a one-way ticket (emma, jag, sunny, coby, curnen)

[st_ackeddeck]

Her first reading with the deck Jag had given her had pointed Emma in the right direction for crafting her counteroffer. She'd gone, on her own, back to the Goblin Market and found the fairy who'd told Jag they could send him home.

It turned out True Sight was even more valuable to an ambitious fairy looking for an advantage than Emma had expected, and an hour after their negotiations were finalized, she walked out of Faerie, her eyes haunted and red rimmed from tears, carefully guarding a sprig of pale purple sweetpea flowers she carried. When chaos of the fairy realm was replaced with the cacophonous greens of the Irish Hills room, exhaled in relief, and then hurried back to her rooms.

"Jag?" she called out as the door to their suite shut behind her. They only had until moonrise, and she had no idea when that would be.

Comments

Re: for Sunny

[st_igmatized]

There was only one thing for that. Sunny reached out and took one of the flowers before answering, "All right. Unless you have other people you need to get that to."

She could believe or not. But the chance to go back was too precious to pass up, even with no information.

Re: for Sunny

[st_ackeddeck]

"Keep it with you," Emma explained, when Sunny took the flower without any hesitation. "Whoever has one of the blooms at moonrise will be sent back to their homes. I gave the rest to Jag. And I read the cards; I saw him back in London, with one of his roommates, so... it'll work."

Jag would go home. And she'd never get to see him again, but she couldn't let herself think about that right now.

Re: for Sunny

[st_igmatized]

Sunny closed her eyes, the weight of everything she'd missed washing over her. Mama, Chukwu, Ugonna, Chichi, Sasha, Aunt Chinwe... Orlu. She missed her languages, she missed black people, all of the things that she missed were not worth being in a place where she could be open about her magic.

Because this place was a dead place, and it was going to crush all of them.

She opened her eyes again, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

And then the very clear reality hit her. She'd see Coby and Jag again if she went back to London, but... "Oh, Em."

Re: for Sunny

[st_ackeddeck]

Emma watched as what going home could mean hit Sunny in stages, and she nodded, blinking against the sting of tears wanting to rise again.

"But you'll get to see the other me again. It'll be okay. We'll be okay."

Why were goodbyes so hard? They got to go home. Thank Fortuna Redux, that was supposed to be a good thing.

Re: for Sunny

[st_igmatized]

"Yeah, but it's..." She was actually going to have to do this again, wasn't she? Seeing a face she knew and associating it with memories that other person didn't have.

Sunny was up out of her chair, around the desk, and reaching to hug Emma before she could even consciously discard the idea that she didn't know how to finish that thought. "Damn."

Re: for Sunny

[st_ackeddeck]

"... Not the same," Emma finished for her, her arms coming around to hug Sunny back.

"I'm going to miss you. So much."

Re: for Sunny

[st_igmatized]

"I'm gonna miss you, too." Shit, Sunny was crying. Shit. "Do... do you need to find anybody else?"

Re: for Sunny

[st_ackeddeck]

"I was thinking maybe Lil..." she trailed off as the sweetpea blossoms they held dissipated in a shimmer, and the magic took hold,in a slip and twist of realities.

Emma found herself in London, deck of cards fanned out in front of her, and the London Eye looming ahead.

Re: for Sunny

[st_igmatized]

Sunny found herself in an unfamiliar apartment. That was bad.

But it felt like her own magic. That was good.

But she still wasn't sure what this meant. That was bad.

And Em was gone. That was worse.

Then she heard a familiar chirp from the window and the flapping of tiny wings as a fat little budgie came to perch on her shoulder.

"Hello, Phillip," she said, hearing herself choke as she did. Her heart was bruised, but wherever this was, it was definitely home.

Now to figure out the rest.