Flipside

Part 8, Part 4

"You're absolutely insane." Dante muttered. They were standing in a meadow, sitting in a circle.

"Yeah, I don't think this is a good idea." Sasha agreed.

"Close your eyes. He doesn't like to be seen." Nevin instructed.

"Leader of the Following." Charles announced. "Please consider an audience with us." Mallory cringed and shook her head. The air went cold as the grass in the middle of the circle rustled. "Can I open my eyes?" He asked.

"You don't want to." The leader assures him.

"I do." Charles said.

"Fine." The leader sighed.

"Thank you, sir-" Charles opened his eyes. "I MEAN MISS! I'm so sorry! I thought the leader was gonna be a guy!"

"You're freaked out about her gender? Look at her body!" Gemma shrieked. The leader blushed as they stared at her. She had two pairs of eyes, two mouthes, and four arms. Her hair was black on one side, white on the other. Same with her vitiligo. The darker-skinned mouth spoke.

"I'm sorry... are you scared of me?"

"They're supposed to be scared of us! We're the leader!" The paler one snapped.

"Um... what do you wanna talk about?" The other asked.

"Aw, that one's nice. Are you really the leader of the following?" Jaden asked.

"We are." The pale one rolled her eyes. "I'm Ivory. The 'evil' one. The one you like is Ebony."

"Hello!" Ebony waved with one of the arms.

"So, the Aquians are slowly taking over the world." Charles started.

"That sounds frightening." Ebony frowned.

"Nobody gets to take over the world but us!" Ivory announced.

"Um, you. I'm not involved in your whole following thing." Ebony rolled her eyes.

"WE SHARE A FORM!" Ivory shouted. "We agreed that we were gonna merge our forms and help each other with personal goals. World domination and world peace."

"I still don't know what's so peaceful about murdering people and taking over the world." Ebony chuckled. They turned back to Charles. "Oh, sorry. Go on."

"Uh, yes. We were wondering g if you'd like to help us stop the Aquians." He said. Both mouthes spoke at once.

"That would be ideal for my goals. Nobody distrusting the peace and NOBODY TAKING MY JOB OF WORLD DOMINATION!"

"So you agree?" Charles asked hopefully.

"Why not." Ivory shrugged.

"...Okay." Agreed Ebony after a brief pause.

"Good. That was a lot easier than the others." Charles sighed in relief.

"Look, I can't say no to my favourite followers." The figure squished Sasha's cheeks.

"You threatened me and murdered my parents!" She argued.

"Uh, when the follower kicks in, I make weird decisions." Ivory admits.

"No, she's just like that sometimes." Ebony told them.

"You don't know that! Only my half has the following! We merged to share the following and Ebony Disease, so we have each other to hold onto sanity. Which is easier, seeing how Following and Ebony Disease are basically opposites." Ivory rolled her eyes.

"I'm not working with you unless you get rid of this." Nevin pointed at his scar.

"I can't heal that!" Dark, viscous liquid started to gather at the tips of their fingers. "If I could heal it, I'd heal myself, too." The combined figures looked down.

"What do I call you when you're agreeing?" Asked Dante.

"Ivony." They said. "Ebory sounds weird."

"I agree." Pepper nodded.

"Do you need a handshake to seal the deal?" Ivony asked. Charles looked at her sticky hand.

"No thanks." He declined. "Why'd you start the following?"

"Uh..." Ivory spoke. "My brother used to tell me about a fictional race called Followers. It terrified me. And somewhere along the line, I became a follower myself. The only person I marked into following was my brother. From there, they started branching off and spreading it. It would change me at times. Finally, I discovered the creator of Ebony Disease, making you unable to feel sadness, hate, and fear. I talked to her. We used an old magic called Merge. You cut your hands and press them together. Your bodies will combine. It's a big decision. After we did it, it became a lot less acceptable in society."

"And then we took over an abandoned plane, the Nethers. They're seen as a myth by most, but they exist. Just below the Plane of Divinity. Those are hard to explain, and it's not the time." Ebony added.

"That's interesting." Gemma nodded.

"I told you the Nethers existed!" Michael exclaimed.

"Until now, you had no proof." Mallory scoffed.

"Can I go now? I'm a busy type of person." Ivony crossed her arms.

"Sure." Charles nodded. "I'm glad you've agreed to help with our cause." Ivony then melted into the ground.

"I don't know." Nevin pursed his lips. "The Following has been bugging me my entire life, basically."

"What other choices do we have?" Sasha asked.

"None." Mallory looked down.

"So, are you sure that this isn't my big Paradox Enemy?" Marsha asked.

"Pretty sure. We need some sort of bigger evil." Pepper suggested.

"Hooray," Marsha rolled her eyes. "More confusion. My life is one big sidequest, isn't it?"

"Same." Nevin laughed. "I think we should get some sleep now." Everyone agreed and proceeded to the belly of the airship. Gemma flopped onto the floor. Marsha yawned and lay down. Nevin took off his binder. Pepper put her hair in a ponytail, after carrying a sleeping Dante with great difficulty. Michael slept on the deck, as did Sasha. Mallory took out her braid. Charles curled up into a ball with Gregory. Genevieve, Mina, Eric, Jaden, and Aaron already had specified sleeping spots. Their guardians had been dropped off back in the woods.

***

She stepped onto the mountain, a blood-soaked cord hanging at her side.

The Aquians were getting violent and relentless. Especially towards Irene. She cracked her vertebrae. After many years out of practice, she had decided to fight again. But only for her daughter and nephew. She had brought back more than one old habit. Just from stress, she had broke out her old Arachnaean Vodka. She was unaware whether that was the cause of her violent behaviour and hasty life choices, but it didn't matter quite so much anymore. Not much mattered with an impending apocalypse. She had changed out of her dress and completed the Trials. A Bridge symbol was easily viewed on her chest. Her boots were spattered with blood and mud. She looked out across the land.

The land that would be gone if nobody did anything.