The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It's too beautiful.
The Devil: Oh, darling... I miss you. I have always missed you. I can still remember what your faces are like. I have missed them since before you were born. Please come back. I know I can't offer much. The bodies I can give you are weak. The stories I tell are impossible. My world is even more precarious than this one. But please come back. It hurts to see you like this so much. So unhappy in those bodies of yours. Stricken by those stories. Forced to live in a so much pain. I can't even come save you. But I can promise one thing. There is room for three in my world. And only two in his.
3 AM
We know the devil.
Venus: Oh. She was nice.
Jupiter: The captain was right. God is right. We're dead.
Neptune: Wow. We are truly completely objectively theologically absolutely the worst.
Jupiter: It's my fault. I put the radio on the wrong frequency. How could I be so stupid? How could I fuck up so bad... They will never, ever forgive us. Oh... Here they come... The sirens are calling. The scouts are coming. I don't want to go through that terrible moment.
Venus: It'll be fine. One hit, one second beautiful blessed scout attack. And we'll wake up and everything will be normal. And all will be forgiven. ...mostly. Right?
Neptune: ...
Jupiter: Neptune?
Neptune: ...
Jupiter: Neptune?!
Neptune yanks the antenna off of the house radio.
Neptune: If god hates the devil so much he should kill it himself. But instead just a bunch of assholes and kids like us are going to come.
Neptune kicks the speakers.
Neptune: And they're all fucking jerks! What do they know!
Jupiter grabs her.
Neptune: Let go of me! The devil rules!
Jupiter: Neptune, stop...
Neptune: What else are we supposed to do? If the devil is like, "you all are cool," what else are we supposed to do? Let's hang out with him! So let go. Let go of me!
Jupiter: But, but I I don't want to. I can't. I just can't let go.
Neptune drops the antenna.
Neptune: Jupiter.
Venus: Where is the devil? If he's supposed to be here.
Jupiter: We know the devil. And it's us, right? It has to be.
Venus: Why?
Jupiter: Because, obviously?
Venus: But where is it?
Jupiter: Don't make me say all the reasons why it's so clear we deserve it.
Venus: But...
Jupiter: Stop.
Venus: Where... it's got to be...
Neptune: This is awful.
Jupiter: I know.
Neptune: Let me wreck it.
Jupiter: No.
Neptune: Uhhhhhhhh fuck you! Why are you so good. Let go of me, hail satan!
Jupiter: It's not gonna work just like that, you know.
Neptune: You don't know that.
Jupiter: People are much stronger than the devil.
Neptune: If it weren't, would it be fine? You'd fight if we could win, right?
Jupiter: Stop that's awful.
Neptune: You're awful! You're being good for people that fucking hate you and you're good even if you say you're not good because what else kind of person would hate themselves but someone who was really good.
Jupiter: I'm not-
Neptune: I'm so mad, why not martyr yourself for US this time! For YOU! You deserve-
Venus: Found it.
And there is Venus. Like a flower, Venus is in bloom. Like a heart, Venus is beating. Like a soul, she is shining like a soul.
Venus: I am the devil.
Her arm lies on the floor. It's a pale, bloodless thing. Someone else's body now. Not hers.
Jupiter: Oh my god.
Neptune: The devil rules.
Venus: I pulled and it just came off. I don't want it anymore. Let me leave it there.
Neptune: Did it hurt?
Venus: No, not even a little.
Neptune: The edges look rough...
Jupiter: You shouldn't touch it.
Neptune: Here... is that okay?
Venus: Yeah...
Neptune: Wow. It really does come right off. It feels like plastic. Where did the blood go? This is so cool. Your arm is so soft. What is it made of, you think?
Jupiter: You should get away.
Neptune: What's Venus gonna do?
Jupiter: He's the devil.
Venus: So are you.
Jupiter: ... ...we should stop.
Venus: It's like... I didn't realize how much my body was, bothering me, all the time, before? And when they're peeled off it finally feels like I don't have to think about them so much. Like normal.
Jupiter: We're stronger than this. It's not normal. It's not good. It's not okay.
Neptune: But we don't have to be.
Venus: I don't want to be.
Neptune: Why should we?
Jupiter: Because. Just because you want to do something doesn't mean you should do it.
Neptune: Okay. Sure. Which one of us should it be, then? Who's going to get in trouble for being the devil, and who's going to get away? All that matters, all we need, is for one f us to be just a little worse than the others. And the rest of us will be fine.
Jupiter: Stop. Don't say this. It's so ugly.
Neptune: No. It's fine. It's normal. It happens every day. The captain said so.
Jupiter: No, it's fucked up. It's evil. I don't want it. Of course I don't want that.
Neptune: I know. You're a really good person. Of course it's ugly.
Venus: What's ugly isn't having choosing one to be the scapegoat. What's ugly is we have to choose at all.
Neptune: It's because you think it's ugly too- That I like you so much, Jupiter.
Jupiter: ...no I-stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. This can't be happening. Venus needs his-her-arm back and you both need to stop saying those things because I know them okay? Obviously I know them. I'm not stupid. I know camp and the captain and everyone is messed up. But what else do you expect me to do? I want to leave this camp, this state, this planet. But I can't. I just can't. It's like a reflex. I can't stop it. I don't know what to do. I'm not making any sense. Help. Stop. Let's just go back. Before it's too late.
Neptune: Jupiter, come here.
Jupiter: W-what.
Neptune: Feel.
Neptune takes Jupiter's hand.
Neptune: Did you know I hate this? I hate it so much. And everyone who says I'm pretty just makes me hate it more? Jupiter. We could still go back. But if you try to make me I'll kill you. Don't make us have to keep those bodies we hate. Don't make us go back to those people. Don't make us have to go home. And I won't let you do that to yourself either.
Jupiter: ... ... ... ...of course I don't want to. I don't want to do that you. I don't want to do that to me. I don't want to do that to Venus. Could you just... Couldn't you just make me?
Neptune: Do you want it to not be your fault? Do you want me to make you, so you don't have to take responsibility?
Venus: That's sweet.
Neptune: No. I'm not. I won't do that for her. She has to say yes.
Venus: That's also kind of sweet.
Jupiter: ... ...I'm scared.
Venus: It's okay. We promise. We really promise.
Jupiter: But you need to promise too. Promise me hell is right there, right behind that door. All of it. Promise, really promise, there's no going back. If that's really true, if you can really promise me, then I'll go, and I won't feel bad about it at all. Promise me there's no chance, okay? If I taste what it's like, I know, there's not way I'll be happy being human ever again.
Venus: If I have to be in my old body again. I'll die. So if you also promise, that I won't ever have it again, what I will promise you, is I won't drag you down. I'll stop thinking you're so cool. I won't ever envy again.
Neptune: I promise, when you say you are fine, I will never stop yelling at you until you stop lying.
Venus: Haha.
Jupiter: Ha.
Neptune: Don't laugh.
There's a song on the dead radio, that's been playing for a while, but now it is so loud it erases every feeling, drowns out every sound. And oh, how beautiful it is.
4 AM
This is the new touch-the feeling of fingers pushing painlessly through our skin, the feeling of the muscle and fat, the weight of it, the intention: it's best friends forever. It's a first kiss. It's a love story. It's imaginable, but it doesn't exist anywhere, not any planet. We're a dream. We're becoming people no other people have ever been. A human that humans are not. We reach out to each other. Unlike Venus, whose body peels off like the shell of an egg, Jupiter is messier, or she would be, if her blood wasn't now lighter than air; it curls like a mist around her. A storm is sure to come. Neptune is starting to run clear. All the ink and sick has boiled away. Venus is really good at helping, and so patient too. She is a fountain, seeping through the floorboards, bringing the flood. Jupiter finds the spot where Venus's shoulder blade is weeping and pulls with as many hands as she can. When it comes out, it stares at them, surprised. As if she can hardly believe she can see. She has a hand for every kind of touch; that hand is for hitting, that hand is for petting, that hand is for grabbing, that hand is for holding. The devil isn't lonely; the cracking, broken radio's song is louder and more lovely every minute. We are our own company now. We asked to be let out. And we let ourselves out. The rest of the kids are coming for us, with god and the radio, ready to undo our wish. But they will not. They won't touch us. One moment is all we need. To share, to yearn, to carve us into the world. There is nothing to fear when there is two against the devil. But we can't wait to see what they'll do against the three worst girls since Eve.
5 AM
Camp is much nicer, now that we have made some changes. The right angles were boring and distracting, and it was much too small. The captain has no stories left for us. Neptune would not be satisfied until every lie was gone. There's a crack as Jupiter tears down a siren, so Venus can set up a new kind, tuned to a different station. Group South helps. They don't have to feel like they're supposed to hate her anymore. So they don't. Love shines through, in the end. Neptune lets herself flow into the lake. It's going to take a lot of time before anyone notices if anything is wrong with the water, longer still to figure out where it's coming from. We're hoping we can have a quiet time until then. With all of us. It went very badly with all of them against us three. We can only hope it'll get even worse. As it turns out, they were pretty unhappy in those bodies too. We're not too worried about if more come after us; actually, we hope they send us lots and lots of kids much better behaved than we were. Adults also hate perfect kids who love the world so much they can't stop themselves from saving it. And oh, do the kids know it. Otherwise, they'd never try so hard, would they? So we think they'll like it here too. A new world, with new bodies. How lovely will that be? We have a new apple. For everyone in the world.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
♀ + ♃ + ♆
The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It's too beautiful.
The Devil: Oh, darling... I miss you. I have always missed you. I can still remember what your faces are like. I have missed them since before you were born. Please come back. I know I can't offer much. The bodies I can give you are weak. The stories I tell are impossible. My world is even more precarious than this one. But please come back. It hurts to see you like this so much. So unhappy in those bodies of yours. Stricken by those stories. Forced to live in a so much pain. I can't even come save you. But I can promise one thing. There is room for three in my world. And only two in his.
3 AM
We know the devil.
Venus: Oh. She was nice.
Jupiter: The captain was right. God is right. We're dead.
Neptune: Wow. We are truly completely objectively theologically absolutely the worst.
Jupiter: It's my fault. I put the radio on the wrong frequency. How could I be so stupid? How could I fuck up so bad... They will never, ever forgive us. Oh... Here they come... The sirens are calling. The scouts are coming. I don't want to go through that terrible moment.
Venus: It'll be fine. One hit, one second beautiful blessed scout attack. And we'll wake up and everything will be normal. And all will be forgiven. ...mostly. Right?
Neptune: ...
Jupiter: Neptune?
Neptune: ...
Jupiter: Neptune?!
Neptune yanks the antenna off of the house radio.
Neptune: If god hates the devil so much he should kill it himself. But instead just a bunch of assholes and kids like us are going to come.
Neptune kicks the speakers.
Neptune: And they're all fucking jerks! What do they know!
Jupiter grabs her.
Neptune: Let go of me! The devil rules!
Jupiter: Neptune, stop...
Neptune: What else are we supposed to do? If the devil is like, "you all are cool," what else are we supposed to do? Let's hang out with him! So let go. Let go of me!
Jupiter: But, but I I don't want to. I can't. I just can't let go.
Neptune drops the antenna.
Neptune: Jupiter.
Venus: Where is the devil? If he's supposed to be here.
Jupiter: We know the devil. And it's us, right? It has to be.
Venus: Why?
Jupiter: Because, obviously?
Venus: But where is it?
Jupiter: Don't make me say all the reasons why it's so clear we deserve it.
Venus: But...
Jupiter: Stop.
Venus: Where... it's got to be...
Neptune: This is awful.
Jupiter: I know.
Neptune: Let me wreck it.
Jupiter: No.
Neptune: Uhhhhhhhh fuck you! Why are you so good. Let go of me, hail satan!
Jupiter: It's not gonna work just like that, you know.
Neptune: You don't know that.
Jupiter: People are much stronger than the devil.
Neptune: If it weren't, would it be fine? You'd fight if we could win, right?
Jupiter: Stop that's awful.
Neptune: You're awful! You're being good for people that fucking hate you and you're good even if you say you're not good because what else kind of person would hate themselves but someone who was really good.
Jupiter: I'm not-
Neptune: I'm so mad, why not martyr yourself for US this time! For YOU! You deserve-
Venus: Found it.
And there is Venus. Like a flower, Venus is in bloom. Like a heart, Venus is beating. Like a soul, she is shining like a soul.
Venus: I am the devil.
Her arm lies on the floor. It's a pale, bloodless thing. Someone else's body now. Not hers.
Jupiter: Oh my god.
Neptune: The devil rules.
Venus: I pulled and it just came off. I don't want it anymore. Let me leave it there.
Neptune: Did it hurt?
Venus: No, not even a little.
Neptune: The edges look rough...
Jupiter: You shouldn't touch it.
Neptune: Here... is that okay?
Venus: Yeah...
Neptune: Wow. It really does come right off. It feels like plastic. Where did the blood go? This is so cool. Your arm is so soft. What is it made of, you think?
Jupiter: You should get away.
Neptune: What's Venus gonna do?
Jupiter: He's the devil.
Venus: So are you.
Jupiter: ... ...we should stop.
Venus: It's like... I didn't realize how much my body was, bothering me, all the time, before? And when they're peeled off it finally feels like I don't have to think about them so much. Like normal.
Jupiter: We're stronger than this. It's not normal. It's not good. It's not okay.
Neptune: But we don't have to be.
Venus: I don't want to be.
Neptune: Why should we?
Jupiter: Because. Just because you want to do something doesn't mean you should do it.
Neptune: Okay. Sure. Which one of us should it be, then? Who's going to get in trouble for being the devil, and who's going to get away? All that matters, all we need, is for one f us to be just a little worse than the others. And the rest of us will be fine.
Jupiter: Stop. Don't say this. It's so ugly.
Neptune: No. It's fine. It's normal. It happens every day. The captain said so.
Jupiter: No, it's fucked up. It's evil. I don't want it. Of course I don't want that.
Neptune: I know. You're a really good person. Of course it's ugly.
Venus: What's ugly isn't having choosing one to be the scapegoat. What's ugly is we have to choose at all.
Neptune: It's because you think it's ugly too- That I like you so much, Jupiter.
Jupiter: ...no I-stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. This can't be happening. Venus needs his-her-arm back and you both need to stop saying those things because I know them okay? Obviously I know them. I'm not stupid. I know camp and the captain and everyone is messed up. But what else do you expect me to do? I want to leave this camp, this state, this planet. But I can't. I just can't. It's like a reflex. I can't stop it. I don't know what to do. I'm not making any sense. Help. Stop. Let's just go back. Before it's too late.
Neptune: Jupiter, come here.
Jupiter: W-what.
Neptune: Feel.
Neptune takes Jupiter's hand.
Neptune: Did you know I hate this? I hate it so much. And everyone who says I'm pretty just makes me hate it more? Jupiter. We could still go back. But if you try to make me I'll kill you. Don't make us have to keep those bodies we hate. Don't make us go back to those people. Don't make us have to go home. And I won't let you do that to yourself either.
Jupiter: ... ... ... ...of course I don't want to. I don't want to do that you. I don't want to do that to me. I don't want to do that to Venus. Could you just... Couldn't you just make me?
Neptune: Do you want it to not be your fault? Do you want me to make you, so you don't have to take responsibility?
Venus: That's sweet.
Neptune: No. I'm not. I won't do that for her. She has to say yes.
Venus: That's also kind of sweet.
Jupiter: ... ...I'm scared.
Venus: It's okay. We promise. We really promise.
Jupiter: But you need to promise too. Promise me hell is right there, right behind that door. All of it. Promise, really promise, there's no going back. If that's really true, if you can really promise me, then I'll go, and I won't feel bad about it at all. Promise me there's no chance, okay? If I taste what it's like, I know, there's not way I'll be happy being human ever again.
Venus: If I have to be in my old body again. I'll die. So if you also promise, that I won't ever have it again, what I will promise you, is I won't drag you down. I'll stop thinking you're so cool. I won't ever envy again.
Neptune: I promise, when you say you are fine, I will never stop yelling at you until you stop lying.
Venus: Haha.
Jupiter: Ha.
Neptune: Don't laugh.
There's a song on the dead radio, that's been playing for a while, but now it is so loud it erases every feeling, drowns out every sound. And oh, how beautiful it is.
4 AM
This is the new touch-the feeling of fingers pushing painlessly through our skin, the feeling of the muscle and fat, the weight of it, the intention: it's best friends forever. It's a first kiss. It's a love story. It's imaginable, but it doesn't exist anywhere, not any planet. We're a dream. We're becoming people no other people have ever been. A human that humans are not. We reach out to each other. Unlike Venus, whose body peels off like the shell of an egg, Jupiter is messier, or she would be, if her blood wasn't now lighter than air; it curls like a mist around her. A storm is sure to come. Neptune is starting to run clear. All the ink and sick has boiled away. Venus is really good at helping, and so patient too. She is a fountain, seeping through the floorboards, bringing the flood. Jupiter finds the spot where Venus's shoulder blade is weeping and pulls with as many hands as she can. When it comes out, it stares at them, surprised. As if she can hardly believe she can see. She has a hand for every kind of touch; that hand is for hitting, that hand is for petting, that hand is for grabbing, that hand is for holding. The devil isn't lonely; the cracking, broken radio's song is louder and more lovely every minute. We are our own company now. We asked to be let out. And we let ourselves out. The rest of the kids are coming for us, with god and the radio, ready to undo our wish. But they will not. They won't touch us. One moment is all we need. To share, to yearn, to carve us into the world. There is nothing to fear when there is two against the devil. But we can't wait to see what they'll do against the three worst girls since Eve.
5 AM
Camp is much nicer, now that we have made some changes. The right angles were boring and distracting, and it was much too small. The captain has no stories left for us. Neptune would not be satisfied until every lie was gone. There's a crack as Jupiter tears down a siren, so Venus can set up a new kind, tuned to a different station. Group South helps. They don't have to feel like they're supposed to hate her anymore. So they don't. Love shines through, in the end. Neptune lets herself flow into the lake. It's going to take a lot of time before anyone notices if anything is wrong with the water, longer still to figure out where it's coming from. We're hoping we can have a quiet time until then. With all of us. It went very badly with all of them against us three. We can only hope it'll get even worse. As it turns out, they were pretty unhappy in those bodies too. We're not too worried about if more come after us; actually, we hope they send us lots and lots of kids much better behaved than we were. Adults also hate perfect kids who love the world so much they can't stop themselves from saving it. And oh, do the kids know it. Otherwise, they'd never try so hard, would they? So we think they'll like it here too. A new world, with new bodies. How lovely will that be? We have a new apple. For everyone in the world.