Are You Even Human 68. Thinking Is What I Do

"You t my folks, right Jules?" Lia asks, smirking when I scowl at the nickna. "They're both total cunts, aren't they?"

"They certainly aren't the kind of people I'd want to hang out with for fun," I agree. "Also, I'm pretty sure they're cri lords?"

"Oh yeah, totally," Lia nods. "Damn, okay, you already know my big killer reveal then. But yeah, they basically brought into this world to make themselves look more respectable, and that didn't fuckin' work because I'm . I'm not even sure the two of them like each other, but they definitely hate my guts, and the feeling's pretty mutual. Still, it wasn't like I could just disobey them willy-nilly."

"Because they're cri lords?" Emily asks.

"Because they're my parents," Lia answers. "If I pissed them off too much, they'd trap in the house and hire a tutor to correct my manners like I'm a fucking French princess, not murder . But, y'know. I'd probably rather they murder ."

"Naturally," Emily deadpans, and Lia laughs.

"You've gotten feistier while I was away!" she says with a grin. "Or, well. You're not trying to hide as much, I guess. That demure side of you that you always tried to show was adorable, but what really made fall for you was the nasty guts underneath. I wish I could hide like you did, just wrap it all up and shove it behind a mask. But I was never good at it. I'm an asshole through and through."

"Why are you telling us this?" I ask.

"Well sobody's gotta write my epitaph. Hell if I'm gonna let being dead give people an excuse to forget ," Lia says. "God. We just had to go back to your birthday party, didn't we? You couldn't just let Emily and go on a bitchass fondue date and chug molten cheese while the rest of you fuckers all died."

"Sorry, Lia," I say, not aning a word of it. "Apparently I'm important to saving the world or sothing."

"What good is a world without in it?" Lia asks. "Betcha didn't think about that, did you, dumbass?"

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I made the na 'Lia Morgan' quite famous. I doubt people will be forgetting it any ti soon," I assure her.

"Bah. It doesn't count if it's all stuff you did," she says. "Though I guess I still appreciate it. Thanks, Jules."

"I didn't do it for you," I snap.

"I'd be mad if you did!" she fires back. "You bone anybody in my body yet?"

"What the hell? No!" I scowl. "What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you? You got perfection, and you let it go to waste? Fucked up of you, Jules. Or… not fucked up enough? Whatever."

"Why is everyone around always so obsessed with sex?" I groan.

"Uh, 'cuz we're human? Missed the mo on that one, did ya?" Lia says.

"No, it's definitely not that," I say. "The horniest person I know is a goddamn Angel."

"That's incredible," Lia says. "Shit. Can I et 'em? I get to stick around until all of you leave, right?"

"At which point you imdiately die again, yeah," Emily says. "Or stop existing, or whatever. We need to be present in the radius of the Queen's power in order for you to be manifested here."

"Better make the most of our ti, then," Lia says. "So you know about the cri stuff. Do you know about the supercri stuff?"

"The Defenders of Nothing?" I say. "Yeah, we're sowhat acquainted. Your parents basically run a smuggling ring for powered individuals who don't want to work in the military, right?"

"Yup," Lia nods. "My parents are hugely anti-draft. Admittedly because they're fuckin' libertarians, but still. While they use that smuggling ring to help recruit superpowers into their criminal empire, it's also just legit. They give people a pretty hard sell, but they let people walk if they wanna. Not all powers are useful to them, anyway."

"What do they do with their criminal empire?" I ask. "What do they need all those supers for?"

"Fuck if I know," Lia admits. "But they've got so massive heavy hitters. Real serious shit. I wouldn't be surprised if they're gearing up to take on Queens themselves. Beat the military at their own job. But that's just a guess based on what I know of their personalities, not sothing I've overheard at the dinner table or whatevs."

"Noted," I say. "I guess all this explains why Emily was so confident she could get out of the draft through you."

"Well, that and the powers she apparently has," Lia says. "I an, I had my suspicions, but yeesh. Precognition. My parents would go absolutely feral over you. You should've told 'em! They'd never complain about you again."

"Telling them was not a good idea, according to said power," Emily says. "Probably because your parents would get obsessed with . Whatever their plans happen to be, they aren't safe."

"Yeah, that sounds like them," Lia sighs. "Well, I guess you already know most of the big important stuff. I guess just look out for the guy who absorbs people."

"…The what?" I ask.

"The guy who absorbs people. You know, absorbs guy," Lia clarifies helpfully. "Guy absorber guy. The guy who absorbs people."

"What does that an?" I press.

"He's one of my folks' employees or bodyguards or weird criminal sugar babies or whatever the fuck," Lia says. "Slurps people up like hot taffy. Only saw it once, but it's super gross."

I glance at Emily, who gives a helpless, confused shrug. So she's never heard of this before? I know I haven't. Which ans that if 'absorbs guy' actually exists, we have confirmation this fake Lia has at least so access to real Lia's mories. Which is… terrifying!

Especially since there's no reasonable way to confirm that information without leaving first!

"Ow," Lia winces. "Can you stop freaking out over my impending death? It's giving a migraine."

Oh fuck.

"Ow! Okay, seriously, Jesus. Let's change the subject," Lia groans. "Is Peter around? I kinda wanna ss with him. That'll be fun, right? You both like getting to show you're smarter than other people."

Hate that. Hate this. But! I guess I need to figure out a way to enjoy it anyway! Thanks, Bliss, you insane bitch of a god!

"Sure," I agree.

"…Yeah, why not?" Emily sighs. "May as well introduce you to the gang. I know you'll be oh-so-reassured in the afterlife to know I'm doing well without you."

"You kidding?" Lia smirks. "I'll be jealous as hell. Maybe co back to haunt you. …Again, I guess."

"Uh, should we not, then?" Emily tries, and Lia just laughs, standing up and holding out a hand to help Emily up as well. Emily accepts it, and Lia imdiately pulls her up into a kiss. I awkwardly look away as my sister makes out with my most-used body, though the embrace is thankfully brief.

"Let's go," Lia declares. "Introduce to your loser friends."

"O-okay," Emily says, looking a little overwheld. Which… geez, yeah. On the way over here she said she wasn't even sure if she was gay or not, so the sudden intimacy after that particular revelation probably wasn't super comfortable. …Though on the other hand, Lia doesn't look like she's in pain, so maybe it was pretty comfortable after all.

"Oh yeah, should probably start with this," Lia says. "What's with the tiny hot chick floating around your head, Jules? You said you didn't get any action, so I thought I might have been imagining it."

"…This is Pink," I say. "You can also call her Maria."

"Hi," Pink says. "My power splits into a bunch of multicolored fairies. I'm one of them."

"Freaky! I like it," Lia nods. "Man, I wish I had gotten powers. Wouldn't that have been sick? But instead I died like a bitch. Once a bitch, always a bitch, I guess."

She says it all so cheerfully, but unlike the disturbing faux-reassurance of the fake Pink, it still feels believably Lia. She really is the type of person who would laugh at her own grueso death. She was always the type of person who, despite seeming to have everything, never really had anything at all. What's death to a girl with nothing to lose?

It's funny how only now, long after she's gone, do I start considering things like this. Do I realize how wrong I was about her. Or… no. I'm being too harsh on myself there. Lia really was every bit the asshole I thought she was. So much of my life had beco centered around dealing with her that I never thought much or cared much about why she acted that way. And besides, even if I had, it's not like I could have played therapist for her. She didn't respect enough for sothing like that, and I didn't have any good way to gain her respect.

Still, it reminds of the conversation I just had with Pink. I keep handling people like problems. Like charges. As if they're things to be solved first and complex individuals second. And… well, it's not like I don't care about people as people. I do. And everything I do, it's to try and do the right thing. To be kind to others. To help them. To give them what they need. In so cases, that works perfectly. I end up helping people a lot. But… it's not an approach that's without flaw.

If I had cared to look past the obstacles she kept putting in my way, could I have helped Lia, too?

"No," Lia says. "You couldn't have. Now seriously, quit overthinking everything! I've got what, maybe six hours until I die again? Let's do sothing fun."

…Is this Bliss power reading my mind, or did I just accidentally say that into the network?

"I said stop!"

"I'm trying!" I snap. "Thinking is what I do! I don't know how to just stop!"

"I usually smoke weed," Lia answers, which… isn't helpful!

"I feel like imbibing mind-altering substances while inside a domain that automatically grants you everything you think you want is a recipe for disaster," I say.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you're still a killjoy, given the main thing that happened between now and the last ti we t is that the Army tried to shove a second stick up your ass," Lia sighs. "Can you stop looking like ?"

I shrug and replace the skin on my face with crystalline scales, adjusting so of the minor details of eye, nose, and mouth shape to appear mostly like a different girl.

"Okay that's freaky, just go back to being ," Lia says.

"No," I respond, because if I don't she'll keep making demands until I do.

"Bah. Never any fun. Make yourself shorter."

Okay. I guess she's going to keep making demands anyway. But it's no real issue for , so I go ahead and drop a whole foot in height, upping my pace to keep the sa speed on shorter legs.

"Grow more arms!"

I oblige, stretching a second pair of shoulders as I form them into existence. It's a design I've experinted with before, of course, given the significant utility it can provide, but coordinating twice as many arms is sothing I've needed to learn manually. There aren't any brains with prior experience using four human-like hands at once I can steal experience from. Of course, now I don't really carry stuff around, but I still think the idea has so rit. The real question was deciding how to place the extra pair of shoulders and, by extension, the entire extra set of muscle groups and bones needed to attach the arms to the torso, which I've almost completely redesigned every ti I've attempted the body.

If the arm pairs are directly above one another, they run into a bit of awkwardness while at rest, as the top pair can't comfortably hang at my sides without bumping into the protruding lower pair. If the shoulders rest one behind the other at the sa elevation, however, the front pair significantly interferes with the range of motion for the back pair (though less so for the other way around; arms aren't designed to be very good at moving back that way). The third option is to have the shoulders diagonally oriented with each other, the second pair below and behind the first. This solves most of the range-of-motion issues and lets both pairs of arms hang comfortably, but it has the disadvantage of making the upper torso very bulky and generally more inhuman-shaped than the other two, and I was trying to get the design refined to a point where it wouldn't disturb people any more than necessary.

Ultimately, I settled on the one-over-the-other design. It necessitates a slight elongation of the torso, so it sets off uncanny valley sensors a bit more than the one in front, one behind style, but ultimately the practical downside (inconvenient resting state) is the least impactful and completely negated by my powers, since I can just grow or remove the arms at will.

Sowhat satisfied by the design, I give Lia a thumbs-up with one of the new limbs. She lets out an impressed whistle.

"Wow, nice. Now grow more boobs!"

"No," I say.

"Bah! Okay, uh… what's your favorite kind of tail?"

"It depends," I answer. "Different tails exist for different reasons. For a lot of bodies they help with balance, but those aren't usually necessary. Prehensile tails would be fine, but that's basically just having a tentacle co out of my butt which is, frankly, not the most useful place for a tentacle."

"Agree to disagree," Lia says, which I choose to ignore.

"…So I guess I'd say my favorite type of tail is the type used for locomotion," I conclude. "Swimming is relaxing and fun, and properly-constructed tails are one of the most efficient and satisfying thods of it."

"You more of a side-to-side swimr or an up-and-down swimr?" Lia asks.

"Neither is intrinsically superior to the other," I answer. "It's all relative underwater, after all. Marine mammals just evolved to kick up and down because mammal spines flex up and down more naturally than side to side, and fish went the other way pretty much by the sa chance."

I feel Pink land on my shoulder, lying down on her front and facing , elbows digging into my collarbone and chin propped on her hands. Her feet kick idly behind her as she grins at .

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing," she lies. "Go on."

"Uh… okay, well, notably the tails of seals and walruses and whatnot are actually fused-together hindlimbs, not true tails, so that's why they only bend the one way. That's not the case for whales and the like, though. It's the sa basic idea but perford two completely different ways."

"Wow you are a nerd," Lia says. "What about snakes? You do any slithering, ya freaky fallen Angel?"

"Not on land," I admit. "I never really tried."

"Well then try it!" Lia says. "Get that long belly in the dirt!"

She pokes at the fleshy ground with her foot.

"…taphorical dirt," she clarifies.

"I'm surprised you know what a taphor is," I admit, trying to work out the best way to do that. I could just shrink down to the size of a normal snake, but that would displace Pink, so I don't want to. Instead, I should try to scale up snake biology in a way that still works at human-level size. Heh. 'Scale' up snake biology.

"What's the holdup?" Lia asks.

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"I'm thinking," I answer. "I haven't theorized about a body like this before because it would be wildly suboptimal."

"Have you never considered doing sothing that isn't optimal just because it'd be cool?" Lia asks.

"Optimal things are cool," I insist.

"Pfft. Okay. Optimize your dumb snake butt, then," Lia snorts.

"Aren't you the one who wanted this?" I protest.

"Hmm? Oh yeah," Lia smirks. "For sure."

"Anyway, I don't know if I can really optimize this," I say. "Snakes are shaped the way they are to invade burrows, and so of them incidentally beca good enough at climbing trees that they got pretty big. The body shape is useful for many things, but almost all of them revolve around the snake being much thinner than a human. Even if I get the hybrid brain right and retain full instinct on how to actually move around, I'm not a hundred percent confident it would still work after running headfirst into the square-cube law. So… I guess we'll just have to experint and refine."

"Who's 'we?'" Emily asks.

"I an , but it's polite to act like other people are included when you think out loud," I answer.

"This might be the most Julietta conversation I've ever had, and that's a close race," Pink says.

"Sorry?" I frown.

"Nah, it's a good thing," she answers. "I love you, rember?"

Oh. Hmm. Right. Uh… well okay then.

Not knowing what to say to that, I decide to just attempt my first draft, elongating my spine into a thick tail that should be able to hold my weight when I remove my legs, which I do presently. It's a jarring transition, even as I reorganize my brain's movent centers to incorporate snake neural tissue. Unlike my usual predilection for crystalline scales, I do actually use enlarged reptilian scales for my body because the snake's ventral scales in particular actually perform an important role in their unique locomotion thod. Which, when I try it… does actually seem to work.

"Huh," I say, feeling out the odd sensation of my body twisting and pressing against the ground, each curve of my tail acting as a pressure point to push forward while the majority of my body lifts slightly to reduce friction everywhere I don't want to apply force. The entire setup conga-lines down the length of my body, constantly replaced by new curves and new points of pressure as old ones migrate to the tip of my tail.

"Well hot damn, look at you go," Lia comnts as we… as she walks and I slither. Threading her fingers behind her head, that shit-eating grin of hers remains ever pointed in my direction. "You've co a long way from stealing my skin entirely by accident."

"It's interesting," I admit. "I stand by it not being an efficient form of movent and my size reducing most of the advantages it does bestow, but it's honestly working a lot better than I thought it would."

It's kind of… ditative, almost? Maybe it wouldn't be if I ever got used to it, but feeling the force of the slither endlessly migrate down the length of my body, always replaced by more points of contact before it ends, is the sort of background physical sensation that manages to be more relaxing than distracting. I've thought about it before lately, but I really am glad I've managed to grow used to working nerve endings, at least sowhat. This all isn't so bad.

Perhaps even more satisfyingly, Lia takes this mont to stop peppering with annoying requests, so I actually have ti to appreciate it. As is my habit, I continue making micro-refinents as we travel, adjusting muscular density and looking for ways to lighten my torso, since it's impossible to not put nearly the full weight of my upper body directly into the ground due to how I'm keeping it raised up in the air. I can definitely feel why snakes don't normally move around with their heads lifted several feet off the ground; even with the added difficulty, though, it all still works.

It's certainly a less efficient way to move than just walking on two legs, but that's almost entirely due to the fact that having a snake tail long and thick enough to support a human torso makes my body like, five tis as heavy as it used to be, and all those added cells and all that added muscle require energy to run. It's also surprisingly quiet, despite my size, so it might be useful for moving stealthily… though if I'm being honest, probably not. It's not as though humans can't learn to walk quietly on normal legs, and any stealth needs I have can usually be solved by simply becoming very small.

I wonder why I'm thinking about this so much. If I had any need for a body with attributes or skills I don't already have a design for, I would have made a design for it. The fact that I haven't experinted with serpentine forms is, itself, evidence that I never had any real need to. Making a body first and trying to find a use for it second is kind of backwards, isn't it?

"Are you overthinking things again?" Lia asks.

"I am doing a normal and healthy amount of thinking, which just happens to be a lot," I answer. "Thinking is good for you. You should try it."

"Not thinking is also good for you sotis," Lia says.

"Definitely not most of the ti," I insist.

"Sure," Lia allows, "but definitely sotis."

Why is she pressing on this so much? It's like… oh. Oh, I get it.

"…The power animating you is pushing you to do this, isn't it?" I ask. "You're trying to get to relax."

"A terrible cri, I know," Lia rolls her eyes. "But yeah, you caught . What of it? Didn't you agree to 'venerate Bliss' while you were here or whatever? You have to have at least a little fun, or you'll be breaching your contract. I assu that's not sothing you want to do?"

That's… true. Hrm.

"You could have just told ," I protest.

"No I can't!" Lia snaps. "If you knew I was trying to help you enjoy sothing, you'd fight over it the whole damn ti! God, this is why I always hated you. You're such a stick in the mud you've made it into an art form. A boring, terrible art form that my mom would buy for a million bucks to prove how cultured she is."

"Oh my god, enough!" I snap. "Enough! It's one thing if my council does it. It's one thing if my girlfriend does it! They have the right. But I will not just sit here and take another round of 'bash Julietta ti' from you, of all people! You don't know what my life has been like, you don't know what I've had to do, and you don't give a fuck, so you don't get to insult it. You don't get to criticize like you have any right to tell what is and isn't good for ."

I slap my tail against the ground for emphasis, pointing a finger in her face to force her to pay attention.

"I have a family to protect, I have people to help, and I have an entire world to try and save. I do not have ti for fun, and it is not another character flaw for to be able to recognize that! If everyone just indulged in hedonism all the ti, we wouldn't have enough of a society for people to even consider doing that in the first place! So of us have to learn to put aside what we feel like doing and learn to take care of all the shit no one likes. I don't need so spoiled rich asshole who acts like her daddy and mommy issues let her understand what it's like to have a hard life try to tell I'm the one with a problem here. Shut the fuck up."

Aaaaaagh god damnit! I regret every word as soon as it leaves my mouth, but I just couldn't manage to stop myself until the end. It's just been one thing after the other, though! I know I'm not a perfect person, but all things considered, I feel like I've done pretty damn good for a person in my position, haven't I? I've helped a lot of people. I've saved a lot of people! I have my flaws, but I was pretty tired of people constantly ribbing about them before a girl I hate literally ca back from the dead to pressure on it even more.

"Sorry," Pink says, breaking the silence, which… no! Agh! This is exactly what I didn't want! "I didn't an to—"

"Stop," I cut her off, which is really rude and probably counter to the point I'm trying to make but hey, let's just make more conversational mistakes, I'm sure that'll solve the problem. "It's fine. I specifically said it was fine. As my partner, you are in a privileged position in regards to being able to speak your mind about , to , at any ti. If any mber of a relationship is scared to bring up criticism of their partner, it's basically the biggest flag of an unhealthy dynamic there is. If you do upset , it's my job to respond maturely."

I thrust my finger at Lia again.

"But not her," I say. "She can go fuck herself."

"Wouldn't be the worst way to spend my last few hours alive," Lia comnts.

"Is that really all you have to say?" I growl.

"You being mad at is making it actively hard for to, like, exist," Lia answers. "I've gotta figure out how to lighten the mood sohow, and that's never been my strong suit."

I… damn it. Damn it! Right. I need to calm down. There's always soone whose problems are bigger than mine. It's just annoying that this ti the person happens to be Lia. I take a deep breath to center myself before speaking again.

"Alright, fine," I manage. "I'll follow your lead, and we can do sothing fun."

"Great! Aweso," Lia says, visibly relaxing. I'm annoyed at myself for not noticing she was that tense. "For now, you just go back to slithering or whatever. That seed to be doing wonders for you. And then, uh, I dunno, we'll talk to your other friends."

"Sure," I agree curtly, taking another breath and trying to get back into that ditative mindset I was in before, where just the simple act of moving was at least mildly enjoyable. After my big blowup, though, it doesn't feel all that feasible. My head is still churning with frustrations that have no real outlet, forcing to try and wrangle them to the ground entirely in the isolation of my own head.

"…Wanna try just going wild with it?" Pink suddenly asks.

"Huh?" I blink, turning my head to glance at her.

"Well, you seed to be having fun doing things with your powers," Pink says. "So… let's keep doing things with your powers! Try out other stuff that wasn't really 'optimal' but caught your interest. Or, y'know, if there's potentially optimal stuff you simply haven't had ti to investigate, now's the best ti for that!"

That's… basically what Lia was trying to manipulate into doing, but I guess if Pink thinks it's a good idea I can give it another shot. I don't really know what to turn into, though. I've gotten pretty damn good with my powers, and unlike back when I was still in military training I don't usually need more than a few quick attempts to get a working version of whatever idea I happen to co up with. Can those ideas be refined and improved? Of course, almost always. But they work, and that's usually more than enough for given how glutted my flesh reserves have gotten. I can afford to be less than perfect with the sheer, raw biomass I have backing up.

But… that was just a secondary suggestion. Pink's initial request was to 'go wild with it,' and… I'm not really good at that sort of thing? I don't even know what it ans most of the ti. But I think it basically ans 'do whatever you feel like,' and right now I feel like screaming and ranting about the general unfairness of the world, which would obviously be stupid, unproductive, and unpleasant for everyone involved. It would be nice if I had another way to externalize those emotions and get the dumb things out of my head already.

…Hmm.

"Go wild with it, huh?" I muse, and there must be sothing in my tone of voice because Emily takes a visible step back. Heh. She always knew best.

"Sure, if you want to!" Pink encourages.

"Well, if you think it's a good idea… sure," I agree, at which point my body slumps over, completely brain dead.

I normally quite prefer to have a brain. It can be pretty hard to think without one, after all. But fuck it, right? When in Ro. And there is a body type that's entirely optimal to use without any brain whatsoever, except for a rudintary sensory cortex that I can link up with my dozens of eyes.

As my body falls, it expands, tendrils of flesh lashing out in every direction as any semblance of coherent biology gets pushed aside in favor of raw power over organic material. The act of shaping skin and bone replaces any need for muscles to move, the act of manually powering and managing my own cells overcos any utility served by blood. My frustration and my body pour in every direction, thrashing against the ground as the explosion of flesh silently voices my urge to scream.

It is, I suppose I should admit, rather therapeutic.

Vaguely aware that Pink is still latched onto what used to be my shoulder, now hanging on rather desperately instead of lounging like she was before, I shoot forward, flowing like a flooded river across the back of the Bliss Queen, barely resisting my urge to scoop up her flesh along with my own as I rapidly unform the parts of my body that would otherwise be left behind, instead growing new flesh ahead of in its place.

It's not my fastest way to travel. It's not my most efficient way to travel. But it is my most freeing way to travel, unbound by form, untethered to propriety. I don't have to walk or run or swim or fly. I can simply move. And this, sohow, feels more natural to than anything else. There's no futzing about with complicated systems and intricate patterns of motion and balance. There is only will, and direction, devoid of any barriers between the two.

Not even the flesh I use to fill the gaps particularly matters. I can extend forward a tide of pallid, bloodless skin. I can grow a writhing snake-pit of fleshless bones, spines extending vertebrae by vertebrae as they twist and tangle over one another. I can create fully-functional limbs, grasping hands and thrashing legs, used not for their function but rely for their length as they are overtaken and re-consud by my traveling domain. It doesn't matter. I am free.

I love my powers, I realize. It's been a long journey to get here. I've resented them for so many things, from what they've taken from to what they've forced upon . But looking back now, I can't imagine wishing Possibility had given anything else. I love collecting new kinds of biology to add to my repertoire. I love designing complex forms to improve myself at various tasks. I love getting to choose how I present myself to people, even if that ultimately only ever turns out strange and alienating to most. And most of all, I love finally being powerful enough to do the things I believe to be right instead of having to sit on the sidelines and desperately hope that other people would do them for .

Thank you, Possibility. My benefactor. My god. My biggest fan. Even if you're just here in this world to play with its inhabitants, I'll save it so you can continue as long as you like. …And so the world doesn't die of course, but the sentint is still there.

I'm not quite sure if I expected a response or not, but I get one. Nothing verbal, of course, but a feeling like I'm being hugged by my own skin, the very air around pressing in for a loving embrace. It passes almost as quickly as it cos, but I know with every fiber of my being that it was my god's appreciative response. Man. No wonder the aliens are such zealots. God hugs are aweso.

My flesh-river of a body speeds past Christine's hut (no need to bother her) and finally makes it to Peter's porch, sweeping around him and eliciting a delightfully shrill yelp of terror from him before I gather myself up and assemble a humanoid body to speak with him. I realize belatedly that sowhere along the way I've enveloped most of Pink inside my body to prevent her from getting swept away, so I take the opportunity to disgorge her as well. She stumbles a bit in the air as her wings start up, looking rather flushed and disoriented. I'll have to apologize to her later.

"Julietta!?" Peter nearly shrieks. "What the hell?"

"Hey, just wanted to let you know that the Queen's power temporarily reanimated Lia and she's coming over to chat with you," I tell him.

"It can do that?" he blinks.

"Yeah," I confirm.

"So what, could it like… bring my parents back to life or sothing?" he asks.

The question shocks enough that I open my mouth to say 'I didn't know you cared,' but thankfully I manage to stop myself before making the stupidest fucking social mistake of my entire life. Instead, I consider the question.

"…It can make people, but it can only make them so accurate," I say. "I think it bases the constructed people it makes off of the thoughts and impressions of preexisting people in its domain, so Lia is likely a special case due to my power having an extrely accurate imprint of her biology and brain. If you tried to get it to summon your family, it would probably just be making sothing that's your impression of what your family would be like if they were here. Also, they'd have to be making you happy in so way for the power to be able to make them at all."

"What the actual fuck?" Peter asks.

"Yep," I agree. "Anyway, just wanted to let you know. Bye."

I lt back into a comfortable brainless puddle. Pink almost imdiately descends to land on , so I guess I didn't do anything too bad. That's a relief. Rapidly flowing off of Peter's porch, I head toward the shore where we left Anastasia and the rest of the Marias. This ti, rather than spook them all, I make sure to form back up into a recognizable body before I get too close. Though the sight when I get there is… interesting.

Demon Maria is enveloped in a chaotic ss of various things, so parts of her body suspended in levitating fluid, other parts wrapped up by soft vines, and yet others batting and scratching at small, quick-moving bugs like a cat with a toy. The fairy Marias are all relaxing nearby on tiny beach towels with tiny umbrellas stuck into the fleshy ground, chatting with an air of relief between them as their main job is finally distracted enough by sothing else to give them ti to relax.

Anastasia is still in the water, playing with dolphins. They probably aren't real, but she's having a great ti, so whatever.

"Hey," I greet the beachgoing Marias.

"Julietta!" Blue smiles at . "Hey! Er, wait. Are you the real Julietta? You have to tell us if you're not real."

"I'm real this ti," I assure them. "And this, hopefully, is the real Pink?"

"Th-that's !" Pink confirms. "Whoo! That was quite the roller coaster."

"We haven't been on a roller coaster before," Yellow points out.

"Well, I definitely feel like I have now!" Pink says. "Anyway, thanks for pushing to go find her, girls. The talk went pretty well."

"Great!" Blue says.

"Heck yeah," Yellow agrees. "That's one more stress out of our life. I've gotta say, this creepy flesh island isn't so bad."

"I've been expecting it to disgorge monsters or try to eat us pretty much this whole ti, but nope. Just cute outfits and beach towels," Blue agrees. "Well, and the creepy fake you, but it disappeared after we figured out it was fake."

"I feel like we exorcised so kind of demon…" Yellow says.

"Or a fae!" Blue says. "Though I guess we're the fae in this situation. Do the fae exorcise demons?"

"The two aren't often sharing the sa folklore space," I answer. "But we live in very strange tis."

"Ain't that the truth," Yellow agrees. "How much longer are we staying here, by the way?"

"Not sure," I admit. "You'll have to ask Blossom when she gets back."

"I AM BLOSSOM!" Blossom declares loudly, having suddenly teleported in directly behind . I imdiately lash out and end up stabbing her through the chest with a freshly-grown blade. The two of us stare awkwardly at each other for a bit. Blossom glances down at her wound. I do my best not to stare at it, because she is still entirely naked.

"Ow," Blossom says.

"Sorry," I respond.

"It okay," Blossom shrugs, and suddenly she's a foot further back, with no wound on her at all. "Diplomacy done! Best diplomacy ever. Everyone do good job so we good to leave. You almost screw up everything, though!"

She is, of course, pointing at . I vomit up her clothes and throw them at her face.

"Well, I didn't," I say. "So get dressed, and let's et up with the others, okay?"

"Ow," Blossom says again as the tupperware full of clothes hits her in the face, which she just lets fall to the floor, making no effort to get dressed. "Just stay out of network until we leave. You too grumpy for Bliss."

"That was already the plan," I remind her. "By the way, the Queen's power revived the person whose body I usually use. Her na is Lia."

"Wait, like actually revived or just creepy fake revived?" Blue asks.

"I don't know," I answer. "Maybe both. Anyway, she's a huge bitch, you'll hate her. Blossom, you'll love her."

"Excitent!" Blossom declares, now suddenly fully dressed.

Pretty soon, we'll finally be getting off this terrible island. Significantly before schedule, even, so I suppose whatever Blossom did is sothing the worshippers of Bliss were very, very happy about. Which I'm quite grateful for, honestly, because we do happen to be in sowhat of a hurry. Every mont we waste here is another mont Maria needs to suffer through all-consuming madness, and even without that fact I probably wouldn't be inclined to linger for long.

I stretch my body in a few impossible ways, twisting and reshaping into sothing more comfortable, then doing it again. It feels great, the exaggerated changes like stretching a sore muscle. The frustration and anger I was feeling before is already mostly gone. So I guess if I was pressed to admit it, while everything I just thought is true, I suppose that… in the end?

It really wasn't that bad.