[center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjY2LmJjYTgyZi5VR1Z1Ym5rZ1RHRjNjMjl1LjAA/fake-boss.regular.png[/img][/center]
[hr]

Penny was shaking. Her vision was blurry but she was pretty certain it was from the tears, not from the after effects of her Abstraction. The second that thing moved she would activate it. She didn’t know if she’d have time to react in that window, but it wouldn’t matter if she used it too soon and broke her sight again. Her eyes narrowed and she readied herself to take a swing as the thing that wasn’t Caelea made the girl’s head turn and grin even wider than before at Penny. She felt a chill run down her spine. She almost didn’t recognize what it was. Adrenaline rushes in the face of horror was common, but it wasn’t often that Penny found herself completely afraid. It also wasn’t often that Penny believed she was in a fight where she would lose regardless of if she survived or not.

The shell of a Caelea's grin hit its breaking point, and the thing disappeared. The sigil below Penny’s collarbone glowed as she enhanced her vision, simultaneously swinging her hand forward in preparation of activating her glyphs. Instantly, Penny started to see spots. It felt like someone was taking a jackhammer to her skull. She caught vision of Caelea’s body beelining in the other direction and immediately stopped her Abstraction. The jackhammering stopped with it, but the pain didn’t subside.Penny grabbed her temples and covered her face.  She staggered but stayed upright, biting the inside of her cheek so hard that she tasted blood. 

The realization of what had really happened hit her again: Caelea’s dead. The pain in her head paled in comparison to the one in her chest. She shook her head, muttering nonsense and disbeliefs under her breath that was punctuated by loud, arhythmic sobs. Penny was completely unaware of her surroundings. She didn’t see Zoey moving to calm Hagan, or notice that the others had actually listened to her call to run, but she knew she wasn’t safe. She wiped her tears, smudging ink from her fingertips onto her cheek, and tried to take control of her breathing. 

[color=goldenrod]“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck,”[/color] she said softly. She continued to quietly chant her mantra as she whipped her head back and forth to take in the spotted world. Where had the ghost kids gone? More importantly, where had the real kids gone? She caught sight of Isla’s beanie again. She caught sight of Hagan’s  barrier again. Penny felt a fire start up inside of her. Zoey and Hagan had been with Caelea. What the hell had they been thinking? Why didn’t they just smash the Apparition? Why didn’t they protect Caelea? She kept muttering her mantra.

She saw the false light of Hagan’s barrier die and her breathing grew heavy. Her face soured. She canned the mantra. The tears let themselves go again, and Penny turned and ran. She wasn’t running after the other group. She was running away from her friends. She had trusted them to watch out for one another, and they had betrayed that trust. There was no way Penny could face them right now, or rather she didn’t want to face them. Penny was quick to catch up to the group of strangers. She slowed down to a jog as she neared them. She made it to them so quickly because some of them were little more than useless deadweight. Penny frowned, shoved the toxic thought back down, and wiped her face clean yet again before she made herself apparent.

[color=goldenrod]“Hey, wait up,”[/color] said Penny to get the group right as Isla stopped them. [color=goldenrod]“Yeah, I think we can take a breather.”[/color]

Judging by how Trent was looking, they needed one and she needed to prepare. She didn’t know how long puppet Caelea would actually be gone, or if they even really were gone. Penny stepped past the group so her back was to them, partially so she could focus and partially because she really didn’t want to deal with anyone’s shit right now, and flipped open her satchel. Her gear, if it could be called that—it was more like a random assortment of junk—was still there. She pulled out a trifecta of Keno cards. On each one she drew a different glyph, shook them dry so they didn’t bleed, and shoved each one into a different pocket. Penny capped her marker and turned back in time just to get embraced.

Zoey wrapped herself around Penny and cried loudly. Penny felt her body stiffen. Instead of returning the hug, Penny’s arms dropped down to her side and stayed there. Her eyes did water, but the look on her face was not one of sorrow but of anger and disgust. Zoey couldn’t believe Caelea was gone? Caelea was gone because Zoey let that thing get near her! Penny wasn’t surprised that she didn’t return the hug. She was surprised that she didn’t deck Zoey right in the face. Penny’s body started to shake, and she slowly lifted one hand to push against Zoey’s elbow to unlock herself from the hug. 

[color=goldenrod]“[i]Zoey, don’t you ever fucking touch me[/i],”[/color] said Penny, speaking barely loud enough for the other girl to hear her. Her voice was thin. The fire in her eyes was balanced by the ice in her words. She knew that her friend was going to be hurt by her words. She smirked, but then it faltered. Penny took a step back and, refusing to make eye contact with Zoey, added a little less harshly, [color=goldenrod]“I just need space.”[/color]

With that, plus a sharp, disapproving look thrown over at Hagan, Penny walked over to a lamppost and leaned against it with her arms folded over her chest. Her eyes narrowed as Odessa suggested that what had happened wasn’t real, but Penny’s skepticism shifted as Odessa mentioned that the Hound didn’t show up. The important question of how Odessa even knew about the Hound was forgotten as soon as Penny picked up on her implication. Technically, Caelea could still be alive because it hadn’t been her time. Penny frowned. Technically, this could just be false hope. Maybe the Hound didn’t operate in Paradise.

[color=goldenrod]“He’s Death, basically,”[/color] said Penny, in response to Isla and Finley. Penny had been lucky enough to keep her time with the Hound to a bare minimum.  From what she had heard he was also a manipulating piece of shit, but she kept that part to herself. [color=goldenrod]“He comes when it’s your time to go, which means that wasn’t Caelea’s fate. However, just because she shouldn’t be dead doesn’t mean that she is alive. There are things that can interfere with the Hound and break his design.”[/color] She closed her eyes and saw the orange light. She blinked it away. [color=goldenrod]“And there are ways to set it back on the right track.”[/color]

[color=goldenrod]“So are you saying what I think you’re saying, Odessa? Is there something we can do? Because I—”[/color] Penny’s voice broke. She shook her head and continued, [color=goldenrod]“Because I really can’t be jerked around right now.”[/color]