Chapter Text
I put down Citrine as I guided her on the roof. “The stars should be visible since the city lights are mostly out,” I told her as I placed my parka down for us to sit. I sat down as she sat in front and leaned back onto me. “This feels strange,”
“How come?”
“With all the things happening. Having to live in JDA for weeks. Now being in the clear to go outside and just watch the stars with my boyfriend feels out of place somehow.” I kissed the top of her forehead, “trust me. Having gone to almost every Danceverse in that span of time is even more bizarre.” I held her hands, “but having this moment alone. Just the two of us. It is a nice change of pace,”
“Yeah. And a welcomed one.”
I pointed towards a particular star in the sky, “that one is bright!” She didn’t reply for a while, before she cupped my face and spoke softly, “from all the stars I see tonight. You are the brightest.” I smiled and felt my face warm up a bit as she pulled me into an awkward kiss. She let out a soft chuckle when we pulled away, “I’m happy that you’re still with us. The Danceverses wouldn’t be the same without you. Maybe a bit literally now.” I pulled her into a hug, “that’s a weird thought to have,”
“Yeah? I’m so lucky to have my shining star having helped kick start this resistance," she turned to face me as she poked my cheeks, “but you’ll always be my sweet cinnamon roll.” I pulled her into a hug, "thank you. I wish nothing but the best for our future and the future of everyone fighting against Night Swan.” We gently touched our noses before she let out a gasp, “Epsilon, look!”
I looked at my concealed charm. It glowed brightly before a star flew out of it. It flew around us, before bumping onto my chest and disappearing into a gentle light. “What was that?”
“A wishing star,” like the one Star Seeker had given Scotty when we first met, “I think the wish I made just got granted.” I looked up at the sky before looking at her. “Does this mean your wish will come true?”
“No. But I sure hope so.”
It was then that I let out a gasp as I got an idea, “maybe after all of this is done, we can go watch a movie together. Just the two of us. Spending some casual time with another.” She let out a sweet giggle, “I would love nothing more,”
“Well I can get you nothing if that’s what you want.” She softly chuckled before kissing me on the cheek, “Epsilon be serious,”
“I just got done being super serious. I need to be more playful for a while.” We both laughed as I pulled her into a kiss, “love you,”
“Love you too.”
***
We sat close by the side of Mia's bed. An oxygen mask was placed over her mouth and nose. Apparently her blood oxygen levels were extremely low. And it was only her that had that happen. Was there a different type of transformation she had gone through? Was that why Niki was breathing so heavily after we saved her? Was Night Swan specifically targeting them?
“Good thing you had gotten her to me when you did. It could have ended up fatal,” Cal told me as he snapped me out of thought. “Will she be okay?”
“Yeah. This machine should be enough. But if we need to, we can take her to Wasterra since it's reportedly safe there,”
“I sure hope that won’t be required,”
“You won’t have to worry. I am not running out of supplies anytime sooner or later."
“I know I don’t have anything to worry about. I know she’s in good hands. I’d be surprised if you didn’t get your nursing qualifications by the end of this.” He let out a chuckle, “thank you.”
Citrine got up to get closer to Mia before looking over at me, “when you have to leave. We will all help take care of her. Both your sisters in fact.” I was taken aback a bit, “you guys are fine with me leaving?”
“Yeah. Thanks to you guys, Luz Solar is available to everyone again. We have more hope in fighting back now that we know there is a group fighting for everyone.” Cal nodded in agreement, “Just seeing my baby cousin has given me more reason to fight on. And now that Brezziana is here, I’m sure we can start a strong resistance. And it’s all thanks to you for trying in the first place.”
I smiled as I felt tears rolling down my face, “you guys… You have no idea how much that means to me.” Citrine cupped my face, “we know perfectly well how much that means to you.” She pulled me into a hug as I felt Cal awkwardly put his hand on my shoulder, “you're going to be amazing and we all know it.” He forced a smile before I hugged him as well, “thank you Mr. Awkward,”
“I’m not that awkward!”
“Debatable,” Citrine cheekily added as we all laughed.
“What’s happening?” I heard Mia ask. “Mia!” I yelled out as she started trying to lift herself up from her bed. Cal ran over and placed a hand on her shoulder before gently guiding her down, “you still need to lay down a while longer. Least you faint from a dizzy spell.” She looked over at me before her eyes widened, “Epsilon? What’s happening?”
I practically felt a dagger go through my heart. She respects my name…
I looked around while moving my arms and tried to think of what to say. “You had been corrupted by Night Swan… We were able to save you and he was able to put you on oxygen,” I told her while pointing at Cal. “Hey, I only did her vitals and such. You and your crew are the ones that did the rescuing,” he told us as Mia looked around confused. “Where’s Niki? Is Umbra okay?”
“Niki is fine. I can’t say much about Umbra…”
“Oh. That’s okay. I’m sure he’s doing fine in Cyberfunk with…” she seemed to drift asleep before finishing her sentence.
“Mia woke up?” Polo asked as the other two checked to make sure she’s okay. “Y-yeah. She had woken up before falling asleep.” He raised both his eyebrows, “wow, both your sisters are okay? You are one lucky dumbass.” I snickered a bit, “that’s sure one way of putting it.” We both laughed before he started, “by the way. Epsilon, I had been meaning to ask you something,”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Had you seen Ruben anywhere?”
I felt my smile quickly fade as I looked towards the ground, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t save him…” I held onto my arms as I fought back tears, “if only I had told him about my abilities beforehand. Maybe he wouldn’t have been turned. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry.” Polo hugged me, “hey hey. It’s not your fault. None of this should have happened in the first place. As happy as I would be to see Ruben back, I’m glad you didn’t get corrupted since you have such a large target on your back.” I hugged him back tightly, “thank you. I wish I could have saved him.”
He will be okay. I will make sure of it!
I heard someone knock on the door before looking over to see Niki standing there. She walked closer as I held onto one of my arms. Polo awkwardly stood there as he looked between us.
“I wanted to apologize-“
“I’ve been meaning to tell you-“
We both looked at each other before I gestured for her to continue, “ladies first.” She rolled her eyes before speaking, “Epsilon… I’m sorry for what I had said. And for not using your chosen name. And I’m sorry for retriggering any trauma and for having taken part in any of it in the first place. I’m sorry for worsening your meltdowns and causing you to feel like you don’t belong anymore. Even if I was pressured too by our parents, it doesn’t excuse the hurt I clearly caused. I know you won’t forgive any of us yet, nor do I expect you to. But, maybe one day.” I nodded, “yeah… maybe one day.” I took a long sigh before starting, “I’m sorry for ignoring you and blowing up at you. Anytime I think of family, I go into fight or flight. But you were right. We were all affected in some way by our ‘parents’. I shouldn’t have treated or said those things to you.”
I opened my arms as we awkwardly hugged by only having our sides touch. I patted her head for good measure. “Wow. If I didn’t know you guys, I would have thought that you were strangers being forced to hug. Not brother and sister,” Polo sarcastically stated. “Your parents didn’t drive a wedge between you and Grace like ours did with everybody in our family!”
“Hey I was just joking! I didn’t mean it genuinely.” He paused before his eyes lit up, “I might be able to see Grace!”
“You!” Niki said out of the blue while pointing at Polo, “what did you do to my brother to make him curse like he does?!” Polo seemed extremely confused before I stepped in and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “He’s done nothing. But she’s done many things to make me curse out loud,” I told her while pointing at Citrine, “I would share, but I’m sure she wouldn’t like me talking about such intimate activities with someone else.” She recoiled in disgust, “eww Epsilon, why would you say that?!”
She quickly walked away as Polo looked at me weirdly, “dude, you serious?” I shook my head, “of course not. I lied to make her get off your ass because she thinks you’re the reason I curse now,”
“But that was still a weird thing to say to your sister of all people,”
“Our parents said weirder things about me to everyone when I told them I was dating Citrine. That was tame.” He raised his eyebrows in concern, “every time I think they couldn’t get lower, they somehow manage to find a way to get below hell.”
“What happened?” Citrus asked, confusion evident on her features. I just chuckled, “it’s nothing. Just making sure Niki doesn’t bother Polo too much.” I held her by the hands, “is Mia okay?”
“Sure. Just, fast asleep. She must have been exhausted!”
“I can imagine.”
“Epsilon. Are you going to be leaving soon?” I looked over to see Eliott walking in with Unai by his side, “we just wanted to make sure to have a more proper send off this time around.” I smiled as I opened my arms and looked around, “group hug?”
“Group hug!” Citrine raised her arms before squeezing me, “yeah!” Everyone joined us as we all hugged.
“Epsilon, you ready?” I heard Clementine ask me. I nodded, “Yeah. I’m ready.” Everyone let go of me as I looked over at Mia. “See you again Mia,” I told her, fully knowing she wouldn’t hear me. But it’s the thought that counts. Right?
Clementine gestured to me to follow her. All my friends followed us as people made way for us. “We’re going to miss you. But we all believe in you,” Eliott told me. “Go kick ass,” Unai chimed in, “we know you’re fully capable of doing so.” Everyone cheered us on as Clementine looked back at us, “didn’t know Dancity and Cyberfunk were this similar in how everyone treats departures.”
I felt myself smile before noticing Scotty with Lumen, Lilas and a group of three students. “I am so excited to come back to Dancity when I’m able to!” he told them. “Same! We will be counting the days till then,” the one with colorful fluffy gear told him. Lumen looked over at us before signing, “there’s your crew.”
Scotty looked over at us and smiled, “just a moment!” He raised his hands up before giving everyone a high five, “see you guys next time!” He ran up to us before jumping onto Cal, “I’m glad I was able to see you again!” Cal let out a chuckle, “same ButterScott. Same.”
Jack and Brezziana walked over to us before Lilas handed Clementine a box, “can you give this to Star Seeker? Tell them it’s from me and that I hope they’re doing okay.” Clementine nodded before looking over at me, “wanna do the honors? We are in your Danceverse after all."
I flapped my hands a bit, “of course!” I pulled out my charm as I opened a portal. “Good luck!” Polo yelled out as we started walking through with Brezziana in tow. “Hope we will see each other again,” I heard Niki say as I saw her standing in the crowd. “Good bye! See you again!” Citrine yelled out. I paused in my tracks before quickly going back to kiss Citrine, “I will miss you. All of you!”
And with that, I ran through and waved as everyone waved back. I closed the portal. Feeling more hope for the future of the Danceverses than I ever had. We will kickass. And I know it!