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An explosion sounded off in the distance as the two lovers engaged in battle; the clash of their swords offsetting the tense atmosphere around them as their whole world crumbled to pieced.
“I don’t think we’re gonna make it out of this one my love”
Her brunette companion turned from her latest defeat, staring into the crystalline blues of her lover and knowing without a doubt that, if this was the end, there was nowhere she would rather be than right here.
“If this is indeed the end, I can think of no better way to spend it than by your side” she confessed, reaching up and caressing her lover’s face, as she spoke.
Out of the corner of her eye, the shorter girl spied yet another of the explosive devices that had been going off all around their kingdom. It was too close to run, its timer counting down the seconds to their demise. Not being one for words and not wanting to alarm her beloved, the blue-eyed girl took her lover’s face into her hands, forcing their eyes to meet for what she hoped would not be the last time.
“In this life, or in the next, I am forever yours,” she whispered, pulling the brunette into a searing kiss as the final explosion rocked their palace.
___________
Juliette startled awake, sweat coating her brow and the sheets below her as her chest rose and fell in an attempt to get her heart rate down and her breathing back under control.
What the hell was that?
She’s had some intense dreams over the years but none that had felt like that, none that had felt so real. She looked up at the clock on her wall and groaned, flopping back down into the soft embrace of her pillows and hoping they would swallow her whole so she could forget this day before it even started.
No such luck. Her alarm blared beside her, its incessant ringing pulling her mind farther and farther away from the land of dreams, although, given the state she had just woken up in, Scylla wasn’t too sure she wanted to return there either. She stared stubbornly at the offending device for a few more minutes before finally relenting. She rolled to the side of her bed, getting to her feet with a huff and silencing her alarm with more force than was probably necessary.
She trudged her way through her morning routine, briefly considering the merits of homeschool as she tiredly made her way downstairs.
She shambled her way into her kitchen ignoring the two pairs of eyes she could feel watching her as she made a beeline for the one saving grace she had in this world. She took a large gulp of the liquid gold, relishing the warmth that spread through her body as she swallowed.
“Good morning dear” her mother greeted, breaking her coffee-fueled peace, “how did you sleep?”
She froze, her dream from the night before flashing through her mind. Dark eyes, a lithe body and… a kiss. She shook the recollection from her mind, the coffee no longer being the sole cause for her rise in temperature.
“I slept fine” she responded, doing her best to refocus on the present and calm the flush she just knew would be very evident on her cheeks.
Her mother looked like she was about to say something else when the rhythmic sound of a horn interrupted her train of thought.
Saved by the bell
“Dear, could you please remind Benjamin that we have a doorbell?”
Juliette chuckled at her mom’s annoyance. This had been their routine for as long as she could remember, it’s a wonder her mother hadn’t given up on the prospect yet.
“Oh trust me, he knows. I’ll see you guys later okay?” she said giving her father a kiss on the cheek as she hurried out the door.
Okay so maybe coffee wasn’t her only saving grace in the world. Juliette couldn’t help but brighten a little as they made their way to school, singing to whatever song Ben deemed the peak of musical genius this week before finally lowering the volume as they pulled into the school’s parking lot, much to her best friend’s dismay.
“They should be honored to be graced with my musical excellence” he had complained once, feigning offense when Juliette pointed out that maybe breaking the sound barrier at 8 am wasn’t everyone’s morning goal. He held his ground for exactly two seconds before they both dissolved into giggles, and made their way into the building.
Juliette's smile widened at the memory, the strangeness of her morning completely fading to the back of her mind as she and Ben made their way to their lockers.
__________________
“Jules you have to come” Ben lamented and she rolled her eyes at his dramatics.
“Ben-”
“Please? You promised me you’d go”
She’d done no such thing, in fact, Juliette vividly remembered telling Ben she would rather do anything else and she was about to tell him as much but Ben was nothing if not persistent.
“What am I gonna do without my number one wing woman by my side? You can’t just throw me to the wolves without backup” he pouted.
The shorter girl was pretty sure that if she rolled her eyes anymore they’d end up permanently stuck that way but then she truly looked at her best friend in the whole world and his goddamned puppy dog eyes and she just knew she had already lost.
Her head fell into her hands and she groaned. “Fine” she lamented, ignoring his whoop of celebration, “but you owe me big time for this, and I’m talking all night movie marathon big time”
“Yes! You won’t regret it I promise!” he promised, gathering the shorter up into his arms for a bone crushing hug.
“Let me down you psycho!” she yelled shoving at his shoulders. Her antics did nothing to his mood though, he had won and he knew it.
“So, about our outfits-” he continued and she settled in rolling her eyes at him just once more for good measure.
She had lost track of the conversation somewhere around the word ‘Prada’, when a telltale prick at the back of her neck brought her mind back to the present. She could feel someone watching her but who?
Juliette did a quick sweep of the cafeteria, freezing when she caught a pair of deep brown eyes staring back at her.
Of course.
“Jules?”
“Huh?” she asked, unable to pull her stare away from the twin abyss.
“Isn’t it about time you guys settled this…whatever it is?” he asked following her line of sight.
“I mean it’s been years, do either of you even remember why you’re actually mad?”
Oh, she remembered.
Clenching her jaw she looked away from the taller brunette and back to her best friend. “Yeah, I do,” she responded. She’d never actually told him the full story, and not for his lack of trying, all he knew was that Calliope Burns was persona non grata, had been for years. He looked like he had wanted to press the issue once more but was promptly shut down when their first warning bell sounded. Juliette was really going to have to thank whatever higher power seemed to be on her side today.
She contemplated this as she and Ben made their way out of the cafeteria, tossing their empty trays as they went.
“So about the party,” he began, “I was thinking I’d come over at like 7 just to give us some time to- oh hey watch out!”
But he was too late, Juliette’s body collided with a solid wall that put her flat on her ass and she saw stars.
“Hey you should really watch where your going…woah”
When Juliette opened her eyes she was not met with the pale blue hallways of her high school, instead what she saw were towering pillars of gold and royal blue, and fountains and those eyes.
Juliette
Juliette
She searched her surroundings for that voice. Did it belong to the brunette beauty that was so close she could reach out and touch her?
Juliette?
There it was again where on earth was-
“Jules!” She blinked and the vision disappeared as quickly as it had been conjured, someone’s snapping fingers replacing them.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked as she continued to stare stupidly at him.
“Ben?”
He pulled her to her feet, a look of concern planted firmly on his face.
“Ben where-”
“Maybe you should watch where you’re going Fairmont”
Her vision drifted over to the ‘wall’ she had collided with and her confusion quickly morphed into irritation because of course, of all the people in this school that Juliette could run into it would have to be this one. It would have to be
Calliope.