VELVETEEN PRESENTS JACQUELINE CLAUS vs. Existence #4
“We needed a new animus! We still do!” It was impossible to miss the desperation in Aurora’s voice, or the way the light around her flared, becoming almost dazzling.
“I’ve been here for so long. I’m almost used up.
If risking the child meant we might lure the first stable animus we’d seen in decades to join us, instead of one of the other seasons, it was worth it. ”
“And that is how I know you’re not my Lady,” said Victory Anna, disgusted. “She would never condone the risking of a child for a simple gambit. She would sooner thaw.”
“I can’t thaw,” said Aurora. “Not until we find another animus. None of us can. Scream Queen, Persephone, me—we’re all trapped.”
“And I’m sorry about that, truly, but you just need to wait a little longer,” said Velveteen.
“Supermodel is gone. Animus heroes are going to start being born again, the way they always have been, and you’ll be able to find someone who comes willingly to serve your season.
Destroying you would hurt the Winter in a way that isn’t fair to everyone that lives here, and I don’t want to do it.
So I’ll ask you one more time: give her back to us. ”
“Which one?” asked Aurora.
Velveteen froze, turning to look at Tag. “I can remember Jackie a little,” she said. “I remember Jacqueline a lot better. How do we answer that?”
“Jackie came first,” said Tag.
“I remember only Jacqueline,” said Victory Anna. “She has been a good ally, and a firm friend. I would prefer she not be lost.”
“I don’t want a living lie, but I don’t want to lose Jacqueline, either,” said the Princess.
“If you can’t answer me, I can’t help you,” said Aurora.
And the cave roof between her and Velveteen caved in, sending two women falling to the floor.
It wasn’t a large hole—no bigger than two particularly determined women could dig with a pair of makeshift shovels. The roof would still need to be repaired, if that was even possible. The two women groaned, rolling over in the pile of broken stone and crystal beneath them.
“That woman is blue,” said Victory Anna.
“Yes, she is,” said Velveteen, a feeling of absolute serene rightness blossoming in her chest and flowing throughout her entire body. She reached down to offer Jackie a hand up.
Jackie took it, bouncing to her feet before turning to offer Jacqueline a hand in turn. The flesh-toned girl took it gingerly, pulling herself upright and turning a shy look on the group.
“Hi,” she said. “Sorry about all the trouble.”
“Why don’t we just ask them?” asked Velveteen.
Jackie lifted an eyebrow. “Ask us what?”
“Which one of you continues to exist,” said Aurora.
She rose from her throne and the light rose with her, accompanying her on the short journey to the two rejected Spirits of the Season.
She looked from Jackie to Jacqueline, and back again.
“Well, then? Decide. One of you returns to the world as you know it, the other does not.”
“Um,” said Jacqueline. “I wasn’t from this world in the first place. I got pulled over here when you needed to replace Jackie. If it’s all the same to you, I miss my world. I miss my parents. I want to go home.”
“Careful,” said Aurora. “Someone might hear you and take your words for selfishness.”
“Oh who cares if I’m selfish?” asked Jacqueline.
She turned to face the others, talking faster: “I’ve always been afraid to ask for what I need, because it might be selfish.
But I was selfish, finally. I did something because I wanted to, and yeah, it was the right thing, but I was punished anyway.
So let me be selfish. Just let me be selfish and home, with the people who really love me, not the idea of me that’s been overlain on top of the affection they have for somebody else.
Give Jackie her life back. Let me be selfish. Let me go home.”
“I’m not the girl who votes against selfishness here,” said Jackie.
“You heard the girl. You made them human enough to be complicated,” said Velveteen. “Now let them have what they asked for.”
“Wait!” said the Princess. She hurried forward, seizing Jacqueline’s hands. “Sugarplum, is this really what you want? You really want to go away? You’re my best friend. I want to hear you say it.”
“There’s a Carrabelle in my world, too,” said Jacqueline. “She’s a redhead, but she’s funny, and she loves me just like you do. I think I’ll be selfish with her. I think we can figure out a way.”
“You do that,” said the Princess. She let go of Jacqueline’s hands. “I’m proud of you.”
“Me, too,” said Jackie. “But I thought you were me, just reskinned and rewritten. What happened?”
“I was, and I am, and I’m not,” said Jacqueline.
“The only way they could get me a full backstory was by borrowing me from another way the Winter could have been, and I’m going to go back there now.
Tell Papa and Ma that I’m sorry, and they’ll forget me soon enough. I know how Winter changes its mind.”
Aurora reached out and took her hand, and Jacqueline was gone, and she was gone, and the heroes were alone in a room suddenly devoid of light.
“Okay,” said Jackie. “What did I miss?”
“I’m not dead anymore,” said Tag.
“And thank frost for that,” said Jackie. “It was boring as shit without you.”
Smiling faintly, Velveteen stepped forward. “Hey, Jackie,” she said. “Welcome home.”