The Partisan Chronicles [Dystopia | Supernatural | Mystery]

Riz

We were together all the time. Yeah, me and Ever, but the brothers and Avis, too. Remember, I was only twenty-three at the time, Zacharias was (technically?) twenty-four, and Avis and Sebastian were twenty-one, which was Ever's pre-Anima age. Anyway, they were so refined it felt like they were older, but then there were moments like this one:

"Have I told you how much I love you all today?" Sebastian was sprawled on his back on the floor in Zacharias and Avis's wagon.

"Yes, twice. Not to mention, you tell everyone that—every day," Zacharias slurred from the armchair. That evening, he was dressed casually in a pair of slacks and a half-buttoned shirt. He took another sip of Hockberry wine—potent stuff, no matter the time period.

"Don't worry, Zacharias," Sebastian answered. He was dressed casually, too, but I think he was wearing a blue sport coat, or maybe it was green. "I love you most of all."

Their wagon wasn't a mansion, but it was the biggest of the three of ours, so we spent most of our time there when we weren't in the mood to mingle with the rest of the troupe. I say that like I was part of it, because it was starting to feel like I was. We were still looking for a way out, but there was something Ever didn't know about what happened with It, something I figured there was no point in mentioning until we actually had the option to leave. If we were stuck there, it really wouldn't matter…

She didn't need to know. Yet.

For the time being, we were heavily intoxicated and seated on the edge of Zacharias and Avis's bed.

"I know what we should do," I said.

"Oh boy," Ever replied, fork deep in a slice of chocolate cake.

Avis wore a loose dress that might have been pajamas, I wasn't really sure. But she moved across the room from pouring herself a drink, and either she was wobbling or I was. She made herself comfortable in Zacharias' lap. He put his arm around her.

"What should we do?" she asked.

"Say a Thing or Do a Thing," I answered.

"What in the colourful cosmos kind of silly question is that?" Sebastian asked.

"It's a game." Yeah, a game that in about a thousand years I'd play with him again. "Some of my old sailor friends invented it to keep people occupied on long trips."

"Well, whatever it is, I'd like to go first," Zacharias said. "How does it work?"

"I say, 'Say a thing or do a thing?' and then you pick one. Depending what you decide, someone gets to ask you a personal question, or give you a dare."

"A dare sounds like it might involve getting up from this chair and I'm not sure if I can—" he gave Avis a little squeeze. "Or want to."

"Say a thing, then. Who has a question?"

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"I do," Sebastian said. "When are you finally going to marry that vision in your lap?"

Ever smirked with a mouthful of cake. Avis rolled her eyes like she'd heard the question a million times before, but she smiled despite it. Zacharias set his glass down on the table beside him and held up a finger. It was touch and go there for a second, but after a few valiant attempts, he managed to stand before Avis took his chair. He had us all close our eyes, and then he did something noisy—I don't know what, because I'm a man of my word—and when we all opened our eyes again, he was kneeling in front of Avis with a ring.

I didn't really know much about jewelry, but there were diamonds. Lots of diamonds.

"I love you," he said. "Marry me?"

"You're drunk." She laughed. "But I will absolutely marry you."

Sebastian raised his arms above his head and cheered. I laughed and Ever clinked her fork against her plate. We all closed our eyes again to give them a moment. When they were finished, Avis settled back into Zacharias's lap.

"Well, my work here is done." Sebastian grunted and tried to sit up but, yeah, no.

Hockberry wine, I'm telling you.

"Not so fast, brother," Zacharias said. "Say a thing or do a thing?"

"As you all know, I prefer to live on the edge. Give me a thing to do."

"Okay," Ever said. "Sebastian, sit up."

"You wicked girl," he replied teasingly.

She was pretty wicked. And she'd taste like chocolate later. I wiped a smudge of icing off the corner of her lip and ate it, because what else do you do with icing?

Meanwhile, it was an epic battle of man versus himself, but after five or so tries, Sebastian sat up. He spun to face me and Ever, and took a sip of Zacharias's drink from the table.

"Everleigh Gloom. Say a thing or do a thing?"

"Say a thing."

"Who was your instructor, really?" Sebastian asked.

We decided we shouldn't talk about being from the future anymore. We still didn't know the exact nature of our situation. Were we in a time rift, or was this something else? And if we were in a time rift, which I knew next to nothing about, was it connected to our timeline, or did it run on its own? I had no idea, Llama used to say time was like a river, and that made me nervous. And after what It said It was trying to do, we just didn't know what we were dealing with, but we agreed we should play it safe.

"I told you," Ever answered. "You were my instructor."

So, that wasn't playing it safe per se, but okay, beautiful, let's do this.

"Your brother wasn't completely wrong," Ever answered. "I wasn't stalking you, not in a dangerous way. But I watched you play all the time, Sebastian. I'm good at staying hidden when I have to because of the eyes and the scars. I didn't have any money for tickets, so I just—"

Okay, that was a pretty solid story. Back to playing it safe.

"Everleigh, none of that matters anymore," Avis said. "You're one of us now—both of you."

"One of us." Zacharias reached for his drink but it was back in Sebastian's hand.

"Wait, I know what we should do!" Avis suddenly said.

"What should we do? I asked.

"We should take a picture."

"A what." Ever asked.

"A what?" I asked.

"A picture—don't tell me you've never seen a photograph?"

Avis kicked off her shoes before standing, and then she made her way across the room where she wheeled out this metal contraption affixed to what looked like a tripod for a telescope. "Come on, love, peel your brother off the floor." Avis held her hand out for Zacharias who, again, was eventually able to stand. He scooped up Sebastian.

We all gathered in front of the device where Avis had what looked like some kind of switch in her hand, attached by a long cord. She told us to huddle up with her.

I was taller than all of them so I had to duck.

Once we were in position, Avis said, "Smile!" and she pressed the switch in her hand.

We all smiled before the bright light hit.