Amaranthine

Kennedy wished it was an appropriate time to ask more questions about what Willow was doing. The woman drew sigils on the ground, chanted, and waved smoke sticks around Kennedy in a display that would have either gotten her committed or started a cult pre-Waves. Given the ghostly, spectre-white energy that began to follow her movements after a few minutes of work, Kennedy leaned towards cult.

More than the spectacle of it though, Kennedy could feel the energies she was moving. She knew, without doubt, that they were an integral part of her very being. That if she had the same knowledge Willow did she’d be able to do this as easy as breathing.

Speaking of breathing, she’d been instructed to meditate and focus on Lira, but that was easier said than done, despite the experience she had fantasizing about her favorite redhead. Gwyn paced in a frustrated cloud of manic vibes, and it had infected the cat. It’d be distracting enough if Rose wasn’t a full sized puma, but given that she was, the nervous bumps she gave Kennedy’s shoulders now and again were near enough to bowl her over.

Still, despite distractions, it wasn’t long before she held Lira in her mind, a full thought form of one of the two blazing fires of her heart. Oddly, the memory she’d locked onto was an old one, back when they were both still teenagers. Lira playfully smirked down at her, having joined in on one of her mothers training sessions.

It had been early on in Kennedy’s conditioning, and while she’d thrown herself into it with her entire being, eager to never be victimized again, the playful redhead just had a raw athleticism that was overwhelming. Martial arts had never been more than a passing hobby for Lira, but before Kennedy had the years of practice she had now, even linked to her mother, Lira had beaten her entire ass.

Then she’d smiled, in a way Kennedy had only ever seen one other person do. She’d extended her hand, and for the first time in years, Kennedy had taken it of her own will, and pulled herself up.

A shift in the energy of the room alerted Kennedy, and suddenly Lira really was in her mind, link as strong as if Kennedy held her in her arms.

She felt surprise, delight, and confusion in equal measure, then she felt the ground as something slammed into her knocking her over.

Her eyes shot open, finding a familiar grey sky, but more importantly bright green eyes framed by a firefall of red hair.

“Hey!” Lira panted, leaning down to plant a kiss on Kennedy’s mouth, already conveniently open in surprise. For a moment, she just let herself receive and return it, before mind caught up with things. As she rose, after Lira rolled off of her, she’d already realized they’d been pulled into Willow’s soulscape.

“Whew!” Lira said, catching her breath and looking around. She pleasantly shifted her gaze between Kennedy and Willow, who stood watching, pleasantly amused as always. “This what happened to Cait when she passed out inside me, then? Would explain why I was on a run a second ago and now I’m in a Nightwish video.”

Kennedy hadn’t stopped looking at Lira since she’d gotten off her. There was something about the way her skin flushed, the slight sheen of sweat… she never looked better than she did mid workout, and that was definitely on display right now.

“Precisely,” Willow agreed, her words taking on the resonant timbre they sometimes carried in the real world, but always had in this place. “I apologize again for that, by the way.”

“Eh,” Lira shrugged, leaning back on her hands, stretching out her taut tummy in juuust the right way. Too much the right way. Kennedy looked up at her and caught her smirking, with a lot more heat than the expression had held in Kennedy’s memory. ‘Missed you’ she mouthed, before turning her attention back to Willow. “I’ve been gash-guarded before, I’ll get clit-cucked again. So, I’m betting this is because my girl’s have gotten into some kind of trouble that needs Metric, not Lira?”

“Smart and hot,” Kennedy purred, “Love that for you. We’re in the middle of a mini-apocalypse in Technocago, The Council is definitely involved, but we don’t know who on it, it, or how. Cait, Qi, and Breastman are all off kicking ass elsewhere, and Gwyn’s bots aren’t working, so I’m the only real fighter we have. We gotta be more precise than just going in guns blazing on The Council, so could really use your help.”

Lira scowled at her, but wore a hint of a smile behind it.

“You only ever call when you need something,” she complained, mouth turning into her best pout.

“I also do booty calls!” Kennedy protested.

“Yeah,” Lira sighed, “but that just means you need this ass.”

She flashed Kennedy that grin she and Cait shared, and in this realm of souls, Kennedy’s love became visible for a second in a burst of pink. Which was very embarrassing.

“How can I actually help though?” Lira asked, once more looking between Kennedy and Willow. “I’ll tell you right now my powers aren’t working in this place, and even If they did, I’d need to see the people in questions to get their entries. I’m betting you can’t trust comms, or you’d have just called. And Cait would be responding to the workout thirst traps I’ve been sending.”

“I can help with that,” Willow said. She flicked her fingers, and the pattern linking Kennedy and Lira flashed into existence. The witchy woman walked up to it, beginning to trace the lines with her fingers. “I can stabilize this for a time, let Kennedy access your abilities across the distance between you. That should suffice, yes?”

Honestly, Kennedy wasn’t 100% sure. She’d spent very little time linked to Lira over the years, before Cait, both of them scared by the emotions that would’ve been laid bare. Even since then, Kennedy had done very little practice with Lira’s abilities. It simply was rare that it was useful in a fight, since even if it could tell her an opponent’s weakness, she’d have to mentally scroll through their favorite foods first.

“Probably?” Kennedy replied, voicing her concerns. “It’s not exactly gonna be a lie detector, but it should give plenty of background on how their powers work. At the very least, we’ll be able to tell who would have to be involved for all this to be possible.”

“Aaaaand I get to stay linked up when you and Cait have victory sex! Wins all around,” Lira chimed in, and while Willow rolled her eyes, Kennedy couldn’t help but smirk. Lira was right, after all.

“It will have to be enough,” Willow sighed, seeing that she was unlikely to effectively discourage further flirting. “There’s not much more I can do in the short term.”

“On that subject,” Kennedy began, a little worried she might offend Willow, “can you… you know, fight?”

Willow quirked a perfect silver-white eyebrow, an expression Kennedy had seen plenty of times from her mother, and she braced her self.

“Can I fight….” Willow scoffed, shaking her head like the question was ridiculous. “Yes, I can fight, Kennedy. I have not thus far as your mother asked me to teach you things, not do them for you. Also…. Well, when you fight, you might kill, but you don’t destroy. When I fight, there is rarely anything left to enter whatever afterlife awaits, so I try to avoid it.”

Kennedy felt her eyes go wide at that, but she wasn’t sure what she expected. She knew the woman was a soul magician, had heard what the spectral apparition of her father did back in DSM. She’d never been religious, never would be, but still, confirmation that there was a motive force beyond the body, that it could be assaulted as well… it was a chilling thought.

“Right!” she said, trying to bury her discomfort, “probably for the best, then. Just wanted to know if things got hot whether or not you’d fall into the asset or ‘in need of protection’ category.”

Willow smiled, the same amused grin she always wore, but with just the hint of edge in the way her lip curled over her teeth.

“Oh, no, if the time comes for me to fight, The Council will realize exactly how bad of an idea it was to spring this trap.”

Kennedy almost had the time to be a little scared of Willow, before Lira leaned over to whisper in her ear; “That was kinda hot, right?”