The Immortal Dream

"Come on," Papyrus complained, "you can't just stop there! Do you have any idea how many questions that raises?"

Cherrabell gave him a pained smile, swaying from side to side to stay comfortable. "That's what you said the last few times. And I don't know how many more encores I can give before I push this baby out right here in front of everyone."

Papyrus raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I grew up in Riverfall, I've seen this whole song and dance before. If you were even a tenth of the way there, you'd be making more of a racket than the crowd at a wrestling match."

"Speak for yourself," Cherrabell panted, holding her enormous belly. "I'll do whatever you want me to. There's no reason I can't give birth here. Gawain loves to watch. I'm just letting you know, it's not going to be much longer..."

"It's almost midnight," Larceny pointed out. "We've been doing this for hours. Surprised you didn't stop talking ages ago."

Cherrabell shook her head and shrugged. "I'm happy to do this. I'll do it for as long as you want me to. I want to be useful. I just want to be sure that what you want-"

"What we want," Felicity interrupted, "is for you to have a safe and easy delivery. There will be plenty of time to pick up where you left off with the story after you've brought your child into the world. Isn't that right, Papyrus?"

"What are you looking at me for?" Papyrus made an indignant face. "You're the doctor, she's the patient. I'm just the peanut gallery. My money says she'll still be huffing and puffing away in the morning whether we call it quits here or not, but if I'm wrong it would be your own faults for listening to me."

Cherrabell gave him a bewildered look. "You still make no sense. I can keep talking if you want me to, I just can't tell what you actually want. Earlier, you made it sound like you didn't want to watch this. If you changed your mind, you can just say so."

"No, hold on," Papyrus insisted, "this is about sphinxes who aren't supposed to exist and sinister gold diamonds that may or may not have manipulated you into stealing them. You can't just drop the mic on that and waddle away for the night. Come on, you've obviously got more in you!"

"What I've got in me," Cherrabell told him, "is a baby. And I suspect you don't believe me when I say it's not going to be there for much longer. Is it because I'm not screaming and hyperventilating enough? I know how to keep my composure for the sake of my audience, and it's because I've had a lot lot lot of practice, not because-"

Felicity cleared her throat. "Papyrus? Miss Cherrabell has made her state clear. We're calling it here on the storytelling for the night, and I'm taking her down to a bedroom to get checked over, and then to get comfortable for the rest of her labor. There will be plenty of time to continue this in the morning."

Cherrabell nodded gratefully, struggling to her hooves. "Thank you. I don't want to overrule what anyone wants, here, I just-"

"You want to take care of yourself and put yourself first," Felicity finished for her, stepping up and bracing Cherrabell's shoulder with her own. "And your right to do that is the most important thing here. We can work on the nuances of self-advocacy later, but right now you get what you need with no questions asked."

Cherrabell leaned into Felicity's offered shoulder, burying her face in her neck like a small child.

"That's right." Felicity put a wing over her back and patted her gently. "Now, I could perhaps use a helping hoof? Anyone?"

"Is Braen suitable for role?" Braen asked, sitting by the door to the deck like a sentinel. "Has much to think about in wake of story. Would like to help Cherrabell."

"Here." Cherrabell beckoned her wing a wing. "Would you like to feel one more time before I go downstairs? I think another contraction's just about to hit, if you want to feel that too."

Braen zipped to Cherrabell's side, not looking to Papyrus or anyone else for permission before applying her cheek and both forehooves to Cherrabell's belly. "Wow," she stage whispered. "So much different than last time. Feels like Cherrabell has boulder inside!"

Cherrabell nodded. "And if you wait for just a moment longer..."

Braen held her position, and within a few seconds, Cherrabell gritted her teeth, just as she had done countless times over the evening.

"Can tell Cherrabell in great pain," Braen said solemnly.

"That's how it works," Cherrabell said with a teacher's patience, her voice tight.

"Must take large inner strength not to cry," Braen added. "Strength more than possessed by someone like Papyrus."

"What?" Papyrus rose to his hooves in indignation. "No. Bad robot! Where do you get off, dunking on your bodyguard? Buzz off. Who came up with your personality anyway?"

Braen straightened up. "Interpreting response as permission to go with Cherrabell."

"No-! Argh, you know what? Whatever." Papyrus waved her off, sighing as he threw in the towel. "Have a fun ten more hours of waiting. And try not to scar yourself. Incorrigible goat."

Cherrabell chuckled. "Don't worry. I think she'll appreciate it. But, could we hurry? The baby's saying loud and clear that it's going to be less than ten hours."

"I'll help too," Nehaley volunteered, rising to follow them as Braen took Cherrabell's other side and helped her stagger down the stairs to the sleeping cabins. "Could probably use a more experienced set of hooves..."

Papyrus watched as they departed, and then listened, and then nothing as the telltale click of a door down below cut off the sounds of Cherrabell and her caregivers. Papyrus had been intrigued, albeit not entirely surprised, to discover early in their voyage that the soundproofing on the cabin walls was so excellent, it was probably magical. Not that he had much use for that, most of the time. But tonight, it sure would come in handy.

The only ones left in the main cabin were Floria, Senescey and himself.

"So," Papyrus began, breaking the ice after a moment of silence. "Certainly sounds like we left a hot mess in our wake back in the Empire. Feel like airing any new regrets, or do we come to terms with all that and move on?"

He glanced at Senescey, who was still swaddled in blankets after their fight in the rain - as was he.

But it was Floria who answered. "Well, I for one have a newfound resolve to let bygones be bygones and have nothing to do with the Empire ever. I'd rather live my life on a continent that won't ask me to repopulate my race by any means necessary."

"Can't imagine why that would act as a deterrent," Senescey grunted.

"Is that how it is for everyone when it comes to having children?" Floria asked, rattled. "The physical infirmity, the dependence on others, that huge shape, that... that lewd panting and moaning?"

"Couldn't tell you, don't know." Senescey rolled over to face the wall.

"Remember what her hubby's like," Papyrus pointed out. "At least half of that was probably for show."

Floria looked mortified.

"Usually," Papyrus unhelpfully continued, "when people have kids it involves a whole lot of agonized screaming and at least five doctors, all stallions, with bright lights and sterilized lab coats crowding around you in a cramped-"

"Thank you, very enlightening, why don't we change the subject?" Floria interrupted. "This 'Garnet' psychopath. You and your cronies were active in Izvaldi, were you not? What do you know about this sphinx?"

Papyrus shrugged. "Absolutely nothing. Which is quite unusual; you're correct about our activities. A cornerstone of my scheme relied around controlling the timing of when the public learned the Izvaldi royal line was extinct. If there really was a secret sphinx successor squirreled away somewhere, that would have made things two thousand percent simpler in some respects while also requiring us to keep her hidden from Izvaldi's steward at all costs. And so I spent considerable time and energy early on ensuring that if Izvaldi did have anyone like that, I would know."

"Working theory," Senescey said: "she's not actually a sphinx. Probably a sarosian who learned to transform early on."

"There is another possibility," Papyrus pointed out. "Sphinxes and sarosians are related on some level I don't fully understand. You know how Chrysalis used the Daydream Network to hijack the bodies of every sarosian on the continent, right? Well, Garsheeva could do that too. Sometimes, when she wanted to meet with me in the field, she would 'borrow' one of the Night Mother's faithful and use them as a vessel. Granted, she always put them back together afterward. But what if they're so similar that sphinxes can shapeshift, too? If this Garnet knew how to do that before the Empire's fall, then hiding from everyone might have been a little more possible." He put a hoof to his chin. "Though could she have hid from Garsheeva...?"

Floria shook her head. "Where I thought you were going with that is that Garnet might have been a transformed sarosian puppet controlled by an external actor."

"Hmm," Papyrus mused. "It's possible."

"I'm not so sure," Senescey corrected. "Cherrabell said that Garnet became pregnant, remember? And Lilith's enterprise in Ironridge was based around finding new ways to bring back up the number of sarosians, which she claims is necessary because all the former sarosians who are now empty bodies in Chrysalis's swarm can't reproduce without their souls. So that's something a remote puppet couldn't do."

Papyrus nodded. "That's a good point... Back to the question I asked you earlier, then. Think Garnet could be Chrysalis?"

Senescey hesitated at length. "I still don't know. Her actions wouldn't make any sense at all, but the circumstances line up well enough."

"You think Garnet might have been the monster who destroyed the Empire?" Floria raised an incredulous eyebrow, but almost immediately put it back down, thinking. "She did seem to have some unusual powers."

Papyrus flicked his tail. "It'll be difficult to suss out from that angle. Sphinxes and changeling queens have a surprisingly similar kit of abilities. Of course, most of those sphinx powers used to be one of the best-kept secrets in the Empire, before I accidentally discovered it myself... Most of what Cherrabell has described, though, is stuff any sphinx could do if they just knew how."

Floria gave him a deeply skeptical look. "I can communicate with sarosians in their minds from across a city, force them to shapeshift involuntarily and disintegrate people I don't like in the blink of an eye."

Papyrus nodded. "You'd need a sufficient power source to do it at any scale. Garsheeva, Chrysalis and I all used a ridiculous stockpile of souls. Or, more accurately, the brands attached to them. I'm not sure what you could do without something like that backing you up, but it's all on the table."

Now Floria just looked disturbed.

"What if Garnet was a Bishop?" Senescey proposed. "Like Lilith, Samael and Estael in Ironridge. Or Rhodallis. A powerful follower of Chrysalis, we don't really know how they're connected, but they aren't Chrysalis herself?"

"Cherrabell never mentioned her brand, did she?" Papyrus tilted his head. "Bishops have that telltale empty circle..."

"I can't remember," Senescey admitted.

"Tell me more about these Bishops," Floria requested. "What are they? What would it mean if Garnet was one?"

"I don't have many hard facts," Papyrus apologized. "They appeared in Ironridge shortly after Cold Karma took over and Shinespark's government got the big boot. Or maybe they were there already and just stepped up to claim a slice of the pie. They have supernaturally good intelligence operations, which seem to be because they each have a share of Chrysalis's changeling swarm under their direct command. I can't remember if I've seen them shapeshift, and I've never seen anything that suggests they can rip out brands the way Chrysalis could, but they can issue orders and control the puppets that are already empty. And they're very single-minded in their pursuit of particular goals."

"Such as?" Floria pressed.

"Repopulating the sarosian race," Senescey said. "Apparently, Chrysalis killed too many of her new army during the initial rampage in the Empire, and then discovered they couldn't breed anymore without souls. I think Lilith is trying to replenish us to ensure a robust upstream supply of soldiers for Chrysalis to harvest. But she's obsessed with the concept to a degree that makes it feel like she really cares about the mission, and not just her boss. Not that she cares about us ourselves, though. Her goal is the only thing that matters."

Papyrus nodded. "And Samael and Estael are the Ironridge Directors of Public Security. I never got the impression they were particularly corrupt, but they certainly cared more about the criminals they were bringing to justice than the actual city streets. Whenever some lawyer or factional treaty allowed someone obviously guilty to slip out from their net - such as yours truly - they took it personally."

"Hmm," Floria mused. "Garnet certainly had her contingent of followers, but it sounds as if she sought Lyantra out as a candidate for her research, correct? Which would mean she may not have had a bountiful swarm of soulless sarosians to work from..."

"That, or she needed one who was already integrated into high society," Papyrus pointed out. "A random one she nabbed from Mistvale just wouldn't do. Actually, what if Chrysalis couldn't even track whose body belonged to whom after stealing them all?"

Senescey sighed. "That's just speculation, and no matter how you want to speculate, I was stolen and then put back together with my correct mind in my correct body. Something had to remember what went where."

"I'll ask again, then," Floria said. "Forget whether it's feasible: what would it mean if Garnet was a Bishop? Or if she was Chrysalis?"

Senescey's face shadowed. "If she was Chrysalis, I'll tell you one thing it would mean: I've been wasting my time ever since I reawakened."

"Oh yeah?" Papyrus raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Senescey's expression was dark and conflicted. "I think Chrysalis failed. I want to see... someone come in after her, amass that much power again, and try to actually fix society with a proper set of principles and ideas. I assumed Chrysalis never had that, and that's why she simply threw a destructive tantrum. But if Garnet really was Chrysalis, then the only explanation for her behavior would be that she realized the same thing I have. She created meaningless destruction because she had no plan. Garnet's tactics are hideous, but she seems to be trying to figure out what could go into a model for society where the good outweighs the bad. That would mean she knows that she failed the first time, but isn't done yet."

Papyrus stared at her.

"...Which would mean," Senescey finished, "that what I really should have been working on is how to give her my own answers. She... might listen."

"Excuse me," Floria burst out, blanching. "You mean to say that you would entrust someone like that with any sort of power, willingly? Whether or not this Chrysalis idea has any merit, Garnet is clearly the type of person to be stopped at all costs. She tossed a child with an infant into a ruined city and then narrated their struggles while watching, for goodness' sake!"

Senescey met her outburst with a level expression. "Would you entrust me with any sort of power, either? What about Papyrus?" She shook her head. "No one would. If we get caught up in who's willing to follow whom, then the gears will grind to a halt the moment someone plays dirty. The outcome is the only part that matters. If I don't believe that, and I say that mass murderers who ruined civilizations in their past don't deserve a further part to play, then what would that leave me to do with myself?"

Floria gritted her teeth. "Would it be so problematic to choose a leader who doesn't have a history of barbarity?"

"You were yelling at Gawain earlier for leaving the future up to his children," Senescey said, distant and resolved. "It rubs you the wrong way to see someone abdicate responsibility and force it onto others, doesn't it? Me too. I want to live. I want to do something with my life, something worth doing in however many years I have left. I don't want to sit back and watch while others do it. I don't want my biggest act to have been pulling out the keystone to the Empire and watching it crumble. If someone more qualified than me to fix this world wants to take the reins first, then they can go for it. I'm still going to do whatever I can, wherever I can, however I can to be something more than the pain that animated me up to this point. And so I can't condemn anyone, no matter how evil, who also wants to be more than their failures."

Floria had nothing to say.

"Enjoy your innocence while you can," Papyrus told the sphinx. "I don't mean that in the naive sense. I mean that you haven't broken anything people will never forgive you for. I get where Senescey's coming from. I'm not about to give up on my prospects just because I'm one of the most notorious criminals the world has ever known. And if you only look at the world in terms of people who've messed up and people who haven't, you're going to have an awful time keeping that line consistent without someday crossing it yourself and wishing you could go back."

"I've heard enough," Floria said, eyes closed with a grimace. "You've made your points. Perhaps I am indeed naive. But that innocence is precious to me. Can you not imagine my terror at joining your ranks? I've been raised on stories of what you did, I understand your conundrum and I can't fathom finding myself in a situation like that where I'd have to come up with what to do next. Have I not the right to enjoy my clean paws while they last?"

"Never said you didn't," Papyrus countered. "Is that why you dislike me so much? Are you really just afraid you'll wind up like this?"

Floria ridiculed him with her eyes. "Were you unaware?" She held up her forepaws, flexing them to show off the pads and the claws hidden inside. "You of all people must understand what I have to look forward to in life, all because my mother had to seduce an insane tyrant prince and pass his species on to me instead of any of the possible other heists she could have committed her body to. I'm going to lose it, I'm going to lose my mind and my self-awareness and all semblance of equinity and there's nothing I can do about it except watch it coming! You've been through this! And the fact that you're not more concerned for my sake is how I know you never regained your sanity when you came out the other end!"

"That's because I fight the inevitable," Papyrus lectured, "not wallow before it. Would you actually like some concern? I figured you'd take it as mockery."

"Give me your best shot," Floria said dryly.

Papyrus took a deep breath. "Alright. How about this: Cherrabell has her kid, Felicity needs to check up on the rest of Gawain's household, and we may or may not be indefinitely staying here to rebuild a country someone else ruined instead of our own. In the meantime, you, me and Braen take the ship and head back up to Stormhoof and make a mission out of seizing every last one of your dad's old research notes on sphinx insanity from where they're probably rotting in Tarunda's museum. We make a break back down here, analyze the loot, and finish what he started to find a way for you to keep your head. Sound good?"

Floria blinked.

"Well?" Papyrus cracked a grin.

"That's... a plan of action, certainly," Floria admitted. "I suppose I was a fool, hoping for some genuine emotion..."

Papyrus shrugged. "Actions are how I express myself, I'm a sociopath. Can't say I even know what concern feels like. But would it help?"

Floria genuinely considered this. "Why Braen? As a chaperone so I have someone else to talk to beyond just you? Or are we simply bringing everyone who wouldn't potentially be vulnerable to a changeling queen?"

"Both," Papyrus said. "Though also because calling myself her bodyguard is deeply anachronistic. I'm not supposed to let her test them yet because they're technically not finished and her mothers also didn't want her making a splash, but she's a walking hedgehog of artillery. Her parents are big believers in the philosophy that the best way to stay safe on the road is being a one-mare army. Can't imagine why."

"I suppose that's useful to know," Floria sighed. "Even if I truly can't envision it. Thank you. For... making what could be construed as an effort, under charitable light."

Papyrus resisted the mighty urge to waggle his eyebrows.

"Sure is a good thing you didn't have to settle that with another outdoor brawl," Senescey said absently, looking partway checked out of the conversation.

"Eh? Why's that?" Papyrus glanced up at her. "Think she would have sliced me to ribbons?"

"See for yourself." Senescey gestured to a window.

Papyrus got up to look. Outside, it was snowing heavily, the lights from the mansion flickering distantly through a torrential curtain of flakes. The rainstorm had morphed into a full-fledged blizzard.

Floria looked too. "Still think we could have flown through this?"

"Nah," Papyrus proclaimed. "You were more prescient on that one. Such are the fruits of having a brain the size of a cantaloupe."

Floria scowled. "You truly can't let a passable vibe go un-ruined."

"Call it a compulsion," Papyrus yawned. "Say, do you suppose-"

"Ahem!" Braen announced, standing proudly at the top of the stairs. "Cherrabell baby griffon is safely delivered!"

Papyrus blinked. "Wait, like, that quickly?"

Floria perfectly mirrored his motion. "It can't have been so much as fifteen minutes."

"No time even to use bed!" Braen eagerly explained. "Cherrabell start to push as soon as in room. Braen got to stand behind and catch baby! Then had to clean baby and Cherrabell, and Braen got dirty too, and also there was umbilical cord. And then-"

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on!" Papyrus protested. "There's absolutely no way it's over that fast. Felicity kicked you out to come back here and prank me, I know what she's like. You watch, if I go down there to call your bluff I'll probably find them sipping tea or cuddling or something-"

"Yes, come look!" Braen turned and darted back down the stairs. "Papyrus and Floria come see miracle of life!"

"What, and not me?" Senescey slowly climbed out of her blankets as well, making to follow them.

"Just you watch," Papyrus threatened, more to save face than anything as he descended. "I'm calling your bluff, I'm calling it, prepare for an epic roasting..."

As Papyrus entered the dimly-lit cabin, it quickly became apparent that Braen was telling the truth.

Cherrabell was in one of the beds, stretched out flat on her side. She looked more relaxed than at any point in the scant few hours Papyrus had known her, and nestled between her forelegs was a small, recently-cleaned, still-wet bundle of feathers bearing something resembling Gawain's blue coloration. The room smelled a little weird, and there were several towels spread on the floor.

"You really did it," Floria remarked, looking Cherrabell and the baby up and down.

"Thanks to all of you," Cherrabell replied, her voice suddenly weak, as if only by finishing her labor had she given herself permission to rest... though maybe it was just because her baby was sleeping. "If none of you had come along, I'm certain I still would have been stuck right now, trying to sleep in Gawain's manor with no sign of progress."

"We merely provided a light on the horizon," Felicity gently assured her. "You were the one who did the work, darling."

Cherrabell quietly chuckled. "It still made the difference. Thank you. I don't know what I owe you or what I can repay, but at the very least, you have my trust."

Felicity cleared her throat. "Right now you're going to repay yourself for all these years you've spent having children with a good night's rest." She turned to stare at Papyrus and Floria. "I trust none of you are here to request additional story time, now that it's over?"

"Perish the thought," Papyrus innocently declared. "I just wanted to see if Braen was pulling my leg. You really popped it out the instant you made it down here?"

Cherrabell reddened. "Well, yes."

"Impeccable timing," Floria remarked. "Thank you for... listening to yourself and not accepting another request for an encore."

Cherrabell looked a little awkward. "You know, I've done this enough times that it doesn't feel like as big of a deal as it once did, and when you invited me to tell you all stories to pass the time while I labored, I figured you felt the same. So for you all to start making a big deal about it after the fact is pretty embarrassing."

Floria folded her ears. "Noted. I merely wished to... I mean, noted."

"So everything's good, then?" Papyrus asked. "Mysterious timeline convergence well and truly thwarted? You're happy and content and at peace with the world, and are in good health along with your child?"

"I'm tired," Cherrabell said. "Beyond tired. And I've got a sore throat from all that talking. And, opening up about all that has made me realize that I'm still having kids who don't look the least bit like me..." She brushed the nascent feathers on her grifflet with a wingtip. "So I've got some thoughts to sort through. But, I'm very grateful to all of you, and can honestly say I'm feeling the best I have in a very long time." She looked up with an earnest smile.

Papyrus cracked a grin at his teammates. "Well, lasses? Case closed. It looks like whatever uncanny similarities to a previous disaster we saw here have been well and truly derailed." He blinked. "We're far enough in the clear that I'm not jinxing anything, right? There's no other shoe about to drop?"

"Not with me," Cherrabell murmured. "And not with my child. Unless by other shoe, you mean having to wait until morning for me to continue that cliffhanger. You won't mind, right? I'm a little talked out for the night."

"Since you mentioned it, I'm feeling a little hoarse as well," Felicity admitted. "Perhaps we all deserve a good night's sleep. There'll be plenty more work to do in the morning, hashing out our future plans. And I can't very well deny Gawain's request to ensure the rest of his household is in good health."

"You too, huh?" Larceny rubbed at her throat with a wingtip. "Wonder if it was something in the food."

Papyrus blinked at the three of them. "What, you're all catching a cold at precisely the same time? Should I not be standing so close, or...?"

Cherrabell chuckled. "No, I just think I've been talking too long. But if you're worried, don't let me keep you."

"I feel fine as well," Floria remarked. "And if any of us did have a bug, we haven't been around you long enough to spread it around." She nodded at Cherrabell. "Perhaps you three are simply up past your bedtimes?"

Felicity yawned. "I can't deny that one. Cherrabell, I'd like to watch you just a little bit longer, but perhaps we ought to see about getting hunkered down for the night?"

Larceny wordlessly nodded, shuffling out of the room. Papyrus turned to follow... but found his path blocked by Braen.

"One moment before Papyrus leaves," Braen demanded. "Braen would like word."

Papyrus gulped. "This isn't a prelude to blackmail, is it?"

"You're getting blackmailed?" Floria appeared over his shoulder with a full grin of sphinx teeth. "Now this, I'd like to see."

"Concerns Floria too," Braen announced, wiping away her grin. "Papyrus and Floria lecture Gawain mightily about abdicating responsibility. Leaving fixing of Griffonstone to children. Giving up. Still believe position to be correct?"

Papyrus smiled sadly at her. "If you want to lure someone into a rhetorical trap, you've gotta be less obvious in your approach. What's the kicker?"

Braen fixed him with her mechanical gaze. "Braen created by Valey and Shinespark to carry on mission of charting future for Ironridge. By Papyrus and Floria logic, that is sin. Valey and Shinespark should do work by selves. Braen should not exist."

Papyrus blinked. "Is that stretching it? I feel like you're stretching what I said. No one can accuse those two of not doing their time, even if they occasionally go all floppy."

Floria nodded sternly. "My opinion on the work ethic of others has nothing to do with whether anyone should or shouldn't exist."

"Braen is glad Papyrus and Floria backpedal," Braen told them. "Existence obviously beneficial, so Braen never put stock in Papyrus and Floria ideas anyway. Now, however, have counterpoint." She pointed a metal hoof at Cherrabell. "Hear Cherrabell stories. See Cherrabell bring baby into world. Even get to help. Experience make it abundantly clear that making new life not easy, on every step of way. Therefore, is not path of least resistance. Papyrus and Floria wrong."

"Now hold on one minute," Floria pushed back, gently chagrined. "You are clearly under several misconceptions. First off, refusing to take responsibility for your life does not necessarily entail finding or having or making someone to pass it off to. It might be unbecoming to leave a pile of trash in the middle of the road, but malcontents can do it regardless. Second, the mare is putting in the bulk of the work you just witnessed; her partners are the primary target of my ire. And third, no matter how much of a burden a status quo imposes upon you, accepting it frequently is indeed the path of least resistance."

"What she said," Papyrus added. "With emphasis on the fact that Makalov did nothing productive or useful in his entire life. Gawain at least seems to have been decent enough to put a roof over her head."

"No wiggling out of conclusion!" Braen lectured. "Tonight, Papyrus and Floria must think about everything Cherrabell share. Many important lessons to be learned about relationship of old and new, from parents and children to change of rulers. Lessons critical for Ironridge to emerge from great upheaval. Braen need competent extra eyes to be sure not to miss any. That why have to set Papyrus and Floria straight."

Papyrus held a wing over his heart. "Then consider me straight as a fun house mirror. Glad you're looking to your elders for guidance, kiddo."

Floria sighed. "Braen, I will be straight with you: you don't talk much, and when you do, you make frequent allusions to this mission from your parents while never being specific about exactly what questions they tasked you with answering. It lends the impression that you have either been asked to take on more than you deserve, or don't even understand the parameters of your mission yourself. I've never met your parents and don't know what they're like, but if you ever need help navigating their expectations for you, you don't have to ask this obtusely. I'll help you, but I can help you better if you say plainly what you need."

Braen stared levelly back at her. "Offer of assistance is appreciated. That why Braen must fix Floria assumptions, so Floria can give accurate and useful feedback. If only Papyrus so receptive."

"On the contrary," Floria told her, "my feedback will be useless if I approach your problems with your same mindset. You need-"

"Ahem!" Felicity cleared her throat, standing right behind them. "If you three have nothing better to do, perhaps you'd like to help me tidy up this room a little for the night?"

Floria hung her head. "Point taken, Mother. I shall see you all in the morning."

She filed out of the room, and Braen left behind her. Not wanting to get caught up in cleaning duty, Papyrus made to follow them... until he noticed Senescey, lurking just outside the door and staring at something held in a wing with a pale expression.

"Hey." Papyrus nudged her, craning his neck to see what she was looking at. "You alright, there?"

"Come." Senescey grabbed him without meeting his eyes, dragging him into the cabin he usually kept for himself. Before Papyrus could question it, she was locking the door behind them.

"This is a strange way to invite yourself to a sleepover..." Papyrus started to joke, though something told him this was a bad time. The look in Senescey's eyes... She was scared.

"You remember what this is, right?" Senescey showed him the thing she was holding, held forth in her cupped wings.

It was tiny enough that Papyrus took a second to identify it. "Your earring?"

"Yep," Senescey said, pinning it back where it usually stayed on her ear. "Remember what's special about it?"

Papyrus gave her a level stare. "I know you like my quips, but the look on your face tells me you should skip to the details. What's wrong?"

Senescey matched his look. "These earrings were made by Chauncey in Izvaldi and distributed widely to the public as concert memorabilia. Their purpose is housing low-level protective charms that prevented certain segments of the population from experiencing certain side effects from certain experiments he conducted. Do you remember what those were?"

Papyrus was all business now. "No. Never got that memo. What's going on?"

"Without these earrings," Senescey threatened, "sarosians get mild flu-like symptoms in the presence of windigo magic."

Papyrus took a long, slow step back as the implications clicked together. "That's bad."

"There's a blizzard outside," Senescey said, in a stiff trance. "I've been wearing these since my Aldebaran days, and never stopped - the storm our ship used to fly caused the same issues if we didn't. But when the other three sarosians on this ship mentioned sore throats, and I felt completely fine, I tried taking it off just in case, and... yeah." She fixed her eyes on him again. "That's a windigo blizzard out there."

"What gives?" Papyrus whispered, stunned. "Why here, and why now? I figured maybe if our luck or karma was truly terrible, we would get owned out of the blue by a space whale that had nothing to do with anything, but I shouldn't have been right! Just, why?"

Senescey shook her head. "Couldn't tell you. But my best hunch? That weapon Cherrabell said she was in possession of before we got her out of the mansion. I think she mentioned using it for self-defense, and the next day, the person she stabbed went on a murderous rampage and assassinated the Everlaste royal family? A weapon like that would be priceless in the hooves of someone looking to start a war."

Papyrus groaned. "Alright, fine. Let's throw aside the less important questions like how they knew or why now and figure out a plan of action. I've got... a silver tongue, and that's about it."

"You're going to be useless," Senescey apologized, shutting him down with a shake of her head. "Here's the real plan: Cherrabell tells us where the weapon is, and I hope the windigoes haven't arrived yet and go get it. Then I hide it. If I'm too late, or get found out anyway, then I try to bargain. I've worked for a windigo before... and my former employer could definitely be the one behind this. Especially if this blizzard isn't actually being caused by free, live windigoes, but our old ship, and they're using it to shut down the airspace while flying in a team of thieves."

"That's a flimsy plan," Papyrus pointed out. "All your calculations assume they aren't actually here for us. If it is this weapon they're after, we could just let them take it."

"No," Senescey said firmly. "I've unwittingly been a pawn in the Composer's agenda once before. I cannot and will not become a bystander as this continues."

"Really." Papyrus raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said being the hero didn't suit you."

Senescey hesitated.

Papyrus waited for her.

"Maybe it's because I have nothing stopping me," Senescey said, refusing to meet his eyes. "Now that I'm trying to give up on this dream of stealing Chrysalis's power for my own. It doesn't suit me. I've ran from it before and told others to do the same. But I want to square things away with this part of my past. I want to be able to look my future in the eye, whatever it's going to be. And I'm done with making messes for others to clean up, Papyrus. I'm not going to let Cherrabell wake up in the morning to see that her home has been sacked and looted by the Aldebaran's newest crew."

Papyrus slowly nodded... and then he cracked a grin. "Honestly, I'm a little jealous of your conviction. But odds are a hundred to one push will come to shove, here. You know that, right? So, want some backup?"

Senescey turned to the door to hide her smirk. "No, you stay here and keep everyone from suspecting anything. Cover the windows and let them sleep through it all. I was one of the top thirty-two fighters in the Empire, give or take, remember? The Composer won't easily have found another crew as good as me."

"...So they won't," Papyrus agreed, making up his mind to do something silly. "Tear up that place like you're Valey in Stormhoof Keep. And I've got a little something to help you on your way."

Senescey blinked back at him as he drew closer, turning to properly face him as he approached more and more. Surprise, suspicion and acceptance cycled on her face as Papyrus closed in, and she finally closed her eyes...

Boop!

Papyrus winked. Senescey crossly rubbed at her snoot. "Dunno why I fell for that. Dunno what I expected. Dunno what I would have done if you had actually kissed me."

"Probably committed some grievous tactical blunder because you were too caught up in weird mushy feelings," Papyrus helpfully reminded her. "And I'd be a terrible friend if I let any delusions about my character haunt you during an important mission, wouldn't I?"

"Suppose so," Senescey said, unlocking and opening the door. "I'm talking Cherrabell into giving me the dagger's location, and then I'll be gone before you can blink. Wish me luck."

"Doubt you'll need it," Papyrus encouraged. "You're a real protagonist now. That means you've got a karmic moral literary arc, or... whatever I was supposed to extrapolate from our last talk. Knock 'em dead."

And then she was gone.

From across the room, Discord poked his head out of the wastebasket.

"Figured I'd hear from you again the moment I did that," Papyrus muttered. "Care to be helpful for a change? Much as I just buttered her up, I have no idea what any of us are actually supposed to do against windigoes."

Discord blew a raspberry. "Helpful, pfft, of course not! You just lost me my bet about who you were going to use that on!" He jabbed a claw in Papyrus's general direction, looking ridiculously mock-offended.

Papyrus shrugged. "Stinks to be you."

"Eh. I'll walk it off." Discord waved his paw. "Besides, the best trick against windigoes tends to be the magic of friendship, and I'm a total noob at that." He cleared his throat, snaked his head closer, and surreptitiously lowered his voice. "You're going after her, right?"

Papyrus cracked his signature grin. "Of course I am."

Scarcely a moment later, Senescey slipped past the open door again, evidently armed with the knowledge she needed to find that dagger and making fast for the stairs to the exit. If she had bothered to look behind her, she would have seen Papyrus slink out himself, checking the other cabins until he found the one where Floria and Braen were holed up, talking about who knew what.

"Greetings, fellow kids," Papyrus whispered, unapologetically interrupting. "I'm rounding up a posse. Want to go bash some monsters?"