Myshuno! 1: An AU where Astraea stayed dead
Prompt: An AU where Astraea stayed dead
Universe: The Boolpropian Round Robin Legacy: Generation Eight
Word Count: 791
Notes: Obviously, AU, but does include some of the Astraea-related stuff that went on in Generation Nine.
Roxanna fell asleep on the couch that night. She'd thought she wouldn't be able to sleep at all, not after everything that had happened, but sheer exhaustion finally forced her into unconsciousness, even though that couch wasn't really made for sleeping.
When she woke up, it wasn't quite dawn and her heart was hammering in her chest. A nightmare had interrupted her sleep, despite her exhaustion, and even though she hadn't actually slept all that long (five hours at most, judging by the color of the sky), she knew that there was absolutely no way she was going to fall back asleep that night.
She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, wiping off the tears that had come at the nightmare. She closed her eyes tightly and waited for her heart to stop racing.
"Look who's up." The voice came from behind her and Roxanna turned her head so fast she almost got whiplash.
"Astraea," she breathed, wide-eyed. She glanced at the mirror on the wall, but she was at the wrong angle to see properly. She stood up and moved so everyone at the mahjong table (she only noticed then that Astraea wasn't alone - she was sitting with Carli, Doran, and PT9) was between her and the mirror.
The mirror only showed her.
Roxanna closed her eyes to try to hold back more tears. She wanted desperately to hug her sister but the dead were incorporeal, and even if Astraea was there, no one else would be able to see her or interact with her. She'd never change, never grow old - she'd stay a teenager forever.
"Is there any way to bring you back?" she whispered.
"A bone phone?" Carli asked.
Doran shrugged. "It should work."
"Don't you need the urn for that?" PT9 asked, looking between Roxanna and Astraea. "Astraea's urn was smashed."
Astraea shook her head. "It wasn't. I would know if it had been." She glanced nervously at Roxanna. "I probably wouldn't be here if it had."
All four of them turned to stare at her. "What?" Roxanna asked. "But - I saw - but..."
"I remember dying, and then being in the room with my urn. Susanna...she switched the urns. She switched mine with one that belonged to, um, I'm not sure. Someone else. That's the one that was smashed. Then she took mine upstairs."
"You were around last night?"
Astraea nodded. "I was too weak to leave the area of my urn."
Carli nodded in agreement. "You can't really leave it immediately - the fact that you managed to get even this far away only a few hours later is pretty impressive, Astraea."
Astraea grinned. "Did I mention I like these friends of yours, Roxanna? Cause they're pretty awesome, now that I can, like, actually interact with them. It sucks ass that it's just you and them, though."
Roxanna smiled weakly. "I'm glad you like them. And I'm glad your urn wasn't smashed."
Astraea's face got serious again. "Susanna wanted to resurrect me. The zombies had a bone phone - after everyone left last night, she brought my urn downstairs to use the bone phone, but when she got there it was gone."
"Gone?"
"Yeah. She said something about aliens, maybe? She didn't know I was there, but she was upset enough that she was talking out loud anyway."
PT9 nodded. "It probably was the aliens. If they're going to be studying the zombies, well, it's useful to have the thing that made them to study as well."
"Oh," Roxanna said. Her mind was racing. Her sister was dead, but she was there, and there was a chance to bring her back. The question was, how? "What do we do?" she asked Astraea. Astraea had always had the plans - maybe she'd still have them, even now that she was dead. "I want to bring you back to life."
"Well, first things first, I want to stay with you, not with Susanna. So you're going to go get Susanna to give you my urn. Then it's time to get a bone phone, and the easiest way to do that is to get into the secret society at college - remember how Mom mentioned that?" Roxanna nodded. "Right. So once you have my urn, you're going to college. And you're going to get into the secret society, and you're going to get the bone phone, and you're going to bring me back. Good?"
Roxanna nodded, glad to have a plan. "Good. Come on, let's go. I want to have your urn as soon as possible. And Astraea? When you're back, I am going to hug you so hard you won't know what hit you."
Astraea grinned. "I'll be right there with you, sis."
Universe: The Boolpropian Round Robin Legacy: Generation Eight
Word Count: 791
Notes: Obviously, AU, but does include some of the Astraea-related stuff that went on in Generation Nine.
Roxanna fell asleep on the couch that night. She'd thought she wouldn't be able to sleep at all, not after everything that had happened, but sheer exhaustion finally forced her into unconsciousness, even though that couch wasn't really made for sleeping.
When she woke up, it wasn't quite dawn and her heart was hammering in her chest. A nightmare had interrupted her sleep, despite her exhaustion, and even though she hadn't actually slept all that long (five hours at most, judging by the color of the sky), she knew that there was absolutely no way she was going to fall back asleep that night.
She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, wiping off the tears that had come at the nightmare. She closed her eyes tightly and waited for her heart to stop racing.
"Look who's up." The voice came from behind her and Roxanna turned her head so fast she almost got whiplash.
"Astraea," she breathed, wide-eyed. She glanced at the mirror on the wall, but she was at the wrong angle to see properly. She stood up and moved so everyone at the mahjong table (she only noticed then that Astraea wasn't alone - she was sitting with Carli, Doran, and PT9) was between her and the mirror.
The mirror only showed her.
Roxanna closed her eyes to try to hold back more tears. She wanted desperately to hug her sister but the dead were incorporeal, and even if Astraea was there, no one else would be able to see her or interact with her. She'd never change, never grow old - she'd stay a teenager forever.
"Is there any way to bring you back?" she whispered.
"A bone phone?" Carli asked.
Doran shrugged. "It should work."
"Don't you need the urn for that?" PT9 asked, looking between Roxanna and Astraea. "Astraea's urn was smashed."
Astraea shook her head. "It wasn't. I would know if it had been." She glanced nervously at Roxanna. "I probably wouldn't be here if it had."
All four of them turned to stare at her. "What?" Roxanna asked. "But - I saw - but..."
"I remember dying, and then being in the room with my urn. Susanna...she switched the urns. She switched mine with one that belonged to, um, I'm not sure. Someone else. That's the one that was smashed. Then she took mine upstairs."
"You were around last night?"
Astraea nodded. "I was too weak to leave the area of my urn."
Carli nodded in agreement. "You can't really leave it immediately - the fact that you managed to get even this far away only a few hours later is pretty impressive, Astraea."
Astraea grinned. "Did I mention I like these friends of yours, Roxanna? Cause they're pretty awesome, now that I can, like, actually interact with them. It sucks ass that it's just you and them, though."
Roxanna smiled weakly. "I'm glad you like them. And I'm glad your urn wasn't smashed."
Astraea's face got serious again. "Susanna wanted to resurrect me. The zombies had a bone phone - after everyone left last night, she brought my urn downstairs to use the bone phone, but when she got there it was gone."
"Gone?"
"Yeah. She said something about aliens, maybe? She didn't know I was there, but she was upset enough that she was talking out loud anyway."
PT9 nodded. "It probably was the aliens. If they're going to be studying the zombies, well, it's useful to have the thing that made them to study as well."
"Oh," Roxanna said. Her mind was racing. Her sister was dead, but she was there, and there was a chance to bring her back. The question was, how? "What do we do?" she asked Astraea. Astraea had always had the plans - maybe she'd still have them, even now that she was dead. "I want to bring you back to life."
"Well, first things first, I want to stay with you, not with Susanna. So you're going to go get Susanna to give you my urn. Then it's time to get a bone phone, and the easiest way to do that is to get into the secret society at college - remember how Mom mentioned that?" Roxanna nodded. "Right. So once you have my urn, you're going to college. And you're going to get into the secret society, and you're going to get the bone phone, and you're going to bring me back. Good?"
Roxanna nodded, glad to have a plan. "Good. Come on, let's go. I want to have your urn as soon as possible. And Astraea? When you're back, I am going to hug you so hard you won't know what hit you."
Astraea grinned. "I'll be right there with you, sis."