Memory in the Dark & Wish in the Light

Memory in the Dark & Wish in the Light is the second episode of Serena & Sasha's Solar System.

Plot
At first, Serena had to check if she really had opened her eyes. In the darkness she woke up, she couldn’t tell any difference. Her head hurt, and the pain blocked out any memories she might’ve had. Cradling her head, she began to think slowly about where she was. At first, she remembered the pirate ship, and the entire situation with that came back to her fairly quickly. And then she remembered what had happened just before.

Their next target for returning the treasure was the planet Mytos. According to Phyrett, it was a varied landscape, filled with beautiful mountains, bubbling rivers, and pristine monuments. Her first impressions were not quite that. Something Phyrett had forgotten to mention - until just before they went through it - was the massive forcefield around the planet. Evidently, it was there to prevent invaders (which Serena, unfortunately, was currently filed under), and all it did was teleport invaders across a planet, in an attempt to disperse potential group forces. Phyrett had said, however, that it wasn’t designed very well, and to prevent atomising people they had instated that it kept things in contact with each other in the same places; therefore, all they had to do was to all hold onto the Ol’ Carrie.

This idea went pretty poorly, considering that with the angle of the Ol’ Carrie being more or less facing down towards the planet, it wasn’t that easy to just hold onto something. Grayss fell first, and then Phyrett followed, knocking into Sasha as she went. Serena had instinctively let go to grab her, in a display that would be heroic and potentially romantic, but didn’t factor in that she also had to still be holding on to do said display, and fell too. She really hoped that no more people had fallen off; a planet was a large place to be teleported across.

Having recounted how she had ended up in the strange place, it was now time to figure out what it was. Under her was a floor that felt close to rugged stone, and Serena’s thoughts went to the possibility that she was in a cave. Attempting to walk forward, she immediately hit something, so she instead turned around, and this time she kept going. The walls felt rough, and it was almost as if they were moving closer on either side as she moved. Eventually, the space in front of her became too thin to walk, and Serena stopped. Maybe if she retracted her steps...

“Oh, hey!” A voice from behind her startled Serena, and the voice giggled, apparently noticing this, “You look lost.”

Serena turned around to see who was talking, but the darkness was still too much for her to even make out her hands in front of her. “I-I’m not from here. This planet, I mean.” She tried to explain. Talking, in most situations, made her nervous. Especially to people she didn’t know, and especially to potential aliens.

“Sooooo, you’re an alien?” The voice drew out their question, and Serena nodded, although she quickly realised they probably couldn’t see that in the darkness. “Makes sense! You would’ve ended up her from our forcefield then. They say it’s all around the planet, but it really just shoves people in pre-determined places, so the valkyries can deal with them easily.” The voice was light, and cutesy-ish, and felt somehow more human than the others Serena had seen aboard the Ol’ Carrie.

“Um, yeah. I came with friends too.” Serena responded, still trying to feel her way into a path, before deciding that ‘friends’ wasn’t really the right term. A bunch of pirate aliens with varying degrees of anger management issues, a weird pet thing (also a pirate alien), and her girlfriend was the correct term, but she didn’t correct herself because that would’ve been a weird thing to do. Probably.

“Oh, then they’ll be around here! I don’t really live here, but I know all the places since I stick around to see if any aliens show up. Turns out I’m lucky today.” The voice was surprisingly energetic. Serena didn’t mind it. “I’ll help you towards the exit, it’s a lot easier for me to see down here than I assume you can.”

“Oh, um, sure.” Serena nodded again. Whoever it was that was speaking to her could probably see it. Serena suddenly felt hands on her shoulders, and she instinctively flinched, before attempting to react. The hands on her felt like... human hands, or at least soft skin, and they didn’t grip too hard either. They guided her to turn for a moment, before prompting her to go forward with a gentle push.

“My name’s Embla. Dunno if that might sound like nonsense in your language.” The voice - Embla - spoke now directly behind her. Whenever Serena had moved for a little while in one direction, she guided her in another one, and they continued.

“I have an automatic translator, but I think it sounds... pretty. My name’s Serena.”

“That’s pretty too! In my language, at least.” Embla giggled again. “Serena’s a pretty name too.”

“Thanks.” The two continued, Embla directing Serena on where to go, until light began to show in front of Serena.

"Just a little further!" Embla reassured, and, indeed, the light got closer and closer until they stepped out of the tunnel, onto soft grass.

Serena looked around to see Embla in the light for the first time. And she was beautiful. Her eyes were a warm, neon green, and her long, golden hair slid between shades of yellow as it stretched down to her waist, only parting at her pointed ears. Her shirt was plain white, and tied in a knot just short of her belly. Her shorts, too, were rolled up so that the full length of her bright legs were uncovered. To seemingly contradict the simplicity of her other clothing, Embla's sandals were pure gold - with ornate patterns etched into them, and the nails on her hands and feet were both painted gold to match. Serena felt her cheeks turn a light pink.

"Not exactly our standard outfit, but they can't tell me what to wear anyway." Embla giggled, and Serena turned a deeper pink when she realised Embla had noticed her staring.

"It's, um, really pretty." Serena stammered.

“Maybe. You’re pretty too.”

“Huh.” Serena looked down quickly, and looked at herself. She was wearing the same jumper she was more-or-less wearing the whole trip. Something coral-coloured, with unmatching trousers. “This isn’t anything special.”

“Dunno, you’d probably look cute in anything.”

“Um, thanks.” Serena ignored her reaction, and decided to change the subject. “Can you help me look for my friends too? They should be around somewhere here, I think.

“Oh, definitely!” Embla grabbed Serena’s hand again, and began to run off in some direction. Serena didn’t know where they were going, but since Embla said she knew the area, it was probably the right direction. Hopefully.

Grayss didn’t know her location, or have much time to figure it out before she went plunging into the freezing water, but she knew that it was most likely very very far from the rest of the crew.

It hit *hard*, soaking her fur instantly and bringing about an awful feeling which she wanted to be rid of immediately. Flailing for a moment, she twisted herself into a float position, and attempted to take stock of her surroundings. Flat stone made up a somewhat distant shore, with a few mountainous structures seeming to form in the distance. But for dozens of meters around her, it was just water. Great.

Grayss suddenly turned, and pulled out her scabbard in time to intercept something by driving it through the shoulder. Before she could get a good look at it, it dove back under the water, and something slid against her leg, pulling her down with it. She cursed as water shot up her body and down her lungs, and then she went silent. Not because of the lack of air - anyone on the Ol’ Carrie knew that that wouldn’t stop Grayss if she was mad - but because of the melody.

Throughout the water, there was undoubtedly some sort of melody. Grayss could make out a kind of voice, vaguely, but there was definitely music. Lulling music. A trap. Immediately, she forced herself back into swimming upwards - an action she had suspended without realising - but was pulled downwards faster than she could counter. The song filled her head again, and told her to stop resisting. Like hell. This time, she grabbed down to whatever was holding her leg, and began to stretch at it. It felt coarse, but the water at her depth was too murky to see anything, or feel anything except the music. Damn it. There was a name for these things, she swore. In every pirate planet lore, there was always the damn...

That’s right. Sirens.

Grayss closed her eyes, as the song commanded.

And now, when she opened her eyes, she was no longer on Mytos.

The table was plain wood, and in front of her was a simple wooden cup, with her food inside. An amber substance, which Grayss had known from her childhood - now a fair amount of years away. She wasn’t an adult yet, but she was well on her way to it.

And today was... she couldn’t remember. Was anything special today?

She just remembered what she should’ve, as a kid, of course.

Her mother sat down next to her, on the other side. A mix of emotions painted her face, although the sorrow was prevalent. In comparison, Grayss only felt rage; and she knew she deserved to.

“We need to talk-”

“Nothing to talk about.” Grayss refused to let her mother say anything.

She sighed, “Even ignoring your usual... situation, what you did today was unacceptable. There are laws that must be followed.”

“What laws did I break? All I did was ask to be respected.”

Another condescending sigh, “You disrespected an elder. Usually, this isn’t considered big, but-”

“But what? Because I messed around a little when I was younger? Even though criminals like that get nothing? Or is it because I’m not who people want me to be?”

“It’s not about what people want you to be, P-”

“*Don’t* call me by that name. My name is Grayss.”

“No, it’s not.”

“My *name* is Grayss, get it right, now.”

“You will *not* disrespect me like that!” Her mother snapped, anger overtaking her expression.

“Or what? You’ll exile me, like I knew you were going to when I came down this morning?”

“I can do whatever I want with you!” The volume of the two increased, louder and louder, until;

“WHY? BECAUSE YOU’RE MY MOTHER?”

“BECAUSE YOU’RE MY SON!”

“*I AM YOUR FUCKING DAUGHTER!*.

“I DON’T CARE THAT YOU *THINK* YOU’RE MY DAUGHTER-”

“AND I DON’T GIVE A SHIT THAT YOU *THINK* I’M YOUR SON, OR THAT YOU *THINK* YOU’RE MY MOTHER!” Grayss took deep, quick breaths. Tears streamed down her face, which she took no notice of, standing up with a look of malice, “I’m leaving. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? But you aren’t going to control me if I’m doing it myself.”

Her mother stood up, furious, and froze, as if in disbelief that Grayss was doing anything, “You sit down. Right now.”

“No.” Grayss walked towards the door, and fastened the bag she was wearing.

“You’ll regret this. Where are you supposed to go, some random hitchhiker group? You’ll never find someone who loves you like I do.” She spat.

“I’m glad. It means one less person to hate.”

“Get back here now, P-”

“My *name* is Grayss. I don’t take orders to someone who doesn’t exist.

“You’ll die out there. You’ll be back in a week.”

Grayss said nothing more before walking out. The hateful face of a woman she didn’t know anymore was her last sight, and it would be a lot more than a week before she ever saw it again.

But then the scene restarted. After a good while of running around with Embla leading her, Serena had ended up in some unknown grassy field, and had bumped headfirst into a familiar grumpy green captain, and an even more familiar blue-haired girl. Upon seeing Sasha again, Serena gave her the biggest hug of her life, and Sasha didn’t object.

“You two are close?” Embla guessed, and Phyrett laughed in a way that felt more condescending than it was probably supposed to.

“She’s my girlfriend.” Serena clarified.

“Lucky.” Embla mumbled, and Serena turned to her and made a confused squeak, before realising that that was probably the reaction she wanted.

“Right, whatever.” Phyrett growled, “No time to waste catching up, unless any of you have found anything besides that strange, irritating elf girl, we should move onto finding Grayss, and then returning the treasure - which I’ve obviously kept on person at all times.”

“My name’s Embla, but to be honest ‘strange irritating elf girl’ isn’t the worst I’ve heard. We should probably find the locals. We could ask if they saw her, and if not it’s always good to have people direct us.” Embla suggested.

“The locals? Like you?” Sasha wondered.

“Nah, like the valkyries. Our superiors, sort of.” Embla explained, “They’re a bit different from us elves; their ears are like yours, and they all have like, total white hair.”

Serena wondered for a moment if it was just coincidence that all of the species on this planet shared names with the myths from her own, but then she remembered that she was hearing everything translated. More than likely, the translator just chose a roughly equivalent word, and that was why things sounded familiar.

“Oh, yeah, and the wings.” Serena’s train of thought was interrupted by the last part of Embla’s explanation.

“*Wings?!*” Evidently, Sasha was thinking the same thing, as she sprang up and stared at Embla, prompting her to continue.

“Yeah, valkyries have this whole thing going on with wings. The sirens too, even though they don’t have much use for them.”

“Sirens?” Sasha asked with slightly less excitement.

“Mhm. They’re like-”

“You should not be here.” A sudden voice commanded, interrupting Embla, and Serena looked to its source to see a tall being which, from Embla’s fairly basic description, was a valkyrie.

Embla shrugged in response, “There’s nothing that says I can’t.”

“You are a long way away from your village. If you’re going to return by curfew, you’d need to be faster than ever recorded.” The valkyrie was very imposing - both tall and wide, and their long, whiter-than-white hair fell down to their waist. Their eyes were as pale as both their skin and hair, and they stared Embla down with such a degree of imitation that Serena felt she would immediately implode if they looked at her.

“Good thing you’re here to authorise my absence then, right?” Embla grinned, gesturing to the group around her, “I’m kind of helping some aliens right now.”

“Oh?” The valkyrie observed the group as if they hadn’t noticed anyone but Embla until then. “Visitors. Welcome to our planet, may I ask if there is an occasion for this?”

“Yeah. You might’ve heard of me, I’m Phyrett, fearsome legendary pirate and captain of the Ol’ Carrie!” She announced, “I perfectly plundered your planet plenty of years ago, and I’m now returning the treasure out of the ultimate kindness of my heart.”

“I have never heard of you, but welcome back to our planet. My name is Verdandi.” The valkyrie extended a hand which Phyrett decidedly did not take. Verdandi took no notice, and continued, “Do you want to return to a village, where we might discuss this further?”

“No time, miss... mister... what do you wanna be called?”

“Oh, I forget about that. There is no concept such as that here, and us valkyries do not have a preference for how to be addressed. I suppose the closest in your languages would be neutral.” Verdandi spoke.

“Okay, whatever, point is, we need to do something first. We went through your dumbass forcefield, and our crew ended up split. We’ve found practically everyone we know would’ve been gone, ‘cept Grayss is still missing. Finding her and our ship is what we’re gonna do first, not go to whatever village, ‘kay?” Phyrett growled. Verdandi simply nodded in response.

“Of course. But may I suggest that you rest for now. It’s getting rather late, and sirens are out at night. I will... grant the permission for you to break curfew under business with me, Embla.”

Embla gave a quick thumbs-up, and then turned to the group. “Sirens are what I was going to explain before I got interrupted. They-”

“I can explain those.” Verdandi interrupted, again. “Sirens are the aquatic counterpart to our species. We share an ancestor, but while we prefer to take to the skies, they live deep underwater, and cannot survive far outside of it. Both of us have an ability I assume is uncommon to you; we have a number of chants invoking effects you might call supernatural.”

“They sing and magic stuff happens.” Embla translated, even though Serena had understood what Verdandi had said regardless.

“Sirens also have this ability. Although for the most part, they prefer to use one chant only. This chant is highly dangerous; hearing it draws people to the user and it places them in a memory trance, where the siren can prey on them.”

“A memory trance?” Serena hadn’t heard the term before.

“Any incredibly strong memories, it traps you in a sort of trance in, and forces you to repeat them over and over again. It’s a very effective way to trap people - you’re either experiencing a lot of positive emotion, so you don’t realise you’re trapped, or you’re experiencing so much negative emotion so you’re too hurt to think about it.”

Serena flinched for a moment. Her negative memories didn’t exist. Or at least, she didn’t remember them. And she needed it to stay that way. She didn’t want to know. If one of those things got close to her, the possibility that she would...

“They can only survive in water, though. Although they’re more active at night in general, stay away from there, and you’ll be safe.” Thank god.

“Sleeping’s good. Let’s sleep. Definitely safer to go in the morning.” Serena hastily said, and Sasha nodded.

“Very well.”

Nobody moved. “Are we going to... get beds?” Sasha asked.

“Beds?”

“Where are we gonna sleep?”

“Oh. Here, grass is enough for us.” Verdandi clarified, “However, if you need, I know of a chant which can bring you into REM sleep rather easily.”

“No need! I can sleep easily, anywhere! I’m a pirate, after all.” Phyrett protested, and flopped onto the grass. Within a moment, she was making fake snoring sounds, and was quite obviously not asleep.

“We’ll take the chant, thing.” Serena was still unsure, but she couldn’t see any other way to sleep. “As long as it doesn’t hurt. Or have side effects.”

“Our magic is incredibly concentrated, we make few mistakes and every chant does exactly what it is supposed to.”

“So, are you gonna sing, or?” Sasha asked, and Verdandi responded with a few slow words of something that sounded a bit like Latin, or Greek. Not that the two were relat-

Serena dropped to the ground in sleep.

When Serena awoke, she could no longer feel the wet grass under her. Immediately, she sat up as alert as she could muster, and observed her new surroundings. The ground beneath her was spongy and light brown, like a mushroom, and colourful flowers twice or thrice the size flowers should be connected in between vines and toadstools around her. On a particularly large, spotted toadstool sat a being which Serena had to look over twice to recognise as real. It had a human face, yet it was blue, with six blue eyes, and eight blue human legs jutting out from the end of its torso. But that torso was thick and cylindrical, resembling a caterpillar's much more than a person's. It had two blue arms hanging on the same side of its fat blue body, one of which held a strange, rainbow-patterned net.

Serena attempted to speak, but got stuck between asking where she was, and making a joke, instead blurting out, "Where so blue?"

"I am here, and I am indeed blue." It spoke slowly, and wispily, reminding Serena of something she had seen in a book or a movie. Or a movie based on a book. Or all of the above.

She asked correctly, this time, "Where is 'here'?"

"'Here' is no more here than any other place would be, if you were there." It droned unhelpfully.

Guessing that asking it again wouldn't yield any more answers, she instead pointed to the net it was holding, "What's that?"

"A net, to you. To I, however, it is a Dreamcatcher. It allows me to see the dreams of whomever passes through 'here'."

"You saw my dreams?" Serena instinctively looked away.

The creature's face contorted into a smile, "I shall not tell the girl anything."

"Um, anyway," Serena attempted to change the subject, "if you can't tell me where we are, can you at least say who you are?"

"Ah." The creature's smile contorted again, into an expression which Serena could not name. "That is for you to decide. I take great pleasure in being named by those whose paths cross me. In fact, if you give me a name I have not been given before, it will grant you passage out of 'here'."

Serena began to worry. How many names had it been given? "Can you at least give me some examples of past names you've had?"

"I can."

Silence passed between the two. "... May you?"

"I may give you one. The last to pass through 'here' granted me a single word. Surtr."

Serena realised that asking for previous names wouldn't help her at all, even if she could know more than one. It was easy to guess that 'Caterpillar' and 'Blue' were already taken, but if something like 'Surtr' was too...

"May I ask how many people from Earth have been here before?"

"You may."

Another silence passed between the two, and Serena made a mental note to word her questions more carefully. "How many people from Earth have been here before?"

"Oh... not many. Not for a long time, not 'here." It mused.

At least that meant she had a chance. She just had to pick something unique to Earth, something that only she would know...

"Eiffel 65." She replied, after what felt like forever.

"Oh?" Its expression melted into that of curiosity.

"It's a band from Earth, and they sing a song that, uh, reminds me of you."

"Then... I am Eiffel 65. And I shall be, until we are both no longer 'here'." It announced.

"Won't you still be here when someone else comes along?"

"Of course not. I shall surely be 'there', and, as I promised, you are 'here." It puffed.

"I'm-" As Serena turned to look around her, she became suddenly aware that she was no longer in the strange green area. Under her was only grey rock, and sea was to her left. The bizarre being had disappeared, too, as if it was never there to begin with. "-here."

Elsewhere, Serena woke up. The grass from the previous night was still beneath her, and she noticed Phyrett talking with Verdandi a couple of meters away. As she sat up, seeing Sasha chatting with Embla vanished the reminder of anxieties she had.

Sasha waved her over energetically, and Serena shuffled across to them (it was too early to bother using her legs). The three girls formed a triangle, cross-legged on the grass. "Phyrett says that as soon as we eat what Verdandi got for us, we're heading off to find the rest of the crew." Sasha informed Serena, "We already have the food, but I thought I'd wait until you woke to eat." Sasha pulled out two paper bags from behind her and Embla, labelled 'Wendy's'.

"They have Wendy's in space?" Serena asked skeptically.

"Where don't they have Wendy's?" Embla asked back.

"Britain, for starters."

"Speaking of starters... " Sasha tossed a bag to Serena, "I think yours has prawn crackers."

"They serve prawn crackers at Wendy's?" Embla asked again.

"I wouldn't know, I've never been there." Serena replied. "I didn't know you had been before, Sasha."

"I haven't, it just sounds crunchy."

"Oh."

"What *does* Wendy's serve?" Sasha turned to Embla.

"Light elves are forbidden from entering establishments such as that, but I once snuck out and got a Coke Zero." Embla answered proudly.

"Don't they serve Coke Zero in most places?"

"Yeah, like Wendy's."

"But what is it that you actually eat there?"

"Only one way to find out." Serena cut in, pulling her bag open.

One burger and fries later, and she was thoroughly unimpressed.

"That was just McDonald's but American." She commented.

"Isn't McDonald's American in the first place?" Sasha pointed out.

"Plus, this planet is nowhere near Earth, assuming that’s where America is." Embla also pointed out.

"Americans are not from Earth. Anyway, point is, I thought that space Wendy's would at least have a glowing burger or something alien."

"At least we're eating like this. There are much worse situations you could be in here." Sasha stated.

"True." Serena agreed.

Elsewhere, Serena was in a much worse situation than she had expected herself to be in. There seemed to be nothing but sea in every direction, and beyond that sea was only an endless horizon. Why had that caterpillar dropped her off there? Did it just not care? Probably.

After what would've been enough time to eat a decent meal, although she didn't have that kind of luck, of course, something finally happened. The water which she had been staring at - hoping that something would miraculously change in it - changed. A number of bubbles rose to the surface, along with a sort-of choking sound that she could swear was there, but only half-heard.

To make sure she wasn't imagining it, Serena looked over to the water nearby. Not only were there no bubbles, but it was still, while ripples and - undoubtedly - movement came from beneath where she had been looking. Did that mean there was a pocket? A way back to whatever mainland she was on before?

Without thinking any further, Serena stripped down to her tank top, took a deep breath and jumped in, attempting to move towards the source of the ripples with relative ease. The water on Mytos was clear, and easy to see through even with her hair clinging around her eyes. As she moved down, two figures became clear in the water. Serena would've gasped, if not for the fact that doing so would have instantly drowned her.

To the left was a black-haired humanoid with almost shrivelled wings poking out from their back. They wore no clothes, but the shadows of the water seemed to form a cloak around them. To the right was the unmistakable shape of Grayss. Her eyes were shut, and her breathing was nearly gone, yet her mouth hung open. Serena didn't need any more information; Grayss was being drowned by a siren.

Serena pushed herself in the water to be behind the siren, and then descended as fast as she could without making noise. She grabbed the siren from behind and put a hand over its mouth, using her other hand to flip it around. Before it could react, she drove a knee into its stomach, and it screamed out in pain. Grayss' eyes snapped open, and her mouth snapped shut as she realised what was going on.

Serena swam from the siren to Grayss, whose face was not only turning purple, but already was in majority. Serena put her lips to Grayss' and breathed the rest of her own air before grabbing her hand and swimming upward. Below, the siren was chanting something, and not a moment later ice shot from where it was floating. Grayss flipped out of the way and dragged Serena with her, narrowly avoiding the rapidly-expanding frozen area. She kicked off from a thin layer of ice which had formed under her feet, and the two went up faster. The last few words of a chant floated by Serena, and suddenly the siren was much closer, moving a lot faster. Serena attempted to grab it again, but it moved too fast for her, and had already swam to above the two.

Grayss growled, and the siren growled back. "No air left for you to try and insult me with." It mocked. Grayss flipped it off.

The ice from below grew, and the siren stayed above them, waiting for them to swim right into it. Grayss pushed herself up suddenly, and grabbed it by the shoulders, twisting it downward. Without any time for it to react, she stomped - hard - directly into its stomach. Serena would've gasped if she had any air to, but she didn't, so she instead made a mental note not to anger Grayss under any circumstance. Grayss flipped the siren off again, as if it hadn't gotten the point the first time.

With it twisting from the attack, Grayss and Serena continued to ascend. Everything seemed a lot closer, even though there wasn't anything to be closer. Invisible walls began to close around Serena, wrap around her throat, coil around her lungs. Just as she was about to attempt to get air from somewhere, anywhere, the two broke the surface, and pulled themselves up onto the same grey rock that Serena had first found herself on.

Grayss immediately collapsed onto Serena, and she put her down carefully on the smooth stone.

"I hate those *things*." was the first thing Grayss said after regaining her breath. "They don't even play fair."

"What were they doing to you? A trance?" Serena asked, vaguely remembering what Verdandi had told her.

"They make you relive memories." Grayss winced, "Your worst memories, I think. You think it's happening like it was. You don't remember anything past that point, so you just do the same things. And it repeats. Over, and over, the same decisions you don't regret but you you wish you didn’t have to make in the first place. It's hell."

"I'm sorry." was all Serena could say.

"It's all good. I did what I had to do back then. It was years ago. And that wet *bitch* got what they deserved anyway. I only wish I could finish them off."

The two sat in silence for a while, before Grayss stood up, pointing ahead of the two.

"That way. That's where the crew are."

"How do you know?"

"A good pirate always knows where 'er crew is, ain't that right?" Grayss smiled confidently. Serena smiled back.

As they began walking along the rock, thankfully shallow water covered their feet. "Damn it." Serena cursed, "My jumper’s wet."

"Don't matter. Still looks fine." Grayss replied.

"Thanks."

"Ain't a problem. Oh, and, you didn't hear me speakin' like that, back when us two surfaced."

"Like what?" Serena thought back to then, but there wasn't anything strange about how Grayss talked.

"Exactly."

Later, Serena realised that there wasn't anything strange about how Grayss talked back then.

Elsewhere, Serena had been walking with Phyrett, Sasha, Verdandi, and Embla for what felt like hours. They had crossed from the grassy area to a desert, with the sun beating down on them hard, and the outlines of a village in the distance.

"There are other valkyries in that village. They can rejuvenate us enough to reach the Labyrinth." Verdandi informed the group.

"The what?"

"Labyrinth." Verdandi repeated.

"What's the Labyrinth?" Sasha asked.

"It's a labyrinth. But it has a capital L because it's a special labyrinth."

"What's so special about it?" Serena inquired.

"There's a minotaur." This time Embla answered, "Bull head, humanoid body."

"Is it violent?"

"Well, us light elves are forbidden to enter, so I would assume so."

"But you're forbidden from Wendy's too. Wendy's isn't violent."

"Depends on who you ask."

"The minotaur is very violent." Verdandi finally gave a straight answer, "We used to sacrifice someone to it every month to sate it, but then we realised we could just let stupid people wander into there themselves."

"That's not very nice." Sasha frowned.

"It stops people from being stupid. And keeps the other people from dying."

"Why do you even keep it around?"

"Because it is the only remaining member of its species, so killing it would technically be genocide. Also, it's very violent."

"What's its species?"

"Minotaur."

"But I thought it was called the Minotaur."

"It is."

"Minotaur the minotaur?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Sasha didn't have an answer. She supposed it was fair enough that the minotaur was called Minotaur.

As the village came into view, the valkyries there all turned to the group. Some gave curious looks, while others smiled. Most were flying around, while some walked. Verdandi waved back, while Phyrett scowled.

A valkyrie with brown skin, and short, white hair landed in front of the group. "Welcome, friends! Would it be wrong of me to assume that, by your appearance, you are affiliated with the others we received earlier?" They greeted.

"Others?" Phyrett asked.

"Indeed. They fell out of the sky, with a large ship of theirs. A Zaroffian, two humans, and a Revonnahgander were all they were missing, they said."

"That makes our job a lot easier." Phyrett snorted, "Looks like the Ol' Carrie wasn't hard to miss from wherever everyone else landed."

"A Revonnahgander? Grayss isn't with them still?" Serena questioned worriedly.

"There wasn't a Revonnahgander, no." The valkyrie told them.

"We can look for her after we return the Treasure. That's why we're here." Phyrett ordered.

"The Treasure's... in the Labyrinth?" Serena's worries grew.

"'Course. We got lucky with the Ol' Carrie being here too. It was my plan to go into the Labyrinth, return the Treasure to its centre, and then find them."

"You would've prioritised your Treasure over your own team?" Serena raised an eyebrow.

"There's a time limit, in case you're forgetting. It'd be easier to get the Treasure done, so as soon as we found the crew we could get the hell out of here." Phyrett grunted. Serena supposed that was fair. "We can split up now, anyway. The valkyrie's done their help, so they can go off to wherever. I don't even know why that elf is still here, but it can go to whatever elf place. You two wait out here, I'll go into the Labyrinth."

"You cannot go into there alone. It's dangerous." The other valkyrie pointed at Phyrett.

"I can take it."

"They're right, you know." Serena agreed, "Embla and Verdandi don't need to, but I'm at least going."

"So am I." Sasha joined in, "We'll go together."

"No. That's an order. I'm going alone." Phyrett snarled.

"Who gave you the right to order us around?" Serena snapped.

"I'm the one who abducted you!"

"And you're the one who'll be dead in two months without our help!"

"Silence." Verdandi moved between Serena and Phyrett, "As foreigners on our planet, I formally invoke my right to order both of you to stop talking." Both frowned, but didn't say anything else. Verdandi continued, "The ones entering the Labyrinth will be the foreigners present here, as well as Skuld and I." The other valkyrie - Skuld - stepped forward. "Embla will be returned to her village soon enough, but while I understand that it's your problem, the Labyrinth is far too deadly to enter without the guidance of us experts."

"Fine." Phyrett crossed her arms, but didn't argue.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause an argument." Serena apologised.

"All is forgiven. It has been a long walk, take as much time as you need to rejuvenate, and we will be waiting at the entrance when you are ready." Skuld spoke calmly.

They were right. It had been a long day, and Serena hoped they wouldn't have to walk that far again for a very long time.

Elsewhere, Serena had been walking very far, for a very long time. It had been long since there was any water, but she almost liked it better compared to the oppressive sun of the desert. Grayss insisted that the crew were ahead, but it had been hours and all they had seen was rock, water, and now sand. She wondered if they were going to circle the whole planet before the crew came into sight.

By the time the village came into their sights, the sun had long gone, and the moon was raised over the dark sky. A valkyrie with dark skin and curled, white hair greeted them at the outskirts.

"Have ye seen any aliens 'round here? Like, an angry, green one, and maybe a pink one with blue hair?" Grayss asked.

"Sasha isn't *pink*!" Serena protested.

"And Phyrett isn't just 'green' but it's an easy descriptor."

"Greetings, friends. My name is Urd, and I do indeed know of your friends. Not long ago, they went into the Labyrinth." The valkyrie bowed.

"The what?"

"Labyrinth. It's a dangerous maze, filled with creatures of all manner, but most importantly the Minotaur." Urd frowned.

"Is it vi-" Serena began, but stopped herself, a strange feeling of deja vu coming over her, although this was definitely the first time she had heard of the beast.

"Minotaurs are easy enough, but what d'you mean by other creatures? There better not be any damn sirens." Grayss growled.

"Of course not. sirens can only survive long in water. There are smaller creatures like chupacabras and the like, but the only others you'd need to worry about are the Succubi."

“...Succubi?”

Urd tilted their head, "Succubi are parasitic creatures which can copy a person completely. They're not dangerous if left alone, but in a Labyrinth like that there's quite a few colonies."

"Oh." Serena sighed in relief. She did not want to deal with *another* deadly creature.

"There are incubi too, but there isn't a difference between them any more due to cross-breeding. Regardless, you shouldn't enter without a guide. I'll come with you."

"'s fine. If Phyrett an' Sasha are there, they'd have a guide with them." Grayss insisted.

"I suppose that is true. A guide is not needed, of course, just heavily recommended, as those without guides tend to be eaten."

"By the Minotaur?"

"By the Minotaur."

"Hasn't anyone killed the Minotaur yet?" Serena wondered.

"If one were to do so, they would be charged under genocide."

"Can't you breed it?"

"It does not breed. It eats any breeding partner."

"How did you breed that Minotaur then?"

This time Grayss responded, "Ye see Serena, when a mommy bull and a daddy man love each other very much, they decide to-"

"I'm almost certain that's not how the Minotaur was bred." Serena interrupted Grayss before she could continue.

"The Minotaur predates myself. You would have to ask Minos." Urd explained.

"Minos made the Minotaur?"

"They introduced it, at the least."

"They named a murderous man-bull thing after themself?"

"I believe they were also eaten by it shortly after."

"Then how would we ask them about it?"

"I dunno why'd we ask anyone anythin' anyway. It's not gunna stop bein' a Minotaur just because we know who did the deed to create it." Grayss pointed out, "I think we should just go in, meet up, go out."

"Yeah. Sounds like we're going to run into a lot of trouble there, anyway."

Elsewhere, Serena hadn't run into as much trouble as she had expected in the Labyrinth. It had been around an hour since they met back up and went in, and while they had come across plenty of dead ends and had to backtrack more than a few times, they had, so far, not run into a single soul other than each other.

Apparently, the Minotaur stayed at the centre of the Labyrinth unless it was chasing prey. Phyrett had her sword drawn, Serena had the Solar Bracelet ready, and the two valkyries assured them that if worse came to worst, they could lift the group into the air. The Minotaur couldn't fly.

The walls were tall, chipped, faded yellow stone, and the various cracks looked different enough between walls for Serena to know they were progressing. Eventually, Skuld stopped, and held out a hand for the rest to stop.

"We're near the centre. I'll go ahead and make sure we're not just going to walk into the Minotaur." They told the group. Almost immediately after they turned the corner, they came back around.

"That was fast." Sasha pointed out.

"No Minotaur. Let's go." Skuld stated. Serena felt uneasy. Something was up.

As she continued, it was apparent that she wasn't the only one. Verdandi moved behind them slower as well. But what exactly was wrong?

Almost as a response, another Skuld turned the corner ahead of them, and stared blankly at the group.

"Oh, great." The two Skulds frowned in unison, "I had forgotten to mention the incubi here."

"Incubi?" Sasha asked.

"Parasitic creatures, relatives of Succubi but enough cross-breeding has made the difference non-existent." Verdandi informed the group. "They copy a being perfectly, so that it's impossible to tell the difference."

"I think we should kill both of them, makes things easier." Phyrett supplied.

"I'm pretty sure I know who I am." The Skuld with the group replied, "Just kill that incubus."

"I'm very sure I know who I am as well. You're the incubus." The Skuld who turned the corner retorted.

"Oh, great." Phyrett sighed, "Can we just skip to killing them both?"

"No!" Both shouted.

"You know, saying you're going to see if the Minotaur is up ahead and then returning like, less than a second later is kind of suspicious." Sasha pointed to the Skuld with the group.

"That's what I did! Shouldn't you ask why *they* were so far ahead?!" They snapped.

"To see if the Minotaur was up ahead, obviously." The other Skuld sighed.

"I am this close to just stabbing one of you and getting this over with."

"Shut it, Phyrett." Everyone short of Verdandi ordered.

"Is there any sure way for us to tell?" Sasha turned to Verdandi.

"The incubus gets more agitated the more its existence is doubted." They advised.

"Anyone would get agitated by that!" Both Skulds growled.

"I'm pretty sure the one with us is the fake. Coming back instantly is just incredibly fishy." Serena stated.

"I am *not*!" Skuld hissed.

"Even she agrees that you're the faker." The other Skuld pointed.

"Faker? I think you're the fake Skuld around here." They retorted.

"No, you."

"No, *you*!"

"Quality argument going on here." Phyrett chipped in.

"Shut the hell up!"

“Okay, fake Skuld.”

“Stop calling me fake!” Skuld hissed, jumping at Phyrett. Their arms wrapped around her neck, and she choked out a curse. Her sword plunged into their chest, and they staggered back in pain. Phyrett drew her sword out of them, and then immediately drove it into their neck. They collapsed, and their body burst into brown ash.

“I told you. Stab one of them, problem solved.”

“You provoked them on purpose.” The remaining, real Skuld observed.

“I’m very good at that.”

“Regardless,” Skuld began, “Just around here is where the Minotaur is. It also contains an empty column, which I assume should contain the ‘Treasure’ you speak of.”

“I thought that’d be the case. I have a plan.” Phyrett said proudly.

“Which is?”

“I stab the Minotaur, and then you use your healing chants to stop it from just dying.”

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“Do you have a better one?”

“I do.” Serena’s voice came from behind the group, as the blonde girl came around the corner with Grayss, “But first, I’m pretty sure she’s a succubus.” She pointed at the Serena with the group.

Phyrett threw her sword to the ground angrily, “We were *just* finished with this stupidity!”

Elsewhere, Serena had gone into the Labyrinth with Grayss, and got lucky with most of the twists and turns. She did not expect to see herself in the group. Now she was across from Verdandi, Sasha, Phyrett, a valkyrie she didn’t recognise and a succubus.

“Huh?” The succubus Serena looked in confusion, “When did you find Grayss?”

“I had a strange encounter with this caterpillar thing, and I found her being drowned by a siren. After we got out of there, we’ve been walking for hours. You separated me from the group, and replaced me, but I’m back.” Serena informed her.

“What? I never did anything.”

“I’m not stupid.”

“*I’m* not stupid.”

“I am once again asking whether I can just stab one of you and move on.” Phyrett sighed.

“There’s ain’t any need for this, the real Serena is this one.” Grayss declared, “She saved me from some wet asshole, and she helped me get back to all of y’all. A succubus would’ve killed me already.”

“Succubi don’t kill. They don’t even realise they’ve copied someone, they just believe they’re that person, and act in accordance with that.” Verdandi stated.

“So they’re both Serena?” Sasha commented.

“No, one of us is a succubus. The other is Serena.” The succubus Serena corrected.

“You didn’t say you weren’t the succubus, just them.” Serena pointed out.

“Because if, like Verdandi said, it’s a perfect copy, then I could be, and not know it. You could be too.” The, maybe, succubus answered.

“It can’t be a perfect copy. That’s impossible.”

“So many things have been impossible recently.”

“Let’s find out then. Compare memories.”

“Alright.” Her counterpart stared Serena in the eye, “What did I watch the day before Phyrett abducted us?”

Easy. “Doctor Who Series 5, with Sasha. She fell asleep because she thought 11 was boring.”

“Good. Your turn.”

“What did we call the plushie we used to sleep with?”

The other Serena blinked. “Huh?” She paused, “I never slept with a plushie.”

“Seriously? I’d never forget it. A succubus, on the other hand...”

“I’m not a succubus!” The probably succubus Serena protested, “You’re trying to catch me out with a fake question.”

“You really don’t remember? I had it every night when I lived with mom. I left it behind.”

“I...” The succubus’ eyes glazed over, and her face went white. “Stop. Stop talking now.”

“Don’t want to admit you’re the fake?”

“No. I... ask me another question, any question.”

“I know what happened back then. I know it hurts, but it’s hurt for all my life.”

“I don’t! I know I don’t, because I blocked it out!” The other Serena’s breathing sped up, “I blocked all of that out! I don’t remember it, and I never want to!”

“You don’t remember what our mother did? You don’t remember when she-“

“Please!” She screamed. Serena saw herself fall, saw tears stream down her own face, and it *hurt*.

“I’m. I’m sorry.” She knelt down to where the other Serena had collapsed. “I didn’t mean to... I’m sorry.”

The other Serena’s breathing slowed down, “The bracelet.” She choked.

“Huh?”

“You don’t have it. The Solar Bracelet.”

Serena looked at her wrists. There wasn’t a bracelet. Had there ever been? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“They said it was special.” Sasha gasped from behind her, “The Naljians. Technological gods, and they couldn’t recognise it and they knew it was something special.”

“What did Phyrett give you? What did she steal from the Cursed Planet?” The other Serena asked her.

“I-. She didn’t give me anything.”

“How did you defeat the Opticoids? On Proxima Centauri b?”

“I-I. I just. I...” Pain shot through Serena’s head. She... it hurt to think about it. She couldn’t think about it because...

“It’s uncommon,” Verdandi spoke, “but in cases where one has repressed memories, or amnesia, their succubus was recorded to have retained those memories instead.”

“Retained... but... I can’t remember...” It wasn’t just on Proxima Centauri b, she tried to think about the previous planets she visited, and it just caused pain to surge through her. To force herself to think over the holes, to focus on anything but what wasn’t there.

“I’m sorry, Serena.” The other Serena comforted her. “I can’t imagine how much it hurts. To remember.”

She looked into the eyes of herself, her real self. “I understand now. I’m the...”

“You’re Serena.” Serena told her, “We both are.”

“Huh?”

“You look like Serena, you act like Serena, you’re as cute as Serena. That means you’re Serena, both of you.” Sasha agreed.

She stood up. She was the succubus, but they were right. She was also Serena.

“It doesn’t matter who copied who. A few different memories don’t make a person.” Sasha continued.

“Are we done stating the obvious?” Phyrett interrupted.

“Just a minute ago, you said you wanted to just stab someone and hope you got lucky.” Sasha frowned.

“I said nothing of the sort. I said that I wanted to kill one of them and get it over with.”

“That’s what I said.”

“I didn’t say I wanted to get lucky. I meant it wouldn’t matter which one I stabbed; we’d still be left with one like it started. Didn’t matter which, because they were the same.”

“That was an incredibly poor way to get that message across.” Serena informed her.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Now that all of that is done with,” Skuld began, “I must inform that the Minotaur is only a few turns away from here. Is everyone ready?”

“First, to prevent any confusion.” Serena tapped the Solar Bracelet, being replaced with a small, dark blue, featureless being in the process.

I am Uranus. Please do not bother me, I will make this quick. It spoke directly into Serena’s mind.

“It has somethin’ that can cross that bull without sending it to the locker?” Grayss questioned.

I am not an ‘it’, I am a ‘she’. To answer, I do indeed have a method to incapacitate that primitive life-form. Ten seconds. She wordlessly levitated around the corner, and ten seconds later she was slammed back against the wall, crumpling against the ground. Let me correct my previous statement. More than ten seconds will be needed. Also, run.

What turned the corner was far more intimidating than what Serena expected. The beast was at least ten feet tall, and its legs alone towered over Uranus’ slouched body. The lower half of its body was made of thick muscle, bruised and, in some places, holed. At least a couple of bullet shells were lodged into its calves. A ring of dark brown fur covered its waist, and upward from there the hair only got darker and more tousled as it spread across the creature’s chest and arms. Dried blood was mixed in with most of its chest and arms, and the hooves which were in place of its hands had scratches across their otherwise smooth black skin. Its head was exactly like a bull’s, complete with murderous eyes and a golden ring embedded in its nose.

“That’s... big.” Sasha observed.

“You thought it would be smaller?” Verdandi asked.

“When you said ‘guy with bull head’ I thought it would just be a guy with a bull head. Not a giant angry bull-man thing.”

“We did say it was very violent.”

“Doesn’t it also eat everything?”

“It does.”

“Well, then,” Sasha began, but didn’t really know how to finish.

“Leave it to me.” Phyrett charged forward, and dug her sword into the Minotaur’s thick chest. Before it could react, she kicked off it and drew a gun, firing repeatedly at its legs. The bullets pierced the skin, but almost immediately fell out, as if the skin itself was forcing them out. The sword popped out of its chest as well, clattering to the floor and not even leaving a wound. “Would anyone have liked to have mentioned that it had a regenerative factor at any point before now?”

“You thought it wouldn’t?” Verdandi asked again.

“WHY WOULD IT?”

“It’s been here for thousands of years. Plus, since it eats everyone who comes in here usually, most of us don’t have that much information on it.”

“Who does then?”

“Minos. They were the first to know about it, and bring it here.”

“Where can we find them?”

“Dead.” Grayss replied instead, “I heard about it on the way here.”

“Do I need to ask how they died?”

“Eaten.”

“By the Minotaur?”

“By the Minotaur.” Grayss nodded.

“You are all incredibly lucky there’s a giant beast here for me to take my anger out on.” Phyrett resumed her fire, hitting its legs, chest, and both arms before the gun clicked to signify a lack of ammo. Every bullet popped out, and Phyrett tossed the gun angrily, bouncing it off the Minotaur’s chest. The beast snorted in response.

Grayss began, “Ye should’ve gone for-”

“Finish that sentence and you’re next.” Phyrett warned.

A sudden bolt of electricity came from behind Phyrett, hitting the Minotaur dead in the chest. It stumbled back suddenly, and Serena snapped around to see where the bolt had come from. Skuld stood with their arms outstretched, grinning. Verdandi was next to them, chanting something under their breath.

“All I needed was an opening.”

“If you can at least stun it, I’m going to return the Treasure. There’s no way we’ll be able to get through again if we retreat now.” Before anyone could argue, Phyrett dashed past the Minotaur, and around the corner. The Minotaur shook its head angrily, and charged towards the ground just as Verdandi finished their chant, a beam of pure light coming from their mouth, and consuming the Minotaur’s head, causing it to shake violently in confusion.

“How much longer until your transformation reverts?” Skuld turned to Uranus.

Always ten minutes. No shorter or longer. She replied.

“I’ll fix that then.” Skuld began another chant as Verdandi kept up the row of light, moving in sync with the wild Minotaur. As Skuld stopped, Uranus’ form immediately reverted to the other Serena, who looked over to Skuld in surprise.

“Did you just-”

“I sped up time for you.” Skuld explained, and then immediately began another chant.

“Does that mean you’re ten minutes older than me now?” Serena asked her counterpart, who was picking herself up from the stone floor.

“I think so. It also means I’ve officially time-travelled.” She grinned.

“I’ve always wanted to do that.” Serena moaned.

“Too bad. Also, I’m like your older sister now.”

“Older twin.”

“Same thing. Still means I can do this.” The older Serena suddenly grabbed her, and ruffled her hair aggressively.

“Owowow!” Serena pulled herself away, “That hurt.” Nonetheless, she smiled.

Serena smiled back, “It’s what older siblings do.”

“I’ve always wanted one of those.”

“And now you do. See, I time-travel, and you get a sister - who’s also yourself. We’re even.”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

The moment between the two was interrupted by a roar, making both Serenas aware once again of the very dangerous Minotaur in their presence. Verdandi’s beam of light had dissipated, and they were too busy dodging blows from it to perform another chant.

“Got it.” The older Serena held her Solar Bracelet up, but Skuld frowned.

“Are you sure? If it’s locked to ten minutes, I won’t be able to revert you again.” She took her hand away from the Bracelet.

“*I* got it.” Serena - the Serena without the Bracelet - grinned.

“How?” Sasha asked.

“Just get out of the way.” The group stepped aside, Skuld and Verdandi beginning chants, and Serena ran up to the still-partially-stunned Minotaur, kicking it directly.

“Come on, stupid!” She taunted, and then immediately kicked off into the opposite direction. What an idiotic plan. She doubted it would work, but she took a look over her shoulder, and sure enough it was charging forward. Faster than she had thought. Hastily, she turned herself around a corner, and around another, and around another, in hopes that it would give her some distance. The increased sound of stomping behind her was all she needed to know it hadn’t.

Another turn, and she ended up in a dead end. Although it was more or less what she had intended to do, it wasn’t exactly an ideal situation. As she turned, and saw it rush forward at her, it suddenly bounced backwards a few centimeters from impact. Looking down at her hands, she noticed a thin, golden forcefield around her. The Minotaur rushed again, and once again bounced off, pushing her against the wall, which in turn forced her forward into the Minotaur. Like pinball, but definitely more uncomfortable. (Actually, not really.) After being pushed back to the wall, she instead kicked off directly, bouncing herself above the Minotaur, and landing behind it like a painless basketball. (Again, not really.) The beast turned angrily, but arms wrapped around Serena’s shoulders, and lifted her into the air.

They moved quickly, and Serena looked up to see Verdandi carrying her. The Minotaur gave chased, and swiped repeatedly upwards, just missing Serena each time. As Verdandi began to sing another chant, the forcefield around Serena disappeared, and Verdandi let go, dropping her to the ground and facing the Minotaur themself to release a sheet of thick frost. The beast slowed, stopped, and did not begin to move again.

“Let us go, now.” Verdandi took Serena’s hand and led her back through the turns, soon coming to where the rest of the group were standing.

“What happened to the Minotaur?” The other Serena asked.

“Frozen. They did it.” Serena pointed to Verdandi, who nodded.

“Did you manage to restore the treasure of yours?” They spoke to Phyrett.

“I did. And the worst part of that,” Phyrett panted, “was that the ‘Treasure’ of that Labyrinth was just a ball of yarn. What’s the point of that? Why guard a ball of yarn *that* badly?”

“I suppose we’d have to ask Minos, were they still alive.” Verdandi mused.

“If Minos was still alive, I would kill them again.” Phyrett growled.

“We all would.”

The goodbyes were brief, and before long the two Serenas and Sasha were about to board the re-assembled Ol’ Carrie. The succubus - or, rather, younger - Serena stopped at the edge of the plank.

“I guess we’re saying goodbye too.” She sighed.

“Aren’t you coming? I know it’d be impossible to have you for long, but we could at least find a planet.” Serena asked herself.

“There’s a planet here. I can find a place to live, and who knows, maybe we’ll see each other again sometime.” She smiled.

“Are you sure there isn’t any other reason you’re staying?”

“Not at all.”

“I know how you think, you know. I am you.”

“Then what’s Grayss’ secret?”

“Grayss’- Grayss has a secret?” Serena immediately turned to the Ol’ Carrie, “Grayss, what’s your secret?” She called upwards.

A faint “Piss off!” came from above. When Serena turned back to her younger self, Embla was there with her.

“Meeting you two was certainly an experience.” She giggled, “I’m glad.”

“Yeah. Although hopefully next time we’re here, we’ll all be together from the start.” Serena smiled.

“Time’s up, get on already!” A Phyrett-sounding voice called from behind her, as the plank began to elevate.

“Oh, and one more thing.” Embla called, as Serena stepped fully onto the Ol’ Carrie. The engine began to come to life underneath her, “Are all Earth girls that-” The roar of the engine drowned out the end of Embla’s sentence.

“Huh?” Serena called over the edge hastily, “Wait, what did you say? I couldn’t hear you! Repeat it! Wait-” The Ol’ Carrie shot up, leaving the surface of Mytos behind completely in an instant.

The straw building blended in perfectly with the rest of them in the dark, and its locked door stayed undisturbed, giving no hint that there may be three valkyries inside. Each wore a thick, black hooded cloak, and a single candle light was lit to illuminate them.

The first, Urd, began to speak, “Members of our group, seekers of the truth, I have gathered us here today to discuss the visitors we had today.”

Verdandi responded, “I do not understand what was unusual about them? They were of various species, for sure, but it seemed their actions were not strange, and they left without trouble.”

“Their intentions seem fine as well. I see nothing strange about where they were headed.” Skuld, the third, agreed.

“Their past is fine as well, that is true, but I speak about the object that lay on the Serena girl’s wrist. The succubi could not copy or even remember it.” Urd stated.

“The Naljians could not recognise it.” Verdandi added.

“There is no information of it here.” Skuld finished.

“I have called us here to discuss why any of this is. Why there is an object which defies biology in that human’s midst.”

“The most I have heard are rumours. Rumours that... may encompass that object.” The other two valkyries turned towards Verdandi.

“Which rumours may they be?” Skuld asked.

“If they are ones of the past, I may be able to verify them.” Urd spoke.

“No, they are of the past, but it would be a past long before you would know.” Verdandi replied.

“Oh? Before when?” Urd questioned.

“That is exactly it. The items those rumours concern are before all. The item itself does not seem dangerous, but if those rumours pertain to it, and it was retrieved from somewhere, then its origin may put everything at risk.”

Major Events

 * Serena, Sasha, Grayss and Phyrett visit Mytos.
 * In the past, Grayss is exiled from and willingly leaves Rennovah.
 * Serena is copied by a succubus, and the other Serena chooses to remain on Mytos.
 * The younger Serena retains her repressed memories.
 * The yarn ball is returned.
 * Urd, Verdandi and Skuld meet and discuss the Solar Bracelet, implying it may be in line with ancient rumours.

Minor Events

 * The group meet Embla and the valkyries.
 * Serena meets Eiffel 65.
 * Uranus debuts.
 * It's shown that the Solar Bracelet's timer runs in real time, and can therefore be affected by time manipulation.
 * Serena technically ages ten minutes further than her actual age.

Characters

 * Serena Sefa
 * Other Serena
 * Sasha Thali
 * The Ol' Carrie
 * Phyrett
 * Grayss
 * Embla
 * Valkyries
 * Urd
 * Verdandi
 * Skuld
 * Minos (mentioned)
 * Siren
 * The Minotaur

Avatars Used

 * Uranus (debut)

Trivia

 * This episode counts as the longest break between two episodes thus far, taking 331 days to upload since the last.
 * Mytos is a completely original planet conceptualised and written by Hannah. In case you somehow haven't guessed by now, it's based on various mythology. A lot of it.
 * The Wendy's scene was written without Hannah actually knowing what Wendy's sold, because like the characters mention, there are no Wendy's in Britain and she had never found out about them besides being a restaurant chain. She only Googled it at the end of the scene for authenticity.