Juniper slammed her head against the dining table, rattling the structure. Her tea spilled all over the cheap wood, seeping into its cracks. Hot droplets splashed onto her face, sliding down her cheeks. She wiped them away and lifted her head, only to slam it down again—harder this time, making a thud echo. Exhaustion crept under her skin, gnawing at her aching thigh muscles; it felt as though they were ready to give in. They felt loose, not stiff as they had been when she woke.

  The mess with Morrigan’s little stunt had drained her mentally. Dealing with time distortion and chrono-peripheral-mindfuckery had her at her wit’s end. Morrigan had never stated clearly whether she had actually harmed her in these alternate timelines—if that was even what they were. No! She had noped the fuck out the moment Arkangeal stepped in, and Juniper basically got told that, yes, Juniper, you were just psychologically and chronologically mindfucked, but it's okay because it comes with the job.

  Nonsense.

  There was also the issue of her temporary new route. She had developed it early this morning by driving from home to school, then work, then back to school again. A whole missing fleet of buses left her with more errands to do. She was lucky to have her own transport now; she’d never trust strangers to take her sister to school. Although, someone had better done something about those buses, or she’ll have to step in.

  [Ah yes, Juniper, the great school bus hunter. Fear her wrath, oh missing fleets!] . [Very heroic. Very dumb. Let the authorities sort it out.]

  [Pfft. Try making your life easier by actually sleeping. You’re going to need it when they start poking and prodding tomorrow.]

  She clicked her tongue.

  Please.

  

  The excessive driving, work pressure, or the forced socialization, the dream—it all added up. She’d had enough, and it barely had begun kicking off.

  Effy loomed near Juniper’s shoulder, picking at her back with her fingers and irritating her ears by flicking her earlobes. Her nails felt like plastic cutlery, cutting away at her.

  “Juniper, what’s wrong?” she asked. The vigilante, in turn, groaned in response.“C’mon, Junie, pay some attention to me.”

  She didn’t react at first, but then Effy had started throwing her with little paper balls. She instinctively evaded them, like a game of tag ping-pong. Was it the result of her new skill, ['Phantom Reflex']

  Effy giggled, accepted her willingness to dodge as a challenge. Juniper frowned. “Stop it.”

  She intensified her assault, rocketing Juniper with spherical paper missiles. Then came the mother of all paper balls, large and imposing, and she couldn’t dodge this one. She still wasn't sure if her passive skill worked in real-time or only when focused, but either way, it was getting annoying. Fast.

  “Goddamn it Effy!” Juniper complained, “At least wait until the food is out of the oven.”

  Effy folded her arms, shaking her head left and right. “Bleh, you’re grumpy again. Wait a sec! Is this because Kanako dumped you?”

  “What?!” Juniper snapped upright, her foot tapping anxiously. “What gave you that idea, you little hobgoblin?”

  Effy snapped her fingers. “Remy’s words not mine, I thought you plucked gold, Juniper, and she was so nice to us, too. I’m going to miss her.”

  Remy giggled from the kitchen. “Don’t listen to her, Juniper, she’s taking my words and twisting them down the drain.” Remy’s commentary was cut short as the Oven timer started dinging.

  Effy’s head turned like jack rabbit, and she bounced. “Hmm, finally, I’m starving.”

  “You’re always starving, Effy, I swear you eat more than the average adult.”

  Juniper watched him from a distance, he turned way too fast, lowering his body and buckling inwards. He winced. Losing his breath, coughing.

  Juniper rushed past the nine-year-old, hurrying over to assist him as his body betrayed him. He tensed up as she approached, giving her an uncomfortable stare. She knew what his stares meant, “don’t treat me like a child.”

  “Bro, don’t push yourself too hard, let me handle it.”

  “No!” His voice came out a lot sharper than he intended. He giggled, then eased up, “Don’t worry, about me, I got this.”

  A lie. She knew he was hurt deep down. He didn’t want to be treated as fragile, but it was hard to just ignore him. He looked like he would snap in half, opening the oven.

  “Did you–?”

  “Yes, mom, I took my medication…” he mocked playfully. Juniper wasn’t smiling. He brushed past her, very stiffly, searching for the nearest pair of mittens.

  The lasagna they had made was steaming as it was taken out, its scent potent and rich. Layer after layer of beef, cheese, onions, vegetables, and herbs. The spices were a tad too strong; they stung her nose, barely a sneeze away. Its moist smell humidified the dry room. For once, they had something nutritiously fresh–not cheap takeout. Remy started humming as he cut into it, separating their portions. Effy's head nearly stuck in, the way of the knife, Juniper pulled her back.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Juniper’s portion was the largest, and it wasn’t much honestly, followed by the gluttonous Euphemia, and the smallest cut for him.

  “Hey! I want more.” Effy protested, slamming the table with her fist.

  “Effy, if you want more, finish up first,” Remy said. “You have a bad habit of not finishing once you start, so.”

  The little brat made a dramatic sigh and dug in. Her eyes widened in response. It didn’t take long before she started gobbling up everything. Remy expressed a wide smile. “See, I’m a better cook, than Juniper could ever be.”

  Juniper turned her nose up, returning his smile. “Debatable, I don’t oversaturate everything with salt, sugar, and syrup.” she teased.

  “And I don’t wait until something burns, before taking it out of a frying pan.”

  “You got me there,” she said, rubbing under her eyes.

  Despite Remy’s struggles recently, he has been in a goodish mood. And it scared Juniper more than anything. She desperately tried to put the idling thoughts to rest, but they kept gnawing on her. His jubilant smile was the only reason she didn’t press him about his illness. Occasionally he’d get stingy about it, and a small argument would ensue.

  She waited before eating, taking in the moment. Briefly resting her chin on her hand.

  Juniper cut off an unusually large piece of her food, she bit and swallowed. It was creamy and had a slight umami taste to it. She’d need Remy in the kitchen more often than not, even If he simply gave his lax opinions. She dove in as well. This prompted Effy to smirk at her.

  “You’re going to get fat one of these days,” Effy spat. Juniper tried ignoring her, then felt up the width of her cheeks and the skin around her stomach. Effy stuck out her tongue, and flicked a piece of lasagna at Juniper. Her skin prickled, like she was mildly sensing the intent a mile away. She dodged it effortlessly, her reflexes were slowly becoming a subconscious endeavor. It didn’t go unnoticed, however, Remy stared at her, but said nothing.

  Effy grumbled, daring to escalate, she hopped off her chair, looking for more paper balls to harvest, then started priming them in her hand, like an autocannon ready to fire…

  “Ow,” she didn’t dodge, a ball hit her eye. It didn’t hurt, but she feigned the pain. “Effy, please stop, or I won’t take you to the fair you wanted to go to.”

  “Liar, you promised, you promised to take me to the circus as well, and we all know that never happened.”

  “I know, I’m sorry, just… calm down, we can do something fun later, I promise.”

  “Promises, promises.” Effy moaned.

  Remy started coughing excessively, both of their attention shifted towards him, Effy had a look of guilt in her face, she sat down. Resuming her meal. Juniper had noticed, he hadn’t touched his food yet. Remy clutched his hands together, closed his eyes, and murmured to himself.

  ? When did that occur? She couldn’t remember him ever being concerned about religion.

  “I don’t remember you ever being religious?” They’d always been an irreligious household, not necessarily secular. After their parents left, Juniper never found comfort in the words of Magi and prophets, no matter what tenets preached or afterlives promised. No fair god, would allow a world like this to persist, and yet she believed some overseer looked over them, and she did not mean beings like Quixis.

  “I wouldn’t say I’m religious, Just something to hold on to? ” he said shyly.

  “Fair, I guess.”

  [Simulation theory is as far as I go, I’m afraid, ]

  [I have no memory of such nonsense. Constructed maybe, but I’ve always been here. Lurking. Waiting. Like a very patient houseplant. You’d have to ask the guardian, if you ever see him again, by the looks of it, he has abandoned us both]

  She buried the thought train at the back of her mind.

  Mid-bite, Juniper let the warmth settled into her stomach, It was just awhile ago that she thought she would lose this? When was the last time they sat around together like this? She wished her mother was here to see this, they were at each other’s throat when they were younger, even a four-year old Effy was a menace.

  But, what more could she ask for?

  She took another bite, the food had hardened…unnaturally so. Did they put anything unprocessed inside? She doubted Remy would bake it halfway. She stared at her brother; his head was locked on his food, hands obscuring his face. Unmoving, unnaturally so.

  “Remy?!” she asked in panic. “What’s wrong? Remy!”

  She turned to Effy, the girl stood frozen in place. Her mouth full of food, in the process of chewing, she looked up, the fork was suspended midair, halfway between a launch to the roof. Effy’s hands reached out, but she didn’t move. Stuck, unmoving in place.

  Juniper blinked. There was no sound but her own movements. Using [Super audition]

  No. No. No. No. She pinched herself, was she dreaming, again. Time sat still. Just like back in the hospital, waiting for death to catch up to her. Her heartbeat paced up, Something was seriously wrong.

  “Quixis! Is that you?” she shouted out. How else could she explain, everything outside was silent too, she’d never heard of a cape that could stop time. “Quixis.”

  [Careful. This feels like big, ominous, bad-times energy. Like a higher power at play here? Steel yourself!]

  Taking Sys-chan’s advice to heart, she ran over to the kitchen, grabbed a knife from the counter, and peered out the window for good measure. There, in the sky, she could faintly see drone lights and a kilometer above it, the trail of a jet engine, a plane frozen mid-air. Their reflective lights, didn’t flicker, the light itself suspended in animation.

  Knock. Knock. Knock.

  It came from the door. Where else could it have been? The silence shattered, she wasn’t alone, something was here with her. She froze up, forcing herself to move, her body is slow, but deliberate.

  [I don’t believe this quixis doing, Yeah, okay, I don’t like this,]

  Juniper gripped the knife, hesitated, then charge at the door like a soldier holding the knife like a bayonet. “Who the fuck is here!” As she slammed the door open. There was no one outside, nothing in front of her, just vacant space.

  “Over, here Juniper…”

  A young boy floated in the air above her. The same boy. The very same. The one with the white hair, the strange kid that asked her weird questions when she came out of a burning building. The same boy she saw this morning, creeping among the crowd.

  He wore his familiar navy-blue Russian vest, underneath a fur-lined coat, which resembled an officer’s. A sailor’s cap sat on his head. His stare felt ancient–far older than he should be. He stared at her with knowing amusement. Dread coiled its way into her gut, and her ribs twisted.

  [Ooh, it’s the odd kid. I knew something was off. ]

  “I saw you. Back in the crowd, with the cat. On the day with the burnings, you asked me questions, that you had no right to.” Juniper stiffened… “Who are you, no! What are you and what do you want?”

  He tilted his head, a smirk, on his face, “I thought you’d come find me. But I got tired of waiting for you to take action. If you’d really like to know, then follow me.”

  [Juniper, his presence…it’s making me uncomfortable.]

  Juniper gritted her teeth, peering behind her, her siblings were vulnerable, but she couldn’t just let him do whatever. She shut the door. Then Juniper lunged in his direction as he floated away.