Chapter 66

A/R: Hey so it's summer and I've suddenly realized how long it's been since I worked on this. And I'm super super sorry. Really. My excuse is senior year, and work.

== Be [Past] Calliope

The moment Calliope entered the city she knew she'd made a mistake. She must've, for all the streets were deserted. There were no cars lining the sides, no people walking down the sidewalks, and the buildings seemed eerily empty. Her gaze swept past the decrepit, falling apart warehouses that seemed abundant, towards the end of the street, where she saw a glimmering light. Unsteadily, she walked towards it, leaning up against street signs and light poles when she could. Her heart dropped as the light disappeared, the gasp of cold air she breathed in made her head feel like it was floating a million miles off the ground. It flickered back into existence a few seconds later, and her nerves eased slightly. She quickened her pace; she was now walking with determination. She wanted to reach it as soon as possible, lest it disappeared once more. Her limbs were weightless and numb, she felt dizzy and disoriented as she raced towards the light, her vision tunneling.

She didn't notice she had fallen on the ground minutes ago, breath puffing in and out the frigid air. She felt so, so tired. She wanted to give up the chase, but she couldn't stop herself. Tears streamed down her face as her lips trembled into a bitter farce of a smile. This was the escape from her brother she had always dreamed of, and of course it would only come in death.

The light swirled around her as she finally reached it, forming a slow spiral that settled onto an invisible floor. It turned solid where she stepped, and she grinned. So this is death, she thought. The white glowed despite the intense blackness surrounding her, and when she lifted her hands to her face to wipe away the tears, she found something she didn't expect. The bones of her face were protruding more than usual, and as she ran her hands over the entirety of her head she felt that she no longer had any hair.

She wished desperately that she had a mirror, so that she could see what exactly had happened to her. Maybe when you died you turned into a skeleton? As soon as the thought of the mirror crossed her mind, a simple hand mirror appeared in her hands. It was made of cheap green plastic, but that wasn't what made her drop it. It was the horrific green monster that stared back at her.

She watched numbly as the mirror fell and shattered, broken pieces sparkling in the bright light. She caught the image again in the shards: the black eyes, the skeleton-like features, the jagged teeth, the strange spirals of green on the cheeks. This time it's features looked as if it were scared. Calliope was confused, her brow tugging down. As her expression changed, so did the monster's. Her eyes widened with the realization that the monster was her, and she wished for a full length mirror so she could see what the rest of her looked like. Again, as soon as she wished for it, it appeared.

She had a momentary feeling that she could get used to having things appear whenever she wanted, before she saw her reflection once more in the gilded mirror that stood at the far end of the platform. She drew closer to it, watching how the thing moved, and noticed that she was wearing some sort of suit. It looked a little like something her brother would wear. It was all green, with a small symbol of a pole with two snakes that reminded her of the symbols on ambulances. As she noted a red bowtie the possibility that this could be a dream entered her mind. She pulled back her sleeve, lifting a hand with pointed fingers and attempting to pinch the tough skin. She felt a dull throb of pain, but saw something that resembled blood dot the surface of the tiny wound. Except, unlike blood, it was lime green. She sucked in a breath, and sat down in a chair she wished into existence. She held her face in her hands, and peeked through her fingers to see her reflection doing the same.

What was she supposed to do now?

== Be Tavros

Tavros wants to be alone right now. Come back some other time.

== Be Rose?

Alright, that's fine.

Rose, after sending the letter to Kanaya, was subject to pestering from a certain man in possession of white text. He claimed to have the ability of omniscience, which she doubted. However, he seemed to know enough that she figured she would do well to listen to his advice. Kanaya had warned her against this man a couple of times, not trusting him at all. She didn't understand the whispers in her head. She'd always suspected the eldritch gods were real, but had no proof until she entered the game and heard their whispers for real. They were simultaneously loud and quiet; they gave her a constant headache, and soothed her nerves. They told her things, things she wouldn't have understood otherwise. So she listened to them.

The whispers encouraged her to talk to the doctor, and the doctor encouraged her to listen to the whispers. Or Doc, as he preferred to be called. She doubted he had actually obtained a doctorate, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was that recently the whispers were getting louder recently. Kanaya seemed worried about her, but she had not corresponded with her since the letter had been sent. So she was left on her own to deal with the slightly louder voices. They hurt her head. She pretended they didn't, but she knew Doc knew. And he knew that she knew. Or at least she suspected this. She figured he wanted her to listen to them in order to make herself more vulnerable. She knew she would not completely succumb to their ways, the way she just knew things sometimes. She was almost completely certain nothing terrible would happen.

She was wrong, in a way she had never been before.

A cue ball had appeared in her room the other day. She looked inside, but there was nothing there. So Doc told her to ask it a question, and then look inside. Rose listened, of course. She asked it something simple:

"Where am I?"

A blue triangle floated to the surface in her mind's eye. The words on it read: You are inside of a game called Sburb.

Rose closed the eye she had opened, surprised at the seeming accuracy of this "magic" cue ball. She grinned, thinking of another question to ask.

"What should my next question be?"

Again the triangle floated to the surface in her now opened mind's eye. It read: Ask "Are the eldritch gods evil?"

She was taken aback by this, but she had indeed wondered whether they had her best interests in mind. However, if that made them evil or not, she did not know, which made her uneasy.

She asked the question.

It turned out to be the biggest mistake she ever made.

When she looked inside this time, the blue triangle turned white, and the words were nonsense to the regular eye. She could read them, though. They were the words spoken inside her brain, and now they were here in the outside world. Her eyes darkened and her skin started turning a sickly gray color, starting with the tips of her fingers, creeping upwards in smoky tendrils. When it reached her heart, in a flash of black light, she was completely changed. Her hair turned completely white, and the whites of her eyes had a slight glow to them. The smoky tendrils were now floating off of her skin, dissipating in the surrounding air.

Kanaya had been right to be worried.

A single word in white yet to be highlighted, and one that never would be, was on her holographic screen.

Sucker.

== Be [Current] Mother

Renee Lalonde was currently stuck in the hospital due to alcohol poisoning. She had finally woken up to see a police officer in her room. She had a small pad of paper in one hand, and a pencil dangling from the other. She was asleep, sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair. She had long reddish hair pulled back into a bun that looked a little worse for wear. Her hat sat to the side on a small table along with another pad of paper. Renee looked around the room as the woman let out a light snore. The room had light blue painted walls and a window to her left that had the blinds closed. Light still streamed in through the cracks, and she looked around for a clock. There was a digital clock to her right with bright red numbers, which read that it was 3:14 PM. Judging from the angle of the light, her room was probably facing west.

Pulling up her arms in a stretch, there was a strange tugging sensation in her left forearm. The tips of her fingers were still tinged blue from the poisoning, and there was an IV sticking out of her arm.

She followed the tubes and wires to a monitor at her side, noting the Skaianet logo on it. She probably could hack into that. For now, though, she wanted to determine why in the world there was a police officer here.

Renee cleared her throat, hoping she was a light sleeper. The officer jumped, wide eyes blinking away sleep. Her cheeks turned pink as she coughed into her closed fist.

"Excuse me. I'm Officer Smith."

"Renee Lalonde." She offered.

"I know who you are, Miss Lalonde." She looked down at her notes. "Current CEO of Skaianet Electronics… Quite impressive for a single parent."

"Thank you." She noted the impressed tone of the officer.

"We all have our flaws, though. Don't we?" A sharp look was given. "I'm not here to talk about your alcoholism, seeing as how you haven't broken any laws. Yet. I would like to ask you some questions regarding another matter. If you please?"

Renee nodded her assent.

"Alright then. Are you aware of the children going missing currently?"

"I've heard of maybe a couple? I don't really remember…Why? Have more children gone missing? Are Dave and Rose ok?" Renee voice grew louder in panic, leaning forward and watching the officer with desperate eyes.

"I'm sorry, Miss." She flipped her notepad closed. "It doesn't seem like you know any new information. I'm sorry to have bothered you, but if you come up with anything you think might be helpful to this investigation, do not hesitate to call me." She pulled out a business card with a solemn face. "Both Dave Strider and Rose Lalonde are missing, to answer your question. At this time there are 16 children missing. We are doing everything in our power to find them, so rest easy. We will find them." She sounded confident, but Renee knew that police officers probably said the same thing about missing children cases all over the world, and often they were never found.

Smith left soon after then and a nurse came in and checked on her.

"Looks like you're doing just fine, Miss Lalonde. We'll have you out of here in no time."

She didn't say anything in response, just stared at the monitor. It was similar technology to one of the planes she herself designed for transportation. She knew if she could just tap into it, she could direct it to a plane in her own home. She wondered if she was safe to do that, but then realized she didn't care. She had to find her children.

As soon as the nurse left her alone she began.

A/R: Again, super sorry. This is a longer than normal chapter to make up for it, sorta. Thanks to everyone who favorite and followed during the absence of updates! You are the true heroes, as the most recent one reminded me that this thing still exists (everyone go thank Yosokage). On the subject of updates, I doubt we will ever go back to one every day, as I'm hoping to improve content. Fingers crossed that my writing has improved. Also I procrastinate so. I'm not going to set up a schedule, but maybe once a week? We'll see. Also, I wanted to get this up as soon as possible so it's not beta'd. Apologies for mistakes I missed.