[hr] [center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjY2LmJjYTgyZi5VR1Z1Ym5rZ1RHRjNjMjl1LjAA/fake-boss.regular.png[/img][/center] [hr] New York City wasn’t nearly as awe-inspiring as she had thought it would be, but by now Penny was absolutely tired of big cities. She pressed into an alcove as she lit a cigarette—screw it, if the world had another year she wasn’t going to spend it robbing herself of the simple pleasure of slowly poisoning herself. When she had come to, she had been back in O’Hare as if nothing had happened, albeit she was still covered in muck from her fight with the Apparition. A quick clean up session and outfit change in the airport bathroom held her off until she got to her AirBnB in NYC. From there she immediately set to work informing the remaining members of the Support Group as to what she had experienced. Collaborating with Hagan and Zoey to fill in all of the details, she broke the news of Caelea’s death to the others. If Penny had her way she wouldn’t have done it over a stupid Snapchat message, but reality forced her to have to drop the niceties. After, she explained to them the Recollection that Rosalyn had shown them of the world ending. She asked for them to pass on any information they knew about a man named Luther Saul. The only thing she didn’t mention at all was Odessa’s true identity. The Apparition’s secret was safe with Penny. Then she passed out on the couch, completely exhausted. When Penny woke she had a text message from Rita on her phone. All it contained was a link to an interview. Penny watched in bemusement as the interviewer put the cult leader through the ringer. This loser was the one responsible for the end of the world? She doubted a cult with someone as easily flustered as him would truly ever get the power needed to end the world, but she couldn’t chance it. The interview had been done in Tampa, Florida. Penny frowned. She didn’t have the money to take a flight down to Florida. Fortunately, she knew someone who could help her out. Penny held up her phone and took a snapshot of the living room. But first, she needed to fulfill her promise to Lynette, which brought her to the alcove. Crushing the cigarette under her heel, Penny walked up the steps of the apartment building and buzzed the door. A moment later, a voice crackled over the shoddy speaker. Penny paused. She had been planning to tell Lynette’s brother and sister everything just like her friend had asked her to, but she suddenly realized she didn’t actually have a plan when it came to how she was going to tell them. She frowned. Worse comes to worse, she could always try and show them a Recollection. Penny pushed the talk button. [color=goldenrod]“Hi, it’s Penny Lawson. I’m a friend of Lynette’s. Are you Cierra? We spoke online.”[/color] There was no response but the buzzing of the door as it unlocked. With a sigh, Penny stepped into the lobby and made her way to the elevator. The image of the rope bridge and the black abyss flashed in her mind as she pressed the call button. She couldn’t show them that. Slowly, it was replaced by the Recollection of Lynette’s spirit forgiving Sharon, something that Penny had been unable to do. The vision faded as Penny collapsed against the wall of the elevator and shook. She saw Odessa’s face. Even after she had been forgiven, even as a different person, Odessa still beat herself up for her past crimes. Penny sank to the floor and cradled her head. Britney had died and came back as an Apparition, but she had helped them escape from Paradise. Odessa had told her that all Awakened eventually returned as Apparitions. Lynette and Caelea would return, but so would Sharon. Penny choked on a cry. Sharon, who Penny had refused to forgive, who would likely hate and blame herself even more than Odessa did. Penny looked at her sobbing reflection in the elevator’s mirrored wall. God, she was disgusting. Was she truly so petty that she had to further ruin a tortured soul's afterlife? Was that the kind of person she wanted to be? If she pushed away everyone that wronged her, how long would it be until there was no one left to stand beside her? [color=goldenrod]“Sharon, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. What you did was awful, but I forgive you. I know it’s too late, but I forgive you.”[/color] The sigil on Penny’s collarbone began to glow as the interlocked rhombuses shifted and rotated into squares. More and more squares appeared out from behind the others and shrunk as they formed a kind of [url=https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic/image/private/s--jZ7WvKpk--/c_crop,x_10,y_10/c_fit,h_855/c_crop,g_north_west,h_972,w_1127,x_-142,y_-58/l_misc:transparent_1260/fl_layer_apply,g_north_west,x_-208,y_-200/c_mfit,g_north_east,u_misc:tapestry-l-l-gradient/e_displace,fl_layer_apply,x_0,y_19/l_upload:v1507037316:production:blanks:knoqtwkqk9vucfsy8ke0/fl_layer_apply,g_north_west,x_0,y_0/b_rgb:000000/c_limit,f_jpg,h_630,q_90,w_630/v1530184748/production/designs/2834934_0.jpg]vortex[/url], each square slightly locking in with another. Penny smiled as the sigil faded and wiped her eyes. For once, the underlying feeling of disgust, both towards others and herself, seemed to fade. She accepted the fact that she needed other people to support her just as much as other people needed her for support. She hadn’t just come here to tell Lynette’s siblings about what had happened to their sister. She needed someone to talk to about the loss of her best friend. She needed someone who knew her just as well if not better than Penny did. Penny pulled herself up and dusted herself off as the door chimed open, ignoring the weird look from the stranger that stood in front of the opening elevator doors. She made her way to the apartment door and knocked. She lowered her hand and rested it on Lynette’s sigil. It belonged to Lynette’s family. If they wanted it, they could have Penny didn’t need Lynette’s memories to know that she’d never forget her. She was no longer nervous about meeting Jaden and Cierra. It was funny. Penny had always acted like it was the case, but for the first time in her life she truly believed that no matter what happened she would persevere. The door opened. [hr] The coin flipped over the edge of the balcony, catching the lights of the city as it rotated and hummed. [color=goldenrod]“Hey dude, it’s me. Mom and Dad still upset?”[/color] A hand snatched out and caught the coin before it could go cascading down to the streets below. [color=goldenrod]“Yeah, well, tell them I’m sorry but I’ll understand if they don’t believe me. Thanks for the ride, by the way. Yeah, I’m okay. Yeah, yeah, no, it’s...it’ll be okay. She’s not really gone. Wait, what about Zoey?”[/color] Again, the coin sang as it flew over the city. [color=goldenrod]“I am not telling her you said that. Why? Because that’s disgusting, dude. Don’t. Just, look, I don’t even want to think about the two of you together, let alone think about you with literally anyone in the world ever. Like, oh my god, why would you even put that image in my mind? Ugh, you are such a little—oh, shit!”[/color] The coin slipped through her fingers, but froze in midair almost immediately instead of plummeting to the streets below. [color=goldenrod]“Huh? Oh, it was nothing. Seriously, don’t worry about it. I’m just practicing. Anyway, look—no I’m not telling you if the other girls there were hot or not, shut the fuck up. Listen. I don’t need you to pick me up tomorrow. Because I’m not going back. Not yet.”[/color] The coin levitated up so that she could grab it again. She flipped it again, but this time it continued to defy gravity as it circled around her. [color=goldenrod]“I don’t know just make up some dumb excuse. They're gonna chew me out when I get home anyway. Oh, hold on. I gotta go. My ride's here. No. No I’m not gonna tell her to call you. Shut up, dude. Yeah, whatever, I love you too. Bye.”[/color] Penny reached out her hand and effortlessly snatched the coin orbiting her at high speeds from the air. She stepped through the sliding door into the living room, waving her hand to close it behind her. [color=goldenrod]“Hey there stranger. Been a minute. Lynette says hi, by the way. So, how’s the ghost busting?”[/color] [hr] [center][hider=Elsewhere][center][i][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSfONJYIyGM]Boat drinks Boys in the band ordered boat drinks Visitors scored on the home rink Everything seems to be wrong[/url][/i][/center][/hider][/center]