sasha, Yunale, Minale and a tall, red being she knew as Mars were now sitting. The suit was in torn pieces next to broken handcuffs on the floor next to the chair.

Mars stared (although he had no eyes) at the Naljians. “I wake another day, it seems. Another day of war, another day of battle.” Serena felt him talking mentally, but it sounded like regular speech to her.

“There’s no battle happening right now.” Sasha pointed out.

“Not with that attitude!” Mars exclaimed. “Hark, for another day of war is what I desire!”

“Who are they?” Yunale asked Sasha.

“Who is he, you mean. And he is a great one indeed. I am Mars! Winner of many battles, gladiator in this war we call truth. My enemies are lies, my blight is rumour and I slay them all with the true virtue! Honesty!” Mars announced.

“Wait, how many physical battle have you had?” Sasha questioned him.

“Oh, a couple. I do tend to lose on the physical aspect, but nonetheless, truth always prevails!”

“Oh.” Sasha frowned, “What if someone lies to you?”

“They cannot! Not with this!” A ripple of energy came from Mars’ body, and Serena instinctively tried shielding herself, despite having nothing to shield. A dome of red light now covered the room, much to the confusion of those present. “This is my Field of Truth! Any word spoken here cannot be a falsehood!”

“You’re saying we can’t lie?” Sasha asked.

“Correct!”

“I can lie though.”

“You cannot.

“But I just said, “I can lie”, and if this is a field of truth then that statement must be true.”

“You may only speak what you recognise as the truth, ignorant girl. You believe you can lie, so you may say you can lie.”

“This makes no sense.” Minale interrupted, “I can say whatever I please.”

“Try it.” Mars dared. “State your name, and this girl’s name. Lie.”

“Simple. My name is... Minale. And her name is Sasha Thali. Oh.”

“Ah, too bad.” Mars leaned forward. “Must you try again to realise?”

“This changes nothing. You are simply giving us more information.” Yunale spat.

“Oh, no, no. This is still an interrogation, but I am interrogating you.”

“We can still choose not to answer. That is not lying.”

“Can you? Can you?” Mars stared down the Naljians (he didn’t have eyes, but Serena was sure that it was intimidating).

“What sort of creature are you?” Yunale growled.

“One from a long, long time ago. Longer than anyone will ever know.” Mars was inches away from the Naljians’ faces now. “I am a solider of truth, Naljian. And the truth that I wish to know is how to get back to the surface.”

“There is a tunnel out directly behind us. The magma is an illusion, we are in a rock hollow on the surface of the planet. You little-”

“Good man. I will remember you on the battlefield.” The energy dome shrank and closed onto the two Naljians, the outside becoming suddenly solid. “I’m afraid I don’t do too well in fisticuffs, so I’ll leave you there.” The Naljians smashed against the forcefield, their blue flames flaring up in anger. Mars generated another forcefield, which closed in on Sasha’s handcuffs before becoming solid, snapping each pair in two. Mars cautiously put a hand through the magma wall, and after withdrawing it without difficulty walked the entire way through, followed by Sasha.

Serena felt herself being pulled with them, and she saw them run through what looked like magma to her. She lost sight of them as they passed through seemingly solid objects, and finally saw Sasha emerge into same surface of Alpha Centauri AB from a Subway. They looked around, attempting to sense where they were.

“Are we seeing different things?” Sasha noticed, “I just saw us come out of a BnB.”

“I believe we just exited from nothing. There’s nothing, anywhere, besides the ground, which is very hot.”

“Wait, don’t you have the... oh no. Where’s the suit?” Sasha realised.

“That thing broke as I awoke. Why?”

“We can’t survive on this planet without that suit. You can, but Serena can’t.” Sasha told him in horror. The same horror which set in within Serena. As soon as that time was up, she’d face the unbearable heat and no doubt she would...

“Never give up. Although you may never be a solider as strong as I, as brave as I and as famous as I, you are still a soldier while in my presence, and the number one rule is not to give up.” Mars attempted to calm her fear, with some avail.

“What’ll we do then? How much time do you even have left transformed?”

“Awake. I am not transformed, the host is. And I believe I have around four minutes remaining.” Mars corrected.

“Then... what can we do in four minutes...” Sasha thought.

“What about that... being?” Mars pointed out, directly at a Specsavers.

“What’s there? I can’t see past the illusion.”

“There’s a gelatinous, reptilian being which I, for a first, cannot recognise.” Mars explained and Sasha’s face lit up.

“Ximm!” Sasha looked behind the Specsavers as Ximm bounded towards her, knocking her over and making an action which resembled licking, although Ximm didn’t have any tongue to speak of.

Mars stared at the two. “We’re on a time limit,” he reminded.

“Yeah, yeah.” Sasha stopped playing with Ximm and started thinking again. “So... what can we...” Sasha snapped her fingers and her face lit up. “Got it! How much of a cooldown does your transformation have?”

“None. Well, I specifically would be too tired to wake up twice in a row, but the others I’m sure are eager to battle - though not as much as I, of course. As long as the host doesn’t have an issue with such sudden state changes.” Mars explained. Serena did, in fact, have an issue with sudden state changes, but she had more of an issue with burning to death for it to currently matter.

“Great, and, Ximm isn’t affected by the climate here, right? Because she’s made of... that.” She continued.

“I believe so. Throughout all of my life that creature is the only one I haven’t seen, nor engaged in battle with.” Mars commented. If something like Mars hadn’t seen it, what was Ximm?

“Okay, so, if Ximm wraps herself around you, when you return to Serena she’ll be protected by her skin... which will give her the time to transform again.”

Mars raised a non-existent eyebrow, “That’s your plan?”

“I thought of it in two minutes.”

“I can tell.”

“Point is, I can’t think of anything better and our time is running out. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Ximm’s fine, right?”

“It may be our only battle tactic, but I still concur that it’s a weak one.”

“Keyword here being only.” Sasha smiled, “If this doesn’t work, what else do we have?” The way she said it betrayed her mask of calmness.

“True. While I dislike using the same telepathic communications the others do, I’ll attempt to talk to this creature and relay the plan.” Mars turned to Ximm, and Serena felt a pull on herself. Or rather, a pull between Mars and Ximm. An attempt at making a link directly deep into Ximm’s mind. A series of incomprehensible noises entered her mind, and Ximm nodded. “I’ve never heard a creature speak such a language, honestly.” Mars realised once the pull faded, “I was able to allow it to hear my words in its language, but I had no idea what I myself was saying.”

“So Ximm knows what to do?” Sasha’s question was answered by Ximm wrapping herself around Mars. Her body mass tightly covered his body, now, and happy purrs came from the group of eye-teeth now over Mars’ chest. Serena prayed that it would work, as she felt Mars fade out and her vision approached her own body. All of the sensations she was used to returned - her arms and legs, the feeling of Ximm’s slime, the ability to feel things and the need to breathe, eat and drink (although she still hadn’t solved why she could breathe outside of the Ol’ Carrie). The burning, overwhelming heat of the sun she was currently on came too, and she felt like she was going to melt. So much pain, so hot, she couldn’t take it. She didn’t know how she was still alive. This kind of heat made her feel dead, for sure. Only a few seconds after returning, Serena felt the same subfusc switch between body and soul, and watched a yellow avatar, with the same stars and faceless pride of the others, take her place. Jupiter.

He gave a hearty laugh, before facing Sasha. “Why, hello. I believe I have another ten minutes with you, little lady.” Ximm slipped off and returned to her original form once hearing that the job was done, rubbing against Sasha’s leg affectionately.

“Yay! Okay, so now we have ten more minutes to come up with a way out of here.” Sasha cheered, “Any ideas?”

“Ah, of course I have ideas! There’s that large pirate ship, where you came from, obviously. If we can get its attention-”

“Halt.” A familiar, monotonous voice interrupted Jupiter. A Naljian apparated, following by at least half a dozen more, in the same circle fashion that had trapped them in the first place. “We have been informed that Yunale and Minale allowed you to escape. To escape beings such as them, that bracelet must hold an incredible power, and it requires further study.”

“Study my foot. You want it for power.” Sasha gave them a dead stare.

“We never said that we do not. We wish to study it to improve our own devices, which we previously believed to be the most advanced of this universe. Clearly, we are incorrect, and this error must be fixed.” The group spoke in unison, their voices still flat but with a hidden edge.

“It’s linked to its wearer biologically. If she dies, it’ll be gone too, you know.” Sasha stated.

“You are bluffing.”

“Maybe. You can either return us to our ship, like you did with Grayss, and possibly get it back later, or you try to call my bluff and lose the only piece of technology capable of advancing your people.” Sasha stared the group straight in the eyes. Her usual personality had completely faded, replaced with nothing but a deathly gaze. She looked sort-of intimidating, like that.

The Naljians said nothing, it looked like they were reading her mind, but none of them moved either way.

“Return to this star again, and all of you will instantly be terminated.” They finally said. Each held out its hand, and Sasha, Ximm and Jupiter disappeared. Serena’s view changed with them, to the deck of the Ol’ Carrie. Sasha ran immediately to the cabin, her hand covering her mouth while Jupiter stayed, taking in the deck for himself for the first time. Ximm bound off, and came back a moment later with Phyrett in tow.

“That was ridiculous. You got me banned from the only good black market on this side of the galaxy!” She scolded. Clearly, Grayss had filled her in prior. “I can’t believe you didn’t have the foresight to take that device off before portaling there!”

“I’m certainly not the human who went there, but my memory serves to say that you raised no concern about it originally?” Jupiter asked skepectically.

“She should’ve had the foresight! She’s like, 15, when I was 15 I had already stolen this ship and-” Phyrett abruptly cut herself off, “Anyway, I heard the whole affair from Grayss after she was finished throwing up (poorly made Naljian teleportation, of course). I refuse, from this point onwards, to let either of you out of my sight. I’m going to give you and the blue one a piece of my mind once you’re both back, you know! Can you hear me?!” Serena couldn’t nod while without a body, but she didn’t really want to either. She had nearly died; Sasha had... become something Serena had never seen before to save her. Couldn’t she be at least a little bit appreciative?

“Now, where’s the Dragon’s Breath?” Phyrett waited expectantly. Serena remembered the entire point of them being there, and remembered that the Ol’ Carrie would soon lose air without it. She began to panic, before Ximm ran up to Phyrett and choked out three large capsules of a purple gas, along with Serena’s new clothes. Phyrett picked them up and smiled. “At least the non-sapient creature can do a good job.” Phyrett stormed off, presumably to refill the engine.

Serena felt the same sudden rush of sensation and swapped places with Jupiter a second later. Was this what it felt like? When the avatars weren’t, you know, her, did they just watch on and feel that same disconnect? Did they mean they slept literally, or were they just dormant in action?

Her train of thought was interrupted by Grayss running up, “Ye made it back! Knew ye could.”

“I almost died, Grayss.” Serena pointed out.

“Eh, we all do at some point.” Grayss brushed it off, and Serena snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders.

“L-listen! Do you realise how sheerly terrifying that was?! Out of your own body, unable to move, waiting to be burnt to death instantly when you can?! We didn’t know we could survive. Sasha didn’t know, I didn’t know, and we had no guarantee it would work! I-if she hadn’t thought so fast... I wouldn’t even... I didn’t sign up to all of my fears coming true.” Serena tried to say how she was feeling, but it was too hard. She didn’t know how to say it, to say how scared she was, to say how she knew, now, that she would die. How inevitable that was, given her last two experiences. She didn’t know how to say it.

“Yeah. I know that feeling. Not exactly, ‘course, but I know how it feels to know you’re about to die, or that yer life is out of control.” Grayss stepped back, releasing herself from Serena.

“How did you get over it?”

“I didn’t. Ye can’t get over it, yer fear of death. Every time I’m on a voyage, I know that I might kick the bucket. It’s a real possibility for everything. All I do is focus on the one thing I really want, ye know? That one thing, in all the universe, that I desire more than anything else. It motivates me, opens up more options that I couldn’t see before, I s’pose. There’s always an option to live, ye know. If dying was as easy as the brain makes ye think, life wouldn’t ‘ave gotten this far.”

“What do you desire, then?”

“That’s me own business. Find yer own.” Grayss headed towards the cabin. leaving Serena alone in thought on the deck. A purple flash briefly covered the ship, and she felt an engine below her kick into gear. Raundarr and Sharlott appeared at the wheel, and the ship finally turned away from the twin suns and into the darkness.

Major Events

 * Serena, Sasha, Grayss and Ximm visit Alpha Centauri AB.
 * The Ol' Carrie's engine runs out of fuel, and it's revealed that it creates a breathable atmosphere for the crew.
 * Mars, and briefly Jupiter, debut.
 * The Ol' Carrie is banned from Alpha Centauri AB.

Minor Events

 * Serena buys a new shirt and hoodie, identical to her previous ones.

Characters

 * Serena Sefa
 * Sasha Thali
 * The Ol' Carrie
 * Phyrett
 * Raundarr
 * Grayss
 * Sharlott
 * Whyzz
 * Ximm
 * Naljians
 * Yunale
 * Minale

Avatars Used

 * Mars (debut)
 * Jupiter (debut)

Allusions

 * Sasha mentions the Magical Girl genre of anime.
 * A scene from the Ben 10: Ultimate Alien episode Prisoner 775 is Missing is referenced by the conversation between Grayss and Serena.
 * Multiple establishments and restaurant chains are seen from Serena's point-of-view of the Black Market.
 * Yunale and Minale's names are a reference to the Peaky Angels from the Magical Girl Raising Project franchise.

Trivia

 * The name of this episode wasn't decided for a while, and it was only finally decided while making the page.
 * Hannah thought "Naljian" was spelt as "Najilian" until writing this episode.
 * This episode was written in full two months prior to being uploaded, but loss of access prevented it from being uploaded until now.