[2] 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 ― l.valdez ✓

018.

「018. wouldn't you like to know, weather boy」

CHERRY DIDN'T mind the cold or the large looming palace up ahead. no, there was absolutely nothing wrong with any of that. far from it actually, she didn't mind the building one bit. after they got on semi-solid land she was okay. no, what she didn't mind was her headache. which was slowly (and very quickly) becoming a migraine. perhaps it was the air pressure just messing with her head. but she felt like knives were pocking and prodding at her every single second. at first, she'd said she could get through it. it was probably just a migraine, that's what she was saying to herself. but then- well, she heard that voice again.

the ladies voice, the one that now plagued her dreams, the little devil on her shoulder- trying to make herself loose control. get angry- it won't matter, the voice would tease sometimes. why not use your powers, dear? it would chuckle sometimes, let me help you, my dear. i want to help you dear- it would say, her voice low and slightly sleepy, like the voice in cherry's head had just woken up from a nap or perhaps wasn't fully awake yet, just let me help you. all you have to do is grow something. a little plant, my dear. perhaps a stem? then it would laugh, a deep evil sounding laugh, my dear- i only want to help you.

no. that was always her answer. she didn't trust the voice, and she certainly wasn't going to be using her powers. not at all.

she didn't like the lady in her head, she didn't like the voice. and she certainly didn't appreciate the stabbing feeling she felt which she presumed was due to the presence of the lady. so yes, she did hate the lady- and no, she wasn't sure exactly who the woman was.

my child, why so scared? mused the voice, i only want to help.if you would only allow-

"come on, cupcakes! only a few thousand more steps!"

"stop sounding so overjoyed, coach," grumbled barbie, "it's annoying." she turned to piper and leo, "was he like this back in your wilderness school?"

"more loud, more megaphone... but pretty much," shrugged piper.

they walked in silence for the rest of it. for some reason, none of them really had much to say. piper kept glancing back at jason, worried after what he had explained to them about the bridge. barbie was near the front, although didn't like it that much- and leo looked down just about every second as if checking his pants weren't on fire. when they finally reached the top, cherry realised that the palace was definitely bigger than expected. bronze walls marched all the way around the fortress grounds and twenty foot-high gates opened for them, and a road of published purple stones led up to the main citadel. it looked all grand and ancient until cherry saw clusters of satellite dishes and radio towers on the roof.

"that's bizarre," piper said.

"maybe you can't get cable on a floating island," leo said, "but holy shit- check this guy's front yard."

the rotunda sat in the center of a quarter-mile circle. the grounds were amazon in a scary way- divided like some sort pizza with four sections. each one representing a season. the section on their right was an icy waste, with bare trees and a frozen lake with snowmen dotted about. to their left was autumn, with gold and red trees. in the distance, there was a green pasture, with sheep made of clouds. and the last one, was a desert where tumbleweeds scratched strange patters in the sand like greek letters, smiley faces, and a huge advertisement that read: watch aeolus nightly!