Serenity Sides: Silver's Stars (Part 1) (Patreon)

Hey folks!

It's finally started to cool down a bit over here (and of course it's looking to heat up again all too soon) so it's been pretty peaceful lately!

This week it's another Serenity Side story! I've had a request for a bit of a darker tale, so do lemme know what you think of it! This is only part 1 of 2, though, so you can expect the second half next month, if all goes well.

Enjoy!

She could still see that moment when she closed her eyes.

“Guiding Light!”

The pressure, the heat.

“Binary Blast!”

The blinding flashes of light.

“Final Rest.”

The way the colourful, deliberately outlined ground shook underneath her feet as she ran over the battlefield, desperately hoping that she would be in time. The way the air itself fought against her, pushing her back two steps for every three. The mounting horror as she heard her love’s cries growing weaker and weaker.

“You… pathetic…!”

“Lumen Lance.” Another explosion, another scream of rage.

Christina sped up, pushing harder. She had to get to them, before it was too late!

The world around her spun, splashed in bright sections of colour. There were no buildings around her, no structures. There were only rolling hills, painted in splotches of diligently measured lines and squares.

Once, there had been a city here, a thriving metropolis. Now the roads were just lines of black painted on the ground, the buildings squares of flat grey. Pathways in yellow, parks in green, rivers in blue, all mapped out along the ground.

There had been people here too, once, but she didn’t think about them. Didn’t think about what must have happened to anyone living in those buildings. Didn’t think about all the sheets of paper floating around, the pamphlets lying scattered on the ground, the occasional thicker tome – all with people’s face on the cover, all promising to contain a ‘map’ of a person’s life and beliefs. None of that mattered now. All she cared about was reaching them, reaching her, reaching the top of the hill…

And then she was there, cresting the top, the full view of the horror revealed in front of her.

There they were, all three of them standing together, their backs to her. Those haunting white uniforms that she’d never forgotten, one lined in purple, one in red, and the other in blue so light it may as well have been white.

The Serenity Stars.

She knew them well. In the middle was Serenity North Star, the shortest member of the group, but her presence always rang over the battlefield the most. Her hair was black and smooth, hanging over her shoulders in small bangs, contrasting with her tawny rich skin. Her uniform was the one with the bright blue highlights, her hands glowing with the powers of light she had been ‘blessed with’.

On the left was Serenity Twin Star, second tallest of the team, her long black hair falling naturally to just behind her waist. Her skin was the darkest of the group, a beautiful warm hazel, while her uniform bore red highlights. She was the only one who looked back over her shoulder at the new arrival, but in the dream that was all.

Then on the right, the last member of the team, Serenity Nightmare Star was the tallest – a redhead whose hair was only slightly longer than North’s, her pale skin marked by freckles. Her uniform was coloured purple, just like the aura that burned around her.

The image of them was burned into the back of her eyelids. In her dreams, they revealed themselves as the monsters she knew them to be in real life. Their faces were shadowed, their fingers clawed, fangs sharp, eyes burning with hatred. Vile creatures disguising themselves in human skin.

And in front of them, kneeling on the ground, was the love of her life.

Olivia Meran had never been an especially loud woman, but she had always been passionate. It was that inner fire that had drawn Christina to her, that enthusiasm and energy. The two of them had been a match made in heaven, as far as she was concerned. Olivia had always known what to say to brighten her mood, and she’d always been there to encourage the other woman’s projects in return.

Even now, seeing her like this, her body transformed by the power flowing through her into a living collection of cartography equipment – her legs shaped like silver compass needles, her arms extendable metal rulers, her head hidden by a cloak made of map key references, her face glinting in the shadows like a crystal view-finder…

Yes, even now, she couldn’t help but love the look. This new existence the Olivia had created of herself, her ascension to Desire, it was- It was only natural for her, in so many ways. A better way to make the world fairer for them both.

In her dreams, Olivia was beautiful.

In her dreams, Christina actually made it to her, she wasn’t held back, restrained by that useless Twin Star.

In her dreams, Olivia reached back to her.

But even in her dreams, the words she heard that day still filled her ears with their echo.

“This world will make sense… I will make it make sense!”

“I’m sorry that it’s come to this.” North Star lifted her hand, palm glowing bright with her love’s execution. “But we won’t let you hurt anyone else. Serenity-!”

“No… Stay away…!”

“SEAL!”

White light erupted, and washed the world away.

-

Christina Meran’s eyes blinked open, squinting against the light pouring in through her bedroom window. Today was going to be another sunny day, without a cloud in the sky. People were probably going to enjoy that.

Ugh.

She rose from her bed, stretching in her unflattering grey pyjamas, and found herself staring into the mirrored door of her wardrobe. A woman in her late 40s stared back, black hair starting to fade around the edges. Perhaps that was just a result of stress though, like the deep frown lines that creased the sepia-brown skin of her forehead. Hard to say.

The ten years since the events of her dream and the present day snapped back onto her like an elastic band. In one way, it was hard to believe it had been so long. In all of the others, it felt like an eternity.

Next to the mirror was a hanging picture of her wedding day. There was Olivia, smiling next to her on the steps outside the church. She’d said she’d wear the suit because no one could compare to Christina in the dress. She’d been completely right. Such bright smiles.

As long as it hung there, she’d never forget what they had taken from her.

Getting up and getting dressed was a mechanical affair. Open wardrobe, pick out a top – it didn’t make a difference which, they were all the same. Grab pants, grab underwear, steadily pull it all on one piece at a time, the same routine she went through every morning. Check self in the mirror, brush curly strands of hair out of face, march to door, head to kitchen.

Breakfast was a simple affair, a bowl of healthy cereal, the same brand she’d been eating for nearly a decade. On the door of the fridge was a small collection of newspaper articles, held up by a forest of magnets. They stood out to her as she collected the milk. The one that the top was the verdict against her in Meran Vs. The Serenity Foundation.

“This court can find no reason to hold the Serenity Stars, nor the Serenity Foundation as a whole, responsible for the tragedy which occurred to your wife, Miss Meran. Every record, every evidence, every trace of testimony gathered before this court has only confirmed that they acted with complete propriety. As such, your lawsuit against them is hereby dismissed.”

Then, beneath it, an article from a few years later. Not Guilty: The Serenity Stars did nothing wrong sealing Desire!

“Despite your heartfelt testimony, Miss Meran, the court finds no reason to believe that your wife acted any differently to normal Desires. You have failed to prove that the Serenity Stars were unduly provocative in their engagement with her, nor were they negligent in their handling of the situation. As such, your claim against them will be going no further.”

Finally, at the bottom, CEO of Meran Tech fails in bid to reclaim former wife’s Desire Core.

“It has long been legal precedent to treat Desires and the person that they were before blossoming as separate individuals – a precedent that Desires themselves eagerly support whenever it becomes relevant to them. See: Stone v. Acerosa, In Re AlcheMistress, and the Third Restatement on Desire. As such, whatever legal rights you had to decide the fate of Olivia Meran expired in the moment she became a Desire. Though the court acknowledges your grief, it can only conclude in favour of the Foundation, and appoint them as sole custodians of ‘TerriTerritory’s Core.”

Reminders, all. Things she couldn’t let herself forget. She stared at them as she sat at the kitchen table, her eyes tracing every long memorised word as she steadily devoured her cereal.

Then, just as she was putting her bowl in the sink, there was a clatter from the front door of her apartment. Looking over, she saw a new letter laying on her doormat, the address printed in official looking lettering. She already knew what it was going to say, but still, she hurried over to ripped it open anyway, breaking from her mechanical routine for the first time that morning. Another denial of her F.O.I. request for the location of Serenity’s Rest. Another denial of her spousal rights to see her wife.

She stared at the paper with empty eyes for a long time. That feeling in her chest was stirring. That hot, bubbling wellspring inside her. It always did when something like this happened. When a new reminder presented itself. She clamped down on the sensation, shoving it in deep, just like every time before. It wasn’t time yet. Not yet.

Her eyes flicked to the calendar, and for the first time today – and, indeed, for the first time in a very, very long while – she smiled.

Not yet.

But soon.

-

Jennifer Felt had not been looking forward to today. It had been a black mark on her calendar all month. Honestly, she’d considered calling in sick, or faking an emergency, anything to avoid having to show up for work today – but in the end, that’d just delay the inevitable, and prolong her dread. For better or worse, she had to be an adult. It was time to face her fears.

A meeting with one of the least popular women in Mercury Bay.

It was hard not to know the name of Christina Meran if you paid attention to any local news. She was a staple of the tabloids and a frequent topic on morning discussion shows. Everyone knew her, everyone had thoughts on her. Every few months she would be popping up in the headlines with another loud campaign against the city’s heroes, the Serenity Stars. The reason why was obvious to everyone who knew their history – Meran’s wife had been the very first Desire that the team had fought – but even with that understandable tragedy in her life, her constant attempts to attack the Stars had made her a laughing stock.

And now, Jennifer had a face-to-face meeting with the woman in her actual office. Fantastic.

Meran was a rich woman. Her tech company made millions of dollars in pure profit every year. That was half the reason she could afford to keep her crusade against Serenities going. Despite her politics, she was a frustratingly successful woman, and least in the world of business. In many ways, it was impossible to do business in Mercury without her involvement in some form or other.

As such, when Meran Tech had expressed interest in Jennifer’s IT consultancy firm, she’d not really had any choice but to accept the invite to a meeting. And no one else to really send in her place.

So that was why the blonde now found herself sat in an admittedly glamourous office near the peak of the Meran skyscraper, her hair done up in a professional ponytail, wearing her nicest formal outfit. And across from her…

“What do you think of the Serenity Stars?”

… Was Christina Meran, who really didn’t waste any time, did she?

Jennifer couldn’t answer with the truth, obviously. She liked the Stars – they’d saved her more than once from rampaging Desires. But if she said as much to this woman, surely their business arrangement was immediately forfeit. And she needed the money. Galling though it was, practical concerns had to take priority over political posturing.

Still, she couldn’t quite go as far as Meran presumably wanted.

“They’re, um…. Around, I guess?” She hedged instead, giving a rolling shrug with her shoulders, feeling her collar tighten a bit with the motion. “I don’t think that much about them, to be honest.”

“Oh really?” The dark-skinned woman smiled over the desk. “That’s very interesting, Jennifer… Oh, my manners. May I call you Jennifer?”

Uh. “I… I’d really prefer we not get too familiar Miss Meran…”

Meran’s eyes flashed, her smile growing a touch more smug. “Oh, but we’ve known each other for so long. It seems like a waste of time to bother with these unnecessary formalities.”

The blonde blinked. Okay, this was already starting to feel way more sinister than she liked. “… I don’t believe we’ve ever met?”

The other woman rose to her feet, casually folding her arms behind her back as she walked over to one of the giant windows that made up a wall of her office. “You know, that’s the second time you’ve been wrong in this conversation. But I suppose you wouldn’t remember. It was a very busy day, and ten years is a very long time.”

Ten years…?

Jennifer shifted in her seat uneasily. Ten years ago had been the first she’d really heard of Christina Meran. She’d been a fresh graduate herself at the time, and she remembered the first headlines about the woman who was trying to sue the Stars. This was just after their first real appearance, too. The blonde was well aware that had been the day they sealed Olivia Meran, and made an enemy out of Christina for life.

Of course, that day stood out differently to her. It had been the first time she’d fallen victim to a Desire herself. She’d been in Mercury doing some work on a company’s ages old IT system one moment, and then the next she’d been a stack of papers or something. Her memory of the experience wasn’t entirely clear. It hadn’t been painful or anything, it just hadn’t involved a lot of conscious thought. She’d been very glad to turn back once the Stars saved the day.

Surely that wasn’t what Meran was talking about…?

“When it happened…” The dark-skinned woman was still standing at the window, looking out over the city through the tinted glass, but she gestured with her hand towards a collection of framed photos on the wall. “When my wife turned, I was with her. It was a shocking moment. Olivia had always been passionate, but perhaps I underestimated how passionate she truly was. I saw her turn into this… this divine new form… And I admit, I was stunned.”

Divine…? Seriously? How delusional could you get? Jennifer had only seen that Desire for a moment, but she’d looked like the contents of someone’s pencil case dumped out on a desk. There was nothing divine about her.

“And do you know what happened?” Christina spoke like she was revealing some great secret. “In that moment, when I was completely at Olivia’s mercy? She spared me. She turned, and she began working her craft across the city, but she left me untouched.” Her voice dripped with emotion, certain and right. “Serenities say that Desires take on completely new identities, but that clearly wasn’t true for her. She still loved me. Protected me!”

Sure, lady, whatever. This was none of Jennifer’s business. Screw it, it was time to leave. Meran wasn’t looking at her – maybe she could just sneak away.

“I ran out into the street, trying to follow her. I couldn’t of course, she was so fast… Maybe if I’d managed, I could have protected her from…” The CEO trailed off, shaking her head. “But I remember seeing all of these papers lying around. Scattered to the winds in every direction. I picked one up. ‘Jennifer Felt’, was the title.”

Jennifer, who had been in the middle of quietly trying to rise from her seat, froze.

“It even had a picture of you on the cover. I like what you’ve done with your hair, by the way. Big improvement.” Meran chuckled, still not turning around. “I read you through. Saw your hopes and dreams, your thoughts and opinions, your plans, your, heh, desires… All of it mapped out in such simple, easy to follow terms. It took me thirty seconds to get to know you better than you know yourself.”

The blonde’s eyes widened. That… Was that true? That Desire’s power had been something like that, hadn’t it…?

“And now, ten years on, you’re successful, you’re wealthy, you’re powerful. Just as I predicted.” Finally, the CEO turned back around, her cold eyes locked on to Jennifer. She wasn’t smiling any more. “And my wife is still sealed away in cold storage. And the Stars, the ones who did it to her, who lied and cheated and stole her from me, they’re the heroes of the city. Does that strike you as fair?” The emotion in her voice had turned into pure spite. “Is that justice? Is that right?!”

The blonde stammered, backing away from the crazed woman and towards the door. “M-Miss Meran, I-!”

“No.” The simple word, delivered with total, frozen cold confidence, cut through her protest and locked her in place. “Christina Meran is such a boring name, don’t you think? So formal. So human.” Her cold eyes shimmered, and then, as Jennifer watched in shocked terror, melted into metallic liquid, thick rivulets running down her cheeks. “I prefer SilverQuick.”

-

‘Is that your Desire? My, it took you long enough…’

Finally.

Finally, it was time! How long had she been wearing this human skin for now? Months? Years? Maybe she’d become a Desire on the same day that Olivia had, and she’d just held it back inside her heart ever since until she was ready. Well she was ready now. At long last, it was time for her to have her revenge.

“Why do you think you get to be happy when my wife is gone?” she asked, stepping forwards. Her body moved like it was made of clay, slow and heavy, awkward and cumbersome. She didn’t need it like this anymore. She wanted it quick and smooth. “Why do the Stars continue to elude justice?”

Jennifer was reaching for her phone, stumbling away from her as fast as she could go. Not fast enough. SilverQuick raised her arm and let the twisting power in her chest flood into it. The disguise, the old her’s flesh, melted into silvery liquid and shot forward, stretching into an enormous limb that slammed the blonde into the wall and held her there, knocking her phone to the floor. The vague shape of her hand blurred and melted away as Desire thrummed through it, turning into a liquid blob that pinned the woman’s arms in place.

“I won’t have it!”

“Miss Meran, please-!” Jennifer was still struggling, even though she clearly knew it was hopeless. “You don’t have to do this!”

Ha! Hahaha! Of all the stupid things to say.

“Oh, I knew you wouldn’t get it, Jenny. Your map did say you were always a little slow.” The former CEO slid across the room, following her arm. With every step she grew faster, with every step she grew more graceful. The power of Desire was flooding through her now, unsealed, unleashed! Nothing could hold it back, even if she wanted to try. Her legs were melting together into silvery goo, her unused arm melding into her torso, her shoulders bubbling and drizzling like waterfalls. “Of course I have to. It isn’t fair if I don’t. If you won’t be the map she made you, then I’ll just have to scrub all that territory out instead.”

Her hair drooled down her head, loosing its frizz and volume as it melted into her, covering what was left of her face until all she had was a pair of silver lips. She leaned in, planting them on the squirming blonde’s own, and flooding the other woman’s mouth with her silver tongue.

As she did so, the last traces of Christina Meran dissolved into liquid silver, a shapeshifting monstrosity that didn’t even try to maintain a humanoid form. She simply melted into a blob of flowing silver, draped over her victim – and then that blob began to move up over the trapped blonde, consuming her inside her new self.

“Don’t worry,” her voice whispered into Jennifer’s ears as the silver filled them as well. “I’ll make sure the Stars pay for doing this to you~”

Perhaps the blonde would have protested, but even if her mouth wasn’t full of tongue, she wouldn’t have been able. No sooner had she heard the whisper than she felt a strange, gentle calm steal over her mind, her panic evaporating in an instant. The silver in her ears had just melted through every block in her head, and dripped straight into her brain.

Instantly, a tingling buzz pulsed in her core, her body twitching before going limp, her eyes falling to half lid. The silver seemed to sweep through her inner self, turning thoughts and emotions into silver goop, which promptly dripped straight back out of her, flowing out through her mouth and ears.

SilverQuick sighed in delight as those droplets joined with her mass, those thoughts and feelings becoming hers, to catalogue, collect, store, or erase. Such a delicious treat, the excitable mind of a loathed enemy. So many memories to soak through, so many ideas to sample. She devoured it all, savouring her first taste of a fresh mind, sucking it all straight out of the blonde’s head and into her own silver core.

Slowly, steadily, Jennifer’s eyes began to glaze. Her jaw went slack. Any tension left in her muscles relaxed. Her lungs still pulled in air, her heart still beat, but her head had been rendered hollow, empty. A thoughtless blank. No map required.

And only once she was completely drained did the silver blob start to retreat, flowing off of her captive and gathering herself in a puddle on the floor. Jennifer stood where she had been left, leaning passively against the wall, now staring blankly at nothing. Her clothing had long melted, leaving her completely naked, but neither shame nor the chill seemed to bother her. Her jaw had been left slack, and she’d taken to drooling out a glittering silver film. Even the skin of her face had turned a lifeless grey, one that was starting to spread down her neck and into her shoulders.

But the most striking thing about her now was her eyes. They were pure silver, with no sign of irises or pupils. Utterly empty, just like the mind behind them.

The puddle at her feet took all of this in for a moment, before erupting, swirling up around itself until the silver liquid had taken on a more solid shape once again. Now she rose up to her full height, towering over the empty blonde, her legs smooth and merged together, rising up from their puddle like base to her wide and finely curved hips. From there, her silver form split into a dozen different strands, curling and winding around one another to form an approximation of a body, with several pairs of hands at the ends of said strands clasping together at her chest to form the look of a very stacked bust. And atop it all, a mouth at the end of a long, slender line of silver that looked no different from all of the others, with no face otherwise attached, formed what might have been her head.

One of her silver hands stretch out, cupping the former Jennifer by the chin. The silver mouth hovered over her, stretched in a satisfied grin. “This is what you wanted, wasn’t it? To be free of your Desires? There. Now, you’re nothing.” The Desire laughed, petting the empty thrall’s head, before melting back down into a puddle, and slipping away into a vent.

“And soon, your little heroes will be just the same~”