Earth started out as a vacation stop for bored Antareans. But it didn't take long to become a battleground for the Second, Third, and Sixth Courts for ownership in the 20th and 21st centuries. Good-bye Siberia, good-bye England. In some realities, it’s a loss for everyone, but The Sixth Court won in this world. However, the colony was soon abandoned due to internal conflicts within the Court, leaving their property to the ravages of the Earth again.
But the Sixth Court wants their green playground back. And the toys they left in Newcrest need maintenance before the big arrival. Whenever that is.---
Much like Windenburg, Newcrest had a stop along the Antarean warp system. Out of all the technology that had fallen out of use, it was a surprise that the warps were still up in some locations. In Newcrest, in the state of Terrebonne, on the outskirts of Tourmaline City, and so on.
It did beat her old home in Twinbrook, where no one won ownership and
all of the Antarean tech was down.
She expected the world to change. She was stuck in an entirely different universe and an entirely different time too. Vega wanted to see the 24th century in a place she was used to, but...U-Rho-34, right? Whatever its number was, that universe was an okay alternative. Sure, everything glowed a little more. The grass looked unnaturally cultivated and green. But whatever. She saw Deutschland and at least that still stood strong.
Newcrest? Of course the big names of Antares first found the place looking much different. They likely vacationed in the woods. Came back to raid a pitiful Earth town. If it had grown in their absence...as if Vega expected it to stagnate. To its credit, Earth tended not to stagnate.
Even her Twinbrook, backwards as it was, progressed on for the century she was there.
However, Vega expected a warp pad that was still somewhat secluded. The one in Windenburg sat near ruins that were still abandoned and as ruined as ever. But once the blinding light cleared, Vega was...disheartened. She was in the middle of a park. It had monkey bars and benches. Skyscrapers towered above and filled the skyline. And even at that early hour, children chattered and humans mingled.
And three stood near the warp pad.
“Did you just come from Tourmaline City? Or do we have to set the location ourselves?”
Just two women and their child.
“You guys can’t even use the warps,” said Vega. And it was the logical conclusion. Antareans always designed their technology to be activated only by Antareans. It picked up on biochemistry. Biochemistry that humans couldn’t even dream of imitating in any century!
“Well, everyone here does.” The woman in the front said that.
It was her first line of defense to just scramble their brainwaves and run. Then Vega counted again.
“Ugh, no way can I do three of them.
Fine. I’ll see which lowlife sold our tech out.”
Vega stormed off. In the distance, she heard the sound of the warp pad taking off. How did humans master that? She spent forever (ten minutes but still) programming the one in Windenburg to work.
And so began her first morning in a while as an honorary Earthling.
---
The long gown Vega wore was a perfect fit for mingling with the inner circle of the Sixth Court. Silky and black, and with a touch of gold around the waist. Add some sleeves, and it was not far from the everyday gown that Imaz wore while governing her colonies. From the real star of Vega to outposts in the Almeisan system, she had plenty of subordinates to look good for. While Ms. Vega Ironstar de Lyra on Earth had, from what she gathered, only three and some simpleton from Sulafat too.
So it was back to something like the fashion she wore in Twinbrook. Knee-length skirts, tunic tops, <i>pants</i>. But without any luggage of her own, Vega had to find the closest clothing shop instead.
All it took was a lazy stroll to find a local boutique. Soledad Fashion, it called itself. Two floors inside a narrow brownstone building, and selections for all ages and both sexes. The mannequins in the window dressed nice, if not quite to Vega’s taste. As a child of the Sixth Court, it was black or bust for her.
She walked through the door and expected humans. Just humans. Not a diplomat from Sulafat, and not...
whatever that other one was.
The easiest way to tell the Courts apart was through dress and colors. Off-green skin, brown hair and clothing? She must have been from the First Court. Vega would have been angrier if the First Court was any sort of threat. Their colonies could be counted on one hand, maybe two if things had changed in the last century. And most of them barely mattered, like the Bodies of Sulafat.
The other one baffled Vega though. Ashy blue skin, like she was from the Fourth. A black cardigan, leggings, and
a dog collar around her neck from Earth. Small horns like she was a foot soldier, at best. Black freckles sprinkled on her cheeks like...Christ, who had black ones?
“Are...are you part of this mission?” Vega asked them, after clearing her throat. “I know you’re not exactly peers, but where do you stand in your courts?”
The green one gave her a look. “I’m flattered that you’d like to work with me, but we’re just recruiters,” she said. “Oh, and Kayoluna. Tier II diplomat for the First Court.”
“I refuse to disclose that, and you can call me Bear,” said the other one. “You’re the other one from Twinbrook?”
“And why would you care?” Vega asked, sneering.
Bear turned around, her face strained. “Well, I have a long history there too. And, ya know, that’s where I found my girls.”
“So...wait, are you making me work with three other hybrids? I was told
peers-”
“You’re a hybrid, they’re hybrids. How much more equal can you get?” Bear asked.
Not all hybrids are created equally, Bear.Vega composed herself instead. “What are their credentials?”
“Mine was a master thief,” said Kayo.
“One of mine was a simple athlete. The other was a mortician and a bit of a rogue who kept the rest of Antares away from our...
her version of Earth,” Bear said.
“And no interstellar experience?” They both shook their heads no. “Wow.
Wonderful.”
Kayo bit her lip and gestured towards the giant, floor-length mirror in the store. “
Anyways, you probably should say hello to Cadmium. Just remember that she from the...uh, one of your oceans.”
“State of Clallam,” said Bear. “It was a town close to the Pacific. I think the Mayat II Spire was destroyed in her world, but it was right below that.”
Kayo’s green recruit from Clallam was easy to spot, in a sea of flesh-colored customers. True to her name, she wore a cadmium-red dress and painted her lips the same color. Her hair didn’t match, though, being a natural shade of ginger. And instead of being serious like a worthwhile Antarean on a mission, she made faces in the mirror.
Vega made a grouchy face towards the two recruiters. “You guys chose that tart?” she asked them.
“She’s not a dummy,” said Bear. “At least as far as I can tell.”
“She couldn’t even work a communicator,” Vega said, her voice in a mean whisper.
“She can,” said Kayo. “I asked her to when we met.”
Vega approached Cadmium, trying to mine her mind. She was only one person, after all, and Vega had given her own mind enough time to cool off since that morning.
Cadmium Jiang, better known by her first husband’s surname: Rust. Legal forms are under her second husband’s surname: Wolff. Really did have four children with a werewolf-
Cadmium gave her a worried look, and interrupted Vega’s mental digging. “Can you not?” she pleaded. “I’ll tell you what I want.”
“I thought it’d be less awkward,” said Vega. “What Court are you from?”
“I dunno,” said Cadmium. “Hey, if I could be welcomed somewhere back home, I’d love that. But I’m just...here and stuff.”
“Do you even know what you’re supposed to do?”
“Probably as much as you do.”
Vega rubbed her forehead in despair. “This whole thing is gonna be a disaster.”
“I have some extra cash on me,” said Cadmium. “I can at least get you out of that dress...that’s why you walked in here, right?”
“Yeah...I used to love sweaters.”
“Hey, I know about sweaters too!” Cadmium beamed ear-to-pointy-ear. “It’s your call in the end, but…”
“Yeah, dress me up.”
Vega latched onto a black cotton blouse instead. It had a gold trim around the collar, as a subtle way to still pledge her allegiance to the Sixth Court.
“You look great,” said Cadmium. “I tried the red one on but you have the chest to fill it out.”
“They’re a curse,” Vega said. “I guess I look as good as I ever did on Earth.” It wasn’t worth waxing poetic about how much she missed the
habesha kemis robe from her father’s family. And where to start with the high fashion of the Sixth Court? But there was so much to complain about in Newcrest. Having to dress like an American again wasn’t high on the list.
“Where are the others?” Vega asked.
“Oh. Out getting coffee. We have all the stuff at home, but the café next to here does it even better,” said Cadmium. “I always find it too crowded there, but whatever.”
“And where’s home?”
“Other side of town. It’s a normal place. Really. We had to fumigate it and everything!”
“But it’s fine now?”
“Fine as anything...I guess.”
The four Antareans stepped outside, once Vega’s new clothes were paid for. She still kept her long gown, hoping that she would need it again.
Bear sniffed the air around her. “Aww yeah. I think there’s a Petsmart around here,” she said. “C’mon Kayo. I gotta show you liver treats! Best things on Earth!”
“Okay...what’s a liver?”
Meanwhile, Cadmium showed off her phone to Vega. She opened up Tinder and wanted some advice. Swipe left for friendly thirty year-old still stuck getting his Bachelor’s degree? Swipe right for mildly-handsome 40-something in the middle of a messy divorce?
“Shouldn’t we be trying to find the others? How long can it take to get coffee?” Vega asked.
“The lines there are
terrible in the morning,” said Cadmium. “Again, it’s why it’s their thing. Not mine. I’d rather get bored and sweaty and awkward by myself.”
“What are they like, anyways?” Vega muttered, while Cadmium still pawed at her phone.
“Eh. Two Twinbrook girls. Apparently you know the type better than I do,” she said. “They’re both kinda tall and purple. Willow’s a big gym nut, and Sam’s a nice fat cook...I like ‘em.”
“So they’re kind-hearted bumpkins? Knew it,” said Vega. “How a mighty species can fall.”
“Humans or Antareans?” Cadmium chuckled a bit afterwards. And Vega just shrugged. “I always thought that Southerners were pretty cool...
hey, guess who’s here!”
Cadmium looked up from her phone, and Vega turned around. There were the purple girls from Twinbrook, with their coffees.
Willow looked fine to Vega. She had a serious face and took great care of her body. Her bulging quads could be seen from next door. But the cheeky, cheerful smile from Sam immediately ticked Vega off. She even winked at her as she took a sip from her styrofoam cup.
“Great Imaz, help me,” Vega mumbled.
Sam greeted them with a fist-pump. “Al-
right! We completed the team!” She tried extending a hand out to Vega. “Samira Racket, but you can just call me Sam if you’d like.”
Vega whipped her hand away. “Sorry, I don’t have any sanitizer on me yet,” she said. “And...
the Racket family?” They were kind-of Vega’s neighbors in Twinbrook. She always made sure to keep a wide breadth between her and them. Vega might have gotten chummy with one of their henchmen, but Sinbad was a different kind of guy. He had no power anyways. Anyways, they ran a giant weapons-trafficking ring, and everyone in town knew, and no one wanted to get involved. What sort of Antarean beauty would fall into the arms of any Racket?
“I dunno what time you’ere from, but did you know Bill?” Samira asked. “Everyone used to say I look just like him.”
Sure, she only saw him on occasion, picking up groceries or pills. He dressed in loads of denim and, like Samira, was soft and doughy-looking. Except in Vega’s world, he was a lifelong unhappy bachelor and deserved only that. “We, as a species, can seduce anyone and your mum chose
him?!”
Samira covered her mouth in shock. Her hooded grey eyes went wide for a second, but it was back to that smile.
“Well, we’re here to be better than our parents’ mistakes, right?” Samira asked.
“My mum didn’t make mistakes,” said Vega. She bit her tongue before admitting
“But I did.”“Pretty cool...have you met Willow yet?”
Willow gave them a reserved wave. “Willow Grave, ready for action,” she said. “Guess I’m the go-to girl for bodyguarding.”
“That...seems about right,” said Vega. “You look good.”
“Thanks, I try...maybe we should check out the house?” she asked. “It’s a pretty cool pad for a bunch of strapping young ladies.”
“Young?” Vega asked. “Is 139 young?”
“Oh...54,” said Willow.
“About 100,” said Cadmium.
“God, don’t even ask me,” said Samira, laughing. Vega stopped keeping awkwardness at bay and tapped Samira’s mind for one detail. It was her foremost thought, with age on the tip of everyone's tongues.
272.
Two-hundred and seventy-plus years old. Incredible.
Willow trailed behind Vega as they power-walked to the other side of town. Somehow Samira managed to lug herself into a fast run and zoomed past them with Cadmium.
“Don’t worry, it took me a while to get used to this strange new world too,” said Willow.
“I can’t believe her,” Vega grumbled. “Does that girl think she’s better than me?”
A/N: Alright, intros for the other ladies:
Willow Grave was originally the second generation in an old Immortal Dynasty,
Eight Avoided Graves (check out dat pun). I don't think she had much of a personality, especially compared to everyone else. I wrote her as a little disgruntled, I guess? But I rarely write characters that
aren't, so yeah. I'm trying to go for mellow/voice of reason here, but we'll see how this goes.
She was indeed an athlete (though a martial artist/acrobat). And actually the hardest of the four to recreate in TS4. She got a lot of her dad's strong features, and heck, her dad was a pretty difficult man to create in TS3.
Cadmium Jiang/Rust/Wolff (whatever) was the founder of a Life States Dynasty, creatively called
The Rust Life States Dynasty (warning for potential broken images), though I initially created her for a for-fun neighborhood where she was the unhappy wife of a wealthy tech mogul. She was a comically disappointed slave to my whims in the dynasty, though I go for spirited wannabe-funny girl here.
Samira Racket is probably the most well-known of these ladies, as she's actually in another active story too, currently being the cute spare kid in
Eight Cicadas...I guess this story is a pretty big spoiler for Samira's lifespan. However, she's the character here who also has the most of an existing personality to work off of. Even though she's about six so far in
Cicadas, I know what she's supposed to be: upbeat, kind, but also a brash rule-breaker.
Bear and Kayo...if I say "oh, totally original characters and just for this story", you'll believe me, right?
And other notes!
The
habesha kemis is the traditional garment for Habesha women of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and I guess the diaspora too. Vega
is probably bothered by how they're all white garments that don't suit her alien-gothic ways, but she can't help who her dad was.
The way I name cities and places might be a little odd to someone who isn't used to
Eight Cicadas, but I tend to be a little stylized with geographical names. It's a mixture of using nicknames (Valentine City from last chapter = Worcester, Massachusetts, as the city is somewhat known for being the birthplace of the first commercial Valentine's cards, to the point where there are
hearts on the street signs), renaming states based on counties or other landmarks (Terrebonne, a.k.a. southern Louisiana/Mississippi, is named for the
real-life Terrebonne Parish), or avoiding
exonyms (so it's not Germany, it's Deutschland like it is in its native language).
I also sometimes rename EA-made towns because...they choose some really
stupid names. Some people might say that Tourmaline City is no less stupid than Oasis Springs, but I prefer "x city" nomenclature to "x adjective y geographical feature" that EA loves (though I tend to keep names that either break the mould or are present in real-life locations. Windenburg and Twinbrook are all fine in my book).
