“But you said you were gonna take me back to the Castle today!”
“I know, but I’m busy today..”
To Juniper’s surprise, Alph had gotten back to them relatively quickly, & they had gotten the job. Juniper felt lucky, since most employers don’t really hire that quickly. Maybe it was because Juniper & Alph already knew each other, from the theater incident. Either way, Juniper was grateful for it.
“Maybe one of the others can get you there.” Juniper said, putting on xyr shoes.
“Ughhh,” Juno groaned. “I guess so.”
“I’m sorry, bud.”
Juno huffed. Juniper could tell she was upset, especially since voi said voi would take her to the Castle yesterday. It sucked to not be able to fulfill Juno’s request, but Juno was lying. Juniper hoped he didn't suspect anything.
“See ya later.” xae said, grabbing xaer backpack. “Tomorrow. I promise.”
“You said that yesterday!”
Ignoring Juno, Juniper made pheir way out of the dorm room & out to the bus stop. She still hadn't told the rest of the group about the job at the puppet shop yet. The whole Juno business was more important than that.
The bus drove up to the stop. Juniper hopped on the bus & sat in a random empty spot. As they got comfortable, the bus started driving again.
Juniper popped in aer earbuds & put on the music to make the ride go faster. It wasn't anything much, just Missed the Friction by sElf.
Vae sighed, looking out of the window. Kalani had stopped by the day before to give xym a letter, supposedly from the Celestials. The letter referred to them as “Flexibility,” which they were choosing to ignore, but the letter also mentioned that Juno planned on destroying the Sands of Time.
What were the Sands of Time? Why were they so important? The letter said that the Sands of Time being destroyed caused a danger to everybody, but why? Juniper was desperate for answers.
The bus rolled to a stop. Juniper looked up, noticing ey were at eir stop.
Thanking the bus driver, Juniper hopped off the bus & walked the rest of the way to work. As previously mentioned, it was a janitorial job. All Juniper had to do was clean. That was easy! Ze could do that! The prospect of Sotry being one of vivs coworkers was.. not very exciting, but Juniper was sure vivs first day would go fine.
-
Picking up trash in the park wasn't necessarily Nora or Kalani’s first choice, but someone’s gotta do it. Besides, they needed something to keep them busy, & it was on the schedule Cherry sent in the group chat.
“So is Sorrel getting a job too?”
“Uh.. maybe? I’d have to ask.”
“They should. It’d help out a lot, especially if they're gonna be living with you for a while.”
Nora picked up a few candy wrappers with her trash grabber. “I know they had a part-time job back in Cali, but they probably had to quit to move back here.”
“That makes sense.” Kalani shrugged, using her trash picker to grab an empty, crushed soda can.
“By the way, that letter we got.. it said something about having to freeze Juno, right?”
“That.. is correct. If the Auction House isn't completely destroyed, I was thinking we could do it there.”
“God, the Auction House. Almost forgot that place existed. Who let that building stay up for as long as it did?”
“Beats me. Guess the Cincinnati government didn't care about the human freezer in the Auction House.”
Nora & Kalani put the trash in their respective trash bags as a small gust of wind whooshed by them.
“So if we’re using the Auction House’s freezer.. how are we gonna get Juno in there?”
“I.. actually don't know. We should plan this out sometime.”
“Well, we better plan it out soon then! How about Friday, at Arby’s?”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll text the others once I get the chance.”
-
Dog-walking wasn’t that bad. It was actually quite good for keeping Cherry’s stamina up. What sucked about it is the fact that these dogs had a specific path for their walks.
Leashes in one hand, map in the other.. not the most effective way to walk a dog, but Cherry needed the cash. She took a right turn down the sidewalk, making sure the dogs didn't start straying from the path. Who knew dog-walking could be so exhausting?
Cherry had no music to listen to during their walk, so the best they could get right now was their thoughts. These thoughts currently drifted toward her mother.
The way most people would describe Sienna Russell was influential, powerful, & modest. Cherry would describe her as a giant pain in the ass. As the eldest child, Cherry was always expected to be a role model, to be the example. Also as the eldest child, her mother critiqued every single thing about Cherry.
It was always “Your dress isn't long enough,” or “Don’t wear your hair down,” or “You should wear more makeup.” Things of that nature. Cherry just wanted to wear what she wanted, & do what she wanted, with no snarky remarks from her mother.
When college finally came around, Cherry thought that this would give her the freedom she had been craving all her life. Even though her mother expected her to wear dresses & act all high & mighty at college, Cherry knew they could get away with not doing it. It wasn't like she’d find out or anything.
Except, she did, when Poppy & Carmine told her mother about the mall. For the past few years, Cherry had been coasting off of the rent payments & occasional checks from their mother, but now.. that was gone.
In a sense, that also meant Cherry's mom was gone from her life as well. If her kid isn’t going to uphold the family standards, then why bother?
This gave Cherry an idea. She knew exactly what she was going to do once she returned back to her dorm room.
-
“So what's it like to work at Dollar General?”
Leslie stood next to the Dollar General register, talking to none other than Natalie. Since Leslie had applied for a job at Dollar General, Natalie seemed like a safe bet to talk about what it's like there.
“Ah.. it sucks? It’s just like any other job, really.” Natalie shrugged. “I'm usually on register duty, so I get the worst of it. Stocking items is alright though.”
“I see, I see..” Leslie hummed, writing down notes in a tiny notepad.
“I don't plan on working at Dollar General forever, so.. don't get used to it?”
“Alright.. I can do that.”
“My real dream is to be a big Twitch streamer!” Natalie proclaimed. “Unfortunately.. that doesn't quite pay the bills just yet.”
“Oh!”
Leslie seemed quite surprised by this. This was the first time Natalie had ever mentioned livestreaming.
“This is news to me! You stream on Twitch?” it asked, interested.
“Well- Occasionally, yes,” Natalie replied, fidgeting with her hands. “I'm not that big. I've only got, like, 20 concurrent viewers.”
“20’s pretty good! I’m sure you'll get there eventually! Just keep at it!”
Natalie smiled, her face blushing light red at Leslie's comment.
“..Thanks, Les.”
-
“So, how’re you likin’ the job so far?”
“Oh, it’s great!”
Juniper was currently on his lunch break, & so he was eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Alph decided to join phem with an Italian sandwich of his own. Work had actually been quite nice so far, if Juniper just ignored Sotry glaring at aem the whole time.
Speaking of Sotry, Juniper was curious as to how he even ended up working at the puppet shop after the incident at the theater.
“So, ah..” Juniper started, taking a bite out of purrs sandwich. “If I may ask, how.. did Sotry end up working here?”
“Oh, funny you mention that! That's the first time anyone's ever asked!”
“Really?”
“Yeah!” Alph nodded. “You remember that little ‘president of the world’ schtick Sotry tried ‘ta pull, right?”
“How could I forget? He tried to stab me.”
“Well, I had a talkin’ with him that night, after all that stuff at the theater happened. As it turns out, I had indeed accidentally given ‘im sentience! Can't believe it took me months to figure that out, heh. Anyways, after chattin’ with him for a little while ‘bout some things, we decided to come up with a little proposition. As long as he doesn't try anything like what he did at the theater again, he can work at the shop!”
Juniper nodded along, paying attention to every word Alph was telling him.
“& what happened to the other puppets?” Juniper asked, taking another bite out of dews sandwich.
“I.. haven’t quite figured out what to do with ‘em yet.” Alph shrugged. “They’re currently sittin’ in the back, turned off completely. I was considerin’ making them employees too, but.. they’re not like Sotry.”
Not like Sotry? What did Alph mean by that? Juniper remembered something Sotry had said during their battle at the theater, about him programming “false sentience” into the other 4 puppets. Maybe that was it.
Or maybe, it was because Sotry was supposed to be the star of the show. It was both Alph & Sotry’s intention for Sotry to rise to fame, even if their methods.. differed. Even if Sotry tried to take over the world, it was still Alph’s creation. She probably cares a lot about Sotry if she was willing to keep him around.
An alarm on Alph's phone rang as Juniper took the last bite out of zyr sandwich.
“Oh! Break time’s over!” Alph said, finishing off his sandwich. “Back to work we go!”
“Yup.. back to work indeed.”
-
It was a bright new day for Nora. Thursday the 23rd, around 6 days until rent was due. She had applied to a few different places, but none of them had gotten back to her yet, which was unfortunate.
She didn't let it get to her, though! Nora was confident she’d get the money needed in time, especially with Sorrel around.
Speaking of Sorrel, they had attempted to make pancakes this morning. The pancakes were a tad bit overcooked, & there was a little bit too much egg in them, but it was the thought that counted.
“Thanks for the pancakes,” she said, taking a bite of her food.
“Least I could do.” Sorrel shrugged, eating their own pancakes as well. “The job hunt can be hard. It took me forever to get that job back in Cali.”
“Yeah. & on the topic of jobs, you should try & get one too.”
Sorrel raised an eyebrow.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Of course! It'd help with rent, & if you're planning on moving out eventually, you'll need money for your own place.”
“Huh. I guess so.”
They took another bite out of their pancakes, thinking about Nora’s suggestion.
Nora continued to eat her own food as well, now thinking about why Sorrel was so apprehensive toward the idea of getting a new job. She knew their parents still didn't know about Sorrel dropping out. If Sorrel got a job somewhere their parents were likely to go, they’d be in hot water. So..
“I know exactly where you should get a job.”
-
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Of course!”
Kalani had brought Leslie along to break into the (now shut-down) Auction House. He wanted to see if that freezer was still in there, & if it still worked.
The door to the Auction House, along with its windows, was boarded up, due to its closure. The duo assumed it was gonna go up for sale soon, but the freezer that turns people into statues would probably have to be removed first.
“Well..” Leslie sighed. “Let’s get these boards down!”
Kalani & Leslie grasped onto the boards nailed over the entrance of the Auction House & started tearing at them with all of their might. No matter how much they pulled & tugged at the boards, they would not budge.
“Jeez, whoever put these boards up nailed ‘em pretty tight.”
“Yeah.. guess we’ve gotta do this the fast way.”
“Guess so. Let’s do it.”
As it turns out, Leslie & Kalani had vastly different visions for what “the fast way” was. Leslie tugged on their necklace & transformed into Hero Mode while Kalani was preparing to ram into the wooden boards.
“Kalani- Kalani, wait! What are you doing?!”
“Huh? I was gonna bust the boards down!”
“Why?! We can just use our weapons!”
“Oh. I didn’t think of that.”
Kalani transformed into Hero Mode as well, summoning her wand.
“Let’s do this!”
Using the wand, Kalani bursted a few magic shots into the wooden boards, making some holes. Leslie used its scythes to rip the boards off, allowing for an easy entrance.
They started heading into the Auction House, Kalani stepping inside first as Leslie followed. The place looked totally different from the last time they were here. The lights were all out, the only source of it being from the cracks in the boarded-up windows. Tables were knocked over, vases were shattered, & surprisingly, the door down to the basement was opened up.
“The basement door is open? Strange..”
“At least we don’t have to bust it open.”
“True.”
Walking carefully & being sure not to step or trip on anything, the duo made it down to the basement, which was not in any better shape than the upstairs. Unlike upstairs, the basement had no light source whatsoever, meaning Kalani & Leslie weren’t able to see anything.
“Don’t worry! This is easily solvable!”
Transforming out of Hero Mode, Kalani grabbed his phone from his pocket & turned on the flashlight. Now with a source of light, the duo could continue their expedition.
The hallway right after the stairs stretched in both directions, & Kalani couldn’t remember which way the freezer was, so she & Leslie started heading toward the right. The flashlight from Kalani’s phone illuminated the dark hallway just enough for the two of them to walk through it.
“Hey, ‘Lani?”
“‘Sup, Les?”
“Doesn’t this hallway feel... longer to you than it did before?”
“A little bit. Maybe this isn’t the right way..”
As the duo continued down the hall, they came across a room with a sign upon the door, which read “DO NOT ENTER (unless you’re Puck)” written on it in purple marker.
“..Puck? Who’s Puck?”
“Huh.. I’m not sure. Based on all the purple though... I’d be willing to guess that ‘Puck’ is The Auctioneer’s real name.”
“They have a real name?”
“I guess so? We won’t find out unless we get into this room.”
Kalani grabbed a hold of the doorknob & turned it open. To her surprise, the door was unlocked. Both of them stepped carefully into the room. Kalani shone the flashlight around to see what it was like inside of the room.
It was unnervingly neat, unlike the rest of the now-abandoned Auction House. Old, dusty pictures, photo albums, & even a diary were in this room. There was no lightswitch on the wall, but rather a pull-chain that hung below a ceiling light. Leslie pulled on the chain. The light flickered on for a few seconds, & then it powered off again.
“Ah, darn. Light doesn’t work.”
“Unfortunate.”
Due to the lack of a functional ceiling light, Kalani opted to just use his phone flashlight to look around.
“Hey, ‘Lani? Can you shine your light over here?” Leslie asked.
Kalani turned over to shine the light over at Leslie, & whatever they were holding. It was an old photo of 3 kids, none of which Leslie or Kalani immediately recognized.
One of them was a ginger kid, wearing a green dress & their curly hair was tied up in pigtails. The next was a kid with brown hair, wearing a blue tank top & a pink skirt. The final one was a kid with short, black hair, wearing a purple t-shirt with a star on it.
All three of them were posing in the photo, with the kid in the purple shirt in the middle. There were words written in childish handwriting on the photo in Sharpie. It read “Best Friends 4ever!”, & all of the kids had signed their names. Quinn, Brooklyn, &... Puck.
“Was this.. was this The Auctioneer when he was younger?”
“I think so..”
“So they used to be human, just like us..”
“Huh... do you remember what The Auctioneer said during our battle? He mentioned that he had been stuck in a freezer for about a year or so. Maybe that’s what made them all.. blue.”
Setting the old photo down, Leslie continued looking around the room with the help of Kalani’s flashlight shining the way. A lot of the items in this room consisted of photos similar to the one they had just looked at.
“Yo, Les! Check this out!”
Kalani had found a diary with a purple cover sitting upon a shelf, surrounded by various books & manuals on the art of auctioning.
“This must be their diary..!” “Looks old.. like everything else in this room.”
He took the diary out of its place on the shelf & opened it up. The first entry was dated back to early 2019, & it went into great detail on how The Auctioneer ended up getting into auctioneering in the first place, how it was his life goal to own an auction house, & much more. Some of the entries after that talked mainly about how their days have been & some obscure auctioning facts.
“Kalani, I don't think we should be looking through this diary..”
“I mean, what are the chances they're gonna find out?”
“Probably low, but.. aren't we supposed to be looking for the freezer?”
“Oh, shit- The freezer! You're so right, Les!”
Kalani closed the diary shut. “He probably wouldn't mind if I took this to read in my free time, would he?”
“I'm sure he would mind if he ever found out, but.. there’s a reason they left it here.”
“Yeah. Let's go, uh, find that freezer now.”
-
Work was quite slow today.
Maybe nobody wanted to buy any puppets today, or maybe people were just busy. Either way, the shop was nearly empty, which left Juniper a lot of room to sweep & dust around. Ey had eir headphones on listening to music while cleaning, which ey were grateful for. Any other job probably wouldn't have allowed Juniper to listen to music on the clock.
As Juniper finished up sweeping the aisles, he took a look around & noticed that it was just him & Sotry inside the shop. Alph must've gone out to get some supplies, Juniper thought.
For the past day & a half Juniper had been working at the puppet shop so far, Sotry had been avoiding conversation with xym. Juniper was fine with that, considering their history together.
“Juniper.”
It was Sotry who had said that. Juniper could tell, even with their music on.
“What's up?” Juniper asked, taking zir headphones off.
“Come over here.”
“..why?”
“Just do it.”
Juniper was not about to argue with the puppet that nearly stabbed her, so she obliged & walked closer to the register.
“Alph has told me to apologize to you for the.. incident at the theater. Unfortunately for him, I am not very sorry, & will not be doing that.”
“Oh, ah-”
“If Alph asks, you tell her I apologized to you. Got it?”
“Uhh, yeah.. no, I’m not doing that.” Juniper shrugged.
Sotry didn't seem very surprised about Juniper’s denial.
“I should have expected this.” it groaned. “You're quite stubborn, after all.”
“That I am, my friend! But, like, seriously? Maybe stop lying to Alph.”
“Why should I?”
Juniper sighed. “Alph kept you around for a reason, Sotry. She cares about you, whether you like it or not. The least you could do is to stop hiding things from him.”
Sotry fell silent, pondering this. Before either of them could say much more, though, the door to the shop opened up as Alph returned with some new supplies in hand.
“Howdy, y’all!”
“Oh, Alph! Welcome back!”
“..greetings.”
“Aw, look at you two gettin’ along!” Alph smiled. “Knew y'all would get to bein’ friends eventually!”
“Friends” is not the term that Juniper would have to currently describe zaer relationship with Sotry, & based on the conversation they just had, Sotry wouldn't use that term either.
Acquaintances seemed more befitting. They knew each other, sure, but they certainly were not friends. Juniper hoped that maybe one day, Sotry would stop being so sour.
Today was not that day, though.