The Girl With Pink Hair: Pt. 05

Set on the grass in front of her, there was a table with two chairs. Aware that Jess and Alan had joined her, she looked briefly to either side to get encouraging nods from her partners. The three of them waited.

"I want to speak to you," Elena said aloud.

A mist slowly coalesced within the trees and a dark shape took form. As they watched, it firmed into the outline of a woman. She walked slowly towards them, and as she left the shelter of the forest her image became clear.

Alan and Jess stiffened. She looked like Elena - if Elena had been drawn by an urban fantasy artist. Her hair was ash blonde and quite short, and her skin was much paler, almost translucent.

The Queen was taller and slimmer, and her bearing was the very definition of aristocracy. She was wearing what looked like a fine white leather waistcoat, heavily embroidered with silver over a strappy tee shirt top that laced up at the front like a sort of bodice. The lower half was even stranger, a bead skirt of clear gemstones over what looked like a pair of white jogging pants. Her shoulders were bare except for a wrap that came around her arms and then draped from her wrists; all in white and seemingly made of cobwebs. Her slim feet were barefoot on the moss. As she walked the beads made a noise like shingle being rolled by the tide.

Elena looked down. 'Oh right, now we're walking on moss. A second ago it was grass. I guess this is all mutable.' However, Elena thought the Queen's waistcoat looked like a Dolly Parton hand-me-down and as for the rest of it, well, the Queen needed some serious fashion advice. A lot of her mystique evaporated right about then.

Close up, her eyes were revealed as the very lightest shade of grey and Elena was reminded of a school trip to a safari park when she was younger. The park bus had stopped in the wolf enclosure and while the tour guide rhapsodised about their luck in having the pack be so close today, Elena had traded stares with a pale eyed predator.

Now she wondered how they were even doing this. Where was the cognitive bandwidth coming from? It either had to be from herself, in which case this had to count as some form of schizophrenia, or perhaps the pool of believers in the myth. But then that conflicted with her admittedly spotty knowledge of the telempathic background noise. Maybe it operated like a peer-to-peer network.

Elena was glad of analytical brain's chatter; it kept her from weirding out.

The Queen sat without waiting to be invited and inspected the three of them. Elena settled herself into the other chair and wondered how to initiate the conversation she desperately needed to have. She decided on a direct approach.

"You're hurting me," she stated flatly.

"Only because you resist me," the Queen answered haughtily.

"You are not going to ride me like some thoroughbred mare."

"You flatter yourself," She sniffed.

Elena stared at her for a couple of seconds. Somewhere inside her, a little kernel of resentment took shape. She was getting a little tired of being Fate's plaything. The steel that had pushed her onward during the last ten years was coming back online.

She was suddenly incandescent with rage, the stress and the worry of recent days boiling over. Her aura flared sun-like and blinding. Jess and Alan flinched and leaned away fractionally. Elena's raw power was nothing short of terrifying.

"That's it, we're done here," Elena growled, jabbing a finger in the royal visage as she rose from the chair to loom over the Queen. "I'll fight you every inch of the way, and if I ever think I'm really going to lose I'll throw myself off a bridge."

The Queen looked thoroughly disconcerted. She stared uncertainly at the accusatory digit and then up to the glowering Elena.

Jess and Alan looked at each other. They could feel an urge to join in, to lend themselves to Elena's cause. The narrative was seductive. Whatever was happening here had gone in scant moments far beyond an exploratory meeting.

Elena abruptly turned on her heel and pushed between the two of them.

"Wait, love!" Jess called as the environment started to unravel.

***

As they came back to consciousness Elena was still fuming. "The arrogance of that thing!"

"I think hot chocolate is in order," Alan said, as he stole towards the kitchen.

"Coward!" Jess shouted over her shoulder as she put a comforting arm around her girlfriend. "Look on the bright side, love. You faced her down and she didn't look nearly as confident when you exploded."

Elena relaxed a little and chuckled. "I did rather go off on one, didn't I?"

Jess hugged her hard. "Just a bit, love, just a bit." Privately she thought that Elena and the Queen were well suited.

"What do I do now?" Elena mumbled into Jess's shoulder.

Jess thought hard for a moment. "I think you try again. Hold out an olive branch."

Elena nodded, feeling a little more confident. That night she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. No demons from her surreal current life interrupted proceedings. When she awoke the following morning, she felt revitalised.

***

The safe house 1pm, 3 ^rd June

After lunch the following day, they decided to try again, this time without Alan and Jess to accompany her in the dreamscape. The two sat beside the bed holding her hands as she relaxed into the trance-like state they'd taught her to access.

She materialised in a place like something out of a Jane Austen novel. In the distance was a grand country mansion that looked vaguely familiar. She had an inkling that that was where they would meet. Something befitting the status of a Queen.

As she walked up the verdant grassland, her shoes and the bottom of her trousers grew wet with dew. She glared at her feet. Surely if this was her imagination, could she not make up something less uncomfortable? Then it started to rain, and she squinted up at the formless grey sky.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding!" she shouted at the firmament as she trudged towards the house.

They met under the eaves of the house, standing at a corner with their backs to it on different sides. The rain made a gentle susurrus as it fell into the park.

"You came," the Queen said.

"Yes. I keep my promises."

There was silence for a time and then, "Can you really not bear to look at me?"

The Queen's voice was strange, and Elena frowned. She didn't sound hostile or predatory, more ... curious, as if Elena's fear did not compute.

"I'm afraid of you," Elena said shortly.

There was another hiatus while they watched the rain. Then-

"I am only your potential. What you could be if you allowed it."

"I don't want to be a Queen!" Elena cried vehemently, her voice ringing out across the park. The raindrops danced on the surface of the water of a lake that had not existed a moment ago. It appeared they were at Chatsworth; a grand old pile Elena had once visited on a school trip. She remembered skiving off with a couple of friends to experiment with smoking in the woods on the hill behind the house.

"But you could be," the Queen said patiently.

Elena pushed herself away from the wall and went to stand where she could see the avatar. The Queen's eyes slid sideways to meet her, but otherwise she stayed where she was, leaning against the house. Elena staggered, it was like looking into the mirror from the Harry Potter books, the one that showed you your heart's desire. This woman could bestride continents, command armies, cow the brave and smite the unbeliever. She was amazing, beautiful, terrifying.

"All shall love me and despair," Elena said under her breath.

The Queen's mouth quirked. "If you want."

There was a lengthy pause before Elena said quietly, "But I don't want."

"Then there is a problem," the Queen said. "Because from time to time there are unbelievers that need smiting. And those present, whether ordinary or extraordinary, must step up to the plate. Destiny does not care whether they wish to. The circumstances require it. You are clever, brave-"

"I wish I believed you." Elena muttered.

The Queen laughed. "Remind me again who it is that I'm talking to! You who can describe spacetime with but a pencil and paper. You who can encompass the Universe with your mind alone! Your enemies should fear you, Elena, every waking moment you are more than they will ever be."

"That's a pretty speech," Elena sneered. "You should go into politics."

The Queen shook her head in frustration. "You stupid girl!"

It was Elena's turn to laugh. "A moment ago I was strumming the galaxies and now I'm a dullard? We're done here."

She surfaced from her unconscious and chuckled.

"That sounds promising!" Alan murmured beside her. Jess had disappeared into the living room once she was sure that Elena was in control.

Elena sat upright and took a moment to collect herself. Then she swung her legs on to the floor and got out of bed. She felt ... good. The Queen had not overwhelmed her; she had held her own against the avatar's persuasions. "Fuck you," she muttered quietly to herself and then trotted next door to the comfort of Jess' arms. She snuggled against her girlfriend on the sofa, cradling the warm porridge Alan had made, brown sugar and thick cream swirled on top of the beige oats.

"How was she?" Jess asked.

She hesitated before dipping her spoon in. "Cross."

***

The safe house 3pm, 3 ^rd June

Later that day, the three of them lounged on the sofa, shorn of their smart phones, and trying to fill their attention deficit with daytime television. Elena wrinkled her nose, the content for a passive audience being no better than thin gruel, but she remembered people at her old house in Exmoor Place who'd had the television on from morning to night.

Jess got to her feet. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'm going to go spare if I have to watch any more of this, this ..." she trailed off, flapping her hand at the big flatscreen.

Once out of the ground floor lobby, Elena directed them down an alley at the side of the block. In response to Jess and Alan's apprehension, Elena said, without looking round, "I know this place like the back of my hand. We'll be at the main road in five minutes."

"Never knew what it would be like to do this without a phone," muttered Jess, feeling acutely out of place and ignorant of her location. Alan squeezed her hand in response.

"It's the middle of the day," Elena said. "We're unlikely to run into trouble but keep your wits about you."

Jess and Alan knew that their passive senses would alert them to any ill will, but Elena seemed self-conscious and brittle, and they remained silent. On the other side of the busy main thoroughfare, Jess turned to look back across the road.

"That is so weird! It's like there's a proper dividing line between that place and this."

"Yup," Elena said. "That place stays over there."

A few minutes later found them in a café, and they sat in the window.

Alan ordered a ham sandwich, which, when it arrived, turned out to be a slice of mechanically reclaimed meat between two pieces of cheap bread; the meagre ensemble chilled to the point of tastelessness. Elena shuddered and resolved to find some ingredients to improve their meals. However, she felt better being out of the estate.

Alan was speaking. "You might be able to come to an understanding with the Queen but there's no chance of that for me and Jess. We're too deep in the narrative."

"So who's behind all this?" Elena asked.

Alan shrugged. "The Elect are the obvious culprits. Bit too obvious if you ask me."

Elena shivered as she remembered Jess telling her about the wilder ideas of the elitists. "Why?"

"The Elect don't care. Create as much chaos as possible, thin out Sapiens by a goodly chunk and try to come out on top."

Elena and Jess stared at him in horror.

"What can we do?"

"Try not to turn into the Slànaighear. Elena's not become the Queen so there's a slim chance but we're fighting the collective belief of millions of people."

As Alan and Jess went through their predicament for the nth time, Elena sat, gazing out of the window at the traffic. Where was she going? Where were any of them going? She felt like the ball on a pinball table, bouncing aimlessly from one situation to the next. She was now so far from any concept of a planned life that existential despair was a constant threat.

In her ennui her eyes drifted unseeing until they focused on a poster for a production of Hamlet at the town theatre.

Suddenly an idea dipped it's toe in her head, and a giggle bubbled up her throat. Her partners eyed her warily. Then Elena's aura exploded with the yellows and greens of excitement and creativity. Jess seized her hands and Alan was half over the table, staring at her, his aura a wild mixture of white hope, grey dread and silver anticipation.

"What is it, love? What are you thinking?"

Elena turned to her partners, her eyes wide. "Have you ever considered acting?"

Alan and Jess stared at her in bafflement. "What on earth do you mean?"

"When the players take the stage in Romeo and Juliet, does Tybalt think he's actually going to die? Do the lovers think that one will take poison and the other stab themselves? No! But that doesn't make the narrative any less powerful for the audience. We don't have to be the Trinity; we just have to act like it!"

Alan put his head on one side and considered it. He was the intended vessel for the Shadow after all.

"It would be impossible if we were all Folk, but you're not. Up until very recently you were a mundane. You know this is a sham, you could keep our heads above water."

'Yes. This is good. You're thinking at last,' whispered a papery voice inside him and he shuddered. Elena looked at him worriedly, but he shook his head. "M'okay."

Jess clutched at him hopefully. "Could we? Could we really?"

***

And she goes wherever she likes

The estate 4pm, 3 ^rd June

They left the café in high spirits as a path out of their troubles started to appear. Unfortunately, as they turned a corner in the estate, they found themselves face to face with a group of young men.

A mixture of skin tones were sprinkled liberally with tattoos. The ubiquitous hoody partnered designer trainers and urban camo trousers; the latter hung with an assortment of heavy chains.

"Whoa! Ladies!" one called as they sauntered towards them.

Elena felt Jess and Alan reach out to try to discourage them but beyond a few puzzled looks the dynamic was unchanged. They were too many and too confident. On their manor they had a home advantage, it was the Trinity that was out of place, and they were surrounded in short order.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jess saw one of them finger Elena's lapel and anger started to build inside her, but they were vastly outnumbered, and any nonsense would get them a serious kicking. She felt so wired that she feared she was about to have a panic attack and inhaled slowly and deeply to try to calm her fluttering heart.

Still ... it was Elena!

Her own surroundings faded into tunnel vision as she saw Elena stand ramrod straight while some young bravo leaned deep into her personal space. The pressure mounted inside her until it was beyond endurance. Then she cracked. Caution be damned! They dared to be familiar with her beloved!

Something in Jess shook itself to loosen up and clicked into alignment. The world was suddenly hyperreal as if before she had looked through a glass darkly.

The quantity of information about her environment was prodigious. She knew the angle of the sun and the rate at which it was changing, the exact distance to the nearby buildings, the qualities of the air on her skin and the state of the ground beneath her feet and how those variables would influence what she did next.

She was aware of the precise location of every individual, their posture, their mass, their intentions, and ranked them in order of priority by range and threat capability. Top of that list was the young man confronting the Queen. Jess dithered for possibly as many as fifteen milliseconds before deciding that it was Elena she was protecting.

'Now do we act?' The Sword asked.

"Now we act," Jess confirmed, amazed at her ready acceptance of the avatar as she began the most perfect dance imaginable.

'Target #1 acquired ...'

Up on her toes, her hand flicked out to break his wrist. She pivoted, lashed out, and there was a scream as another's jaw was dislocated. To the mortal eye she was no sooner there than gone again.

Raw surprise started to be counterpointed with shouts of panic. In moments she'd disarmed the troops. Weapons, mostly knives and a couple of stout iron bars, clattered to the ground as if tipped out of a box. A young man was bent double, clutching his face, gasping and swearing as blood ran from between his fingers. Some turned to run, others crossed themselves and one whispered "Who the fuck are you?"

Jess came to a halt in front of Elena and Alan and stood with her feet slightly apart and fists clenched by her sides. Her eyes were ferocious. Her partners looked past her to the youths. Elena inclined her head and they started to melt away. Inside her, the Queen gave a nod of satisfaction. Elena was starting to become used to having another internal voice. It was less unsettling now that she had a measure of control and an ongoing negotiation.

"Well that answers that," murmured Alan. Elena nodded.

"Jess?" she asked.

"My Queen?"

"No," Elena said firmly, "I want to speak to Jess. You can stand down, soldier. Rest easy."

Jess relaxed and her eyes widened, her aura fizzing with yellow excitement. "That was amazing! I wanna do that again!"

"You've created a monster," Alan observed drily, and Elena gave him a severe look.

Jess was still skipping lightly from foot to foot, high on adrenaline and whatever eldritch power she had been mainlining. "I feel, I feel ... like Valkyrie! I need a spear!"

"Do tell," Elena said, amusedly, all recent tension defused.

"Leader of Odin's Shield Maidens and Thor's girlfriend!"

"Does that make Elena Thor then?" Alan asked, playing along with Jess' hyped up MCU fangirl.

"Nah! She's the Scarlet Witch!" Jess said excitedly.

Alan struck a pose and twirled an imaginary cape around him, bringing his arm up to his face. He looked over the top of his wrist at them and waggled his eyebrows. "Therefore I am Doctor Strange!"

He looked around him in dismay, "Say, where is my cape?"

"No capes, darling, no capes. Remember what happened to Thunderhead and Stratogale?" Elena said firmly. Alan chuckled.

"No fair!" Jess shouted. "I wanna be Valkyrie!"

"Why not Wonder Woman? Gal Gadot is way hotter than Tessa Thompson."

Jess stamped her foot. "Valkyrie!"

Some of the toughs had paused in their retreat and turned to watch this curious tableau in obvious bafflement. The Trinity took no notice as they made their way back to the safe house, still joking and arguing.

***

The Shadow persona was surprisingly sanguine about the idea of Alan simply pretending to play the part.

'This will work. You just need to take my advice into account.'

Jess was a blur, terrifyingly quick. Elena would have given her good odds against an infantry detachment. And she couldn't work out how Jess was performing super-human feats when there was no physical mechanism.

"How is she doing this? How can she move so fast?"

The Shadow had a theory. "The Folk have very minimal telekinetic powers. If they were enhanced to a significant degree, then that could account for the observed phenomena. However, as my Queen is about to complain,"