The day passed painfully slowly. They all remained in their separate dimensions. Eating, training, staring at the wall. Each hour felt like 1000, and there was nothing they could do about it. After what felt like forever, the timer went off. The lag from being in dimension #2011 was gone, and they were all back at 100%. With no chip tracking them, they opened a portal to dimension #3984.
Dusk was the first to go through, landing in the bathroom of a coffee shop, dressed in his workout outfit with some of the parts from his old uniform, amalgamating to a white compression shirt with his black cargo pants that hid special compartments in the pockets for his pocket knives and the strap for his sword holster slightly straining against his chest. The sky seemed unreasonably dark from outside the mirror, but when he stepped through, it was sunset. The stars that had appeared shone purple while the sun, clouds and moon stayed black.
Crescent was next to go in, coincidentally landing in the same coffee shop as Dusk chose. She essentially wore her uniform as is, only really changing the socks from those dreadful thigh-high ones to ankle socks and knee-high boots. Other than that, she wore the same sleeveless mock-neck bodysuit under grey shorts which had a black line across the bottom and a belt that held two pouches of water for her to use when needed. When she entered, the sky changed again. Not quite night, but the sun was almost entirely down. The moon went from its darkness to a blue half-moon, and the temperature went down significantly.
"The hell?" Dusk muttered, squinting at the sky in confusion. Crescent looked at him, confused at his behaviour.
"The moon was just dark… and like… the sky was lighter… way lighter… how could it change so fast?" He spoke up, turning to face her, praying he doesn't come across as insane. Crescent gives him a skeptical look, but before she speaks the sky lightens up again, but somehow the stars are still visible, the clouds red and the sun higher up while the moon shifts again, going from a half moon to a gibbous.
"The hell?" Crescent muttered.
"See!" Dusk yelled, louder than necessary. They stayed in the shop for a bit before deciding to leave, walking out into the street. It was ethereal. From the tall cathedral-like structures to skyscrapers, some neighbourhoods were in the air, with waterfalls coming down from them, and large parks of grass and flowers bloomed despite the cold weather. It should've looked incoherent, but it weirdly worked. They walked down the streets, looking around for either Riven or solar. During the search, the sun also came into colour, shining yellow. The moment it did, Crescent flinched a bit.
"Solar's here." She murmured, earning a confused look from dusk.
"You good?" He asked, holding her back and shoulder to help steady her a bit. It was a weird sensation. He flipped his hand to feel her skin with the back of his hand.
"You're a lot warmer than usual… like, a lot; you're usually freezing." He touches her cheek, but she brushes him off.
"I'm fine… When Solar and I are in the same dimension, our body temperatures get all weird until we touch. I'll be fine when we find her." She says, shrugging off the uncomfortable heat.
"She's probably pretty far; it's not that bad. Let's walk around for a bit. We'll find her eventually." Crescent said, beginning to walk again. Dusk followed suit, taking two long strides to catch up before falling into step beside her, taking her hand while they walk.
Every person was almost the exact same; it was kind of eerie. That being said, they didn't appear to be out of place. Everyone who roamed the streets was some shade of grey, varying in body type; none of them had ears, mouths or noses. Just these bright, almost glowing white eyes. They didn't appear to be wearing anything, but they weren't explicitly naked either. It was as if they didn't have the usual anatomy of a human despite somewhat taking the shape of one.
They try to play the hot and cold game again, but Crescent's temperature never really changes no matter where they go. Dejected, they sat by a bench to rest for a while while they figure out how they'll reach the other two. As they talk, a small figure approaches them. Light grey, almost white. From her shape, presumably a little kid.
As it makes eye contact with them, one eye turns blue and the other purple.
"The red and yellow ones are heading to the clock tower." It says. no mouth forming when it spoke so It's difficult to decipher where its sound comes from. They look to the small figure, following its finger as it points to a giant clock tower, seemingly at the heart of this place, each quarter glowing either blue, red, yellow or purple. How the hell did they miss that before?
"Umm… Thank you?" Dusk says, looking to the small figure. It tilts its head a bit, technically expressionless, but if it had a mouth, it would probably be smiling. It says nothing else, so the two stand up and head towards the giant clock.
Throughout the walk, nothing about Crescent's temperature changes. After a while, they can spot Solar and Riven, sitting together by the bench… well, Riven's sitting on the bench, taking up way more space than necessary, and Solar is yelling for him to 'move his long-ass chicken legs' with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Glad you two are getting along." Dusk jokes, earning a glare from Solar. She aims a finger at him and shines a faint light beam in his eyes just bright enough to hurt without. Dusk winces, shutting his eyes and looking away.
"That's weird…" Crescent says, ignoring Dusk's whining. Riven looks up at her, tilting his head in questioning.
"You also noticed it?" Solar spoke up, facing Solar again.
"It's hard not too." Crescent responded. Dusk finally stopped rubbing his eyes, blinking his vision back as he faced the group again.
"Is this about the temperature thing?" He asks, Riven raising a brow.
"Temperature thing?" He questions, looking at the other three. Dusk smirks a bit
"So Mr Know-It-All, in fact, doesn't know everything." He says, not even trying to mask his amusement in knocking Riven down a few pegs. Riven rolls his eyes, waiting for someone to explain.
"Usually when Crescent and I are in the same dimension, she gets really hot and I get really cold; the closer we are, the worse it is. But aside from being a little chilly, I feel fine. I take it you're the same?" Solar asked.
"Yeah, it's a little warmer than usual, but other than that, I feel fine." Crescent confirmed. Riven paused for a minute, looking between the two girls, considering something before slightly nodding to himself and staying quiet.
"Quit being a dick. What do you know? I know you know something. You have that stupid look in your eyes." Crescent spat, annoyed.
"Aww, you're looking into my eyes. We should get back—"
"Fuck off." Crescent cuts Riven off, walking inside the clock tower, Riven following suit with an annoying smirk on his face. Solar and Dusk follow behind them, sighing as the two exes bicker in front of them.
"Are they always like this?" Solar asked, turning to face Dusk. He chuckles, watching Crescent cover Riven's mouth with water.
"No… they're usually worse. Welcome to the circus, Nightlight." He smiles, patting her back.
They pick a room to plan in and all settle on a couch or in a chair.
The objective was already set, so there was no need to discuss that. The main thing was the method. They kind of knew what they planned to do. Split into teams and cause destruction. It's pretty simple in theory. The issue came from trying to decide what the teams should be. The discussion lasted quite a while. Dusk argued that he should go with Crescent since they're well adapted to each other's fighting styles and know how to work well together. Riven argued that Solar should go with Dusk since Dusk is better at adapting. Solar and Crescent going together was immediately off the table given that they can't split up when needed, so at least it was now a matter of deciding who Solar goes with.
In the end, they decided on Riven and Crescent, much to her dismay, and Dusk and Solar, mainly because Dusk is good at gelling with others and because Riven's and Crescent's powers can do a lot of damage together.
In the event of an emergency, whoever is in trouble must return to their own dimension and heal. Prioritise your life.
"How do you even destroy a dimension?" Dusk asked, looking to Solar.
"When a dimension receives a certain amount of physical damage, its core will appear at the heart. Break the core and get out as soon as possible." Solar explained, the others listening intently, nodding after as they all stood to depart.
"We all meet back here after each trip."
Dusk and Solar went back to dimension #2011 to ask Raiden if she could make a device that would allow them to communicate with each other even if they were in different dimensions, and Riven and Crescent went into one of the island dimensions, #8229.
—
Dusk and Solar walked through the mirror, seeing Raiden on the torn couch in the far end of the room, staring at the ceiling and eating a bag of chips with her headphones on while Ashton reattached the robotic finger she made onto a weird man with clown make-up on.
"Who's the clown?" Dusk asked, grinning. Jester gasped dramatically, placing the hand Ashton was working on on his chest, the finger falling to the ground with a loud clink.
"Clown? I am a jester, thank you very much!" He huffed, feigning offence with a petulant pout plastered on his face. Solar blinked twice, leaning in to speak quietly so that only Dusk would hear.
"Isn't that like the same thing?" She asked, not bothering to mask the confusion on her face. Dusk turned to face her, bending down a bit, amused by the strange man.
"Who knows? Who cares? I like this guy; he's funny." He chuckles as he watches Ashton pick up the abandoned finger and yank Jester's arm back.
"This is Jester. He's an annoying prick and a regular here. Jester, these are Crescent's friends." He introduces them, returning to attaching Jester's fallen pinky finger. Jester smiles at them.
"Ah! Little Moon's friends! How exciting to meet my little sister-in-law's friends!" He beams, clearly not being serious.
"Little sister in law?" Solar asked, fighting a laugh. Dusk makes no such effort.
"Well of course! When I find my little brother, I know the two will hit it off. Little Moon is a blast!" Jester responded, grinning wide, showing his almost full set of teeth. Ashton sighs and flicks his forehead before turning to face the duo again.
"What do you guys need?" Ashton asked.
"We need Raiden to help us with something," Dusk stated. Ashton nodded, picking up a pillow and tossing it at Raiden, who didn't take the action too well, scowling as she sat upright again.
"You little – oh. Hi, guys!" She yelled, her scowl disappearing, replaced with a smile once she saw Dusk and Solar, waving at the two.
"Hey kid, we need your help with something!" Solar yells back, waving alongside Dusk. Raiden nods, standing up and leading them to the other room to discuss things further.
—
Crescent walked ahead as they arrived in the dimension, not caring if Riven was near or not. He was, of course, his long legs having no trouble keeping up with Crescent's fast steps.
"Slow down, Arvella~ There's no rush." He said, putting his arm around Crescent's shoulders before she pushed it off.
"You know my name; quit calling me that." She responds, crossing her arms and picking up the pace once again. Riven smirked and jogged two steps to catch up before falling into step with her once again. Once they began seeing signs of civilisation, Crescent climbed up into the tallest tree she could see, scouting from above. Rivin followed, manipulating the wind to make himself fly, looking down with Crescent.
"This would've been a pretty honeymoon spot, don't you think, Arvella~?" He asked, leaning closer, that smirk never leaving his face. Crescent's eye twitches before she closes her eyes, takes a breath and continues scouting.
"Well, that doesn't matter, because we will never be married." She stated, keeping her eyes on the area below them. Riven leaned in closer, speaking quietly in her ear.
"Never is a strong word. I already told you I don't care anymore. I forgave you so—" He's cut off when Crescent finally turns to face him, pushing him back, doing her best to mask her emotions.
"Listen, now isn't the time for your stupid lack of self-respect. Let's just focus on wrecking the place!" She yells, glaring at him. His face falters for a minute before smirking again, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, you're the boss, love. Don't yell at me to much; you know what it does to me~" He said, earning a deeper glare before Crescent took another breath and looked back down.
"Let's just go… We'll just do the hurricane thing again. Get one of the mirrors from a house and keep it in the air so we can get out after." Crescent muttered. Riven nodded, holding her by the waist as he brought them higher into the air. Once they were high enough, he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, holding her from behind as he rested his chin on her shoulder, a full-body mirror slipping out of one of the house's windows, joining them in the air.
The feeling of his arms around her made Crescent tense, but she didn't yell at him. She took a moment before raising the ocean's water high enough to tower over the trees and then guided it towards the village, causing an unnatural tsunami. It took a lot of energy. She panted hard, slightly slumping in Riven's arms. He stepped in next, curating a tornado to cause a sort of makeshift hurricane, destroying everything faster while also clearing the water for them.
It all happened fast, but it was taxing on them using that much of their power on such a large scale. They began to descend towards the heart of the dimension, noticing the glowing white crystal-like cube floating above the ground. Crescent picked it up, dropped it on the ground and stomped on it, the cube shattering and vanishing from sight as the ground started to shake. Riven brought the mirror back down, setting it on the ground, putting in their base dimension and going through.
As they landed back in #3984, the sky was fairly bright, a blue half-moon faintly lighting everything as the red clouds drifted.
"We still work so well together! Switching partners was a mercy on our enemies, huh, Arvella~?" Riven spoke, grinning wide as he held her close.
She pushed him off without a word and walked off to lay down on the couch again.
"If I hear your voice again, I will drown you…. Fuck, I need a drink." She mutters, closing her eyes. Riven's grin doesn't falter, as per usual, sitting on the chair across from her as they wait for Dusk and Solar to return, watching Crescent's chest rise and fall evenly. He walked over, gently putting a pillow between her arms. She always holds something when she sleeps. He tenses when she shifts; she's usually a still and quiet sleeper. He worried he woke her. She didn't wake. She just squeezed the pillow in her arms a little tighter.
Riven took a breath he didn't know he was holding, looking down at her, fighting the urge to kiss her forehead. Opting to just walk away before he did something that would piss her off again.