Kitari: “...Okay, do I gotta run it through ya guys again?”

Ichthys: “Nah, I think we got it~!”

Kitari: “I sure hope so. You guys have never operated phones before. Let alone Snapchat.”

Partheno: “So after we do so, we uninstall the app then hand the phones to you?”

Kitari: “Exactly. We can’t uninstall the regular Messenger because it’s part of the actual phone. So using this is better. Plus we’ll have a visual.”

Teorus: “Visual?”

Kitari: “Snapchat has a picture-taking part with a caption. That’s how you send your messages. Oh, and by the way…”

(all): “...?”

Kitari: “If I see any filters on any of the messages, I will not hesitate to bash you in the head with my javelin.”

Ichthys: “Aw!”

Kitari: “So! We understand what’s going on with the operations?”

Partheno: “I think we gotta good hand.”

Kitari: “Good, now, do we need a reminder what our posts are and our jobs?”

Teorus: “...We might…”

The group glances around nervously, half-afraid that Kitari was gonna get irritated that they forgot. They were having too much fun with messing around with the app. To their surprise, Kitari whipped out a couple papers and gives them a busy chuckle.

Kitari: “Hah, no, no, that’s fine. Um…”

*flips through papers*

Kitari: “...Okay, Partheno is completely man-housing the parlor into a party room. Partheno, Oangia is taking care of clearing everyone out and getting your supplies.”

Partheno: “So I’d take it that big brother’s in the parlor?”

Kitari: “Not anymore, he’s gonna go take care of Sailor and Star King.”

Not catching Partheno’s stress on calling Oangia ‘big brother’, Kitari continues to read off her papers.

Kitari: “Teorus, Ichthys...are in charge of getting the entire member entourage to the parlor while providing all the information WITHOUT Sailor knowing.”

Teorus: “Don’t worry~! We got this one down.”

Ichthys: “Yeah! We know the locations of everyone from the departments.”

Partheno: “Of course you do, you prank us all the time.”

Kitari: “Yes...I know. I’ll be in charge of getting the cake and foodstuffs to the parlor unnoticed, then I’ll go alert the Shiverburns.”

Partheno: “...Them again? Didn’t they show up during…”

His big sister made a cut-off sign with her hand and he trailed off silent. They don’t know who the Shiverburn Trio are. But in mute reality, they’re practically triplets. This time, only two of them will be available for this mission. Kitari isn’t worried.

Teorus: “The Shiverburns? Who are the Shiverburns?”

Kitari: “Some people. Okay, everyone, y’know what to do?”

Partheno: “Ready as I’ll ever be, dear sister.”

Ichthys: “Yeah! Let’s blow this party up!”

Teorus: “Well, not literally, but we’ll do our best.”

Kitari: “Good, everyone, let’s go.”

~~~~~

Oangia: “Queen Sailor.”

Sailor: “Eh, you gotta, bro? You gotta?”

Oangia: “I know you find such a title revolting, but you need to acknowledge it with pride.”

Sailor: “Hey, slow your roll, it’s not like I’m not grateful for it. Don’t get all Zyggy on me.”

Oangia: “I’d appreciate it if you would not compare me to your lower members or insult them as such.”

The oldest brother huffs in annoyance. He knows about the sibling thing, but doesn’t want any part of it. He just wants to serve them as their messenger and assistant. Sailor watches his eyes slide into an irritated shade of light pink which she groans tiredly at.

Sailor: “Okay, okay, spit it out, what did I do unbecomingly this time?”

Oangia: “I would go through a list but you wouldn’t even consider it.”

Sailor: “It depends, bro. I’m not heartless.”

Oangia: “Then perhaps heartless should be your demeanor.”

Sailor: “No, it should not! That’s your problem! What am I, some cup of coffee to you?!”

Oangia: “...A...what?”

Sailor: “Coffee? You don’t like me unless you change me into something that you DO like?”

Oangia: “...It’s not just about me, Queen Sailor.”

Sailor: “Yeah! It’s about Kitari, my members, Star King, Partheno, and MYSELF. You need to be more considerate of others and how they feel, TOO!”

The two siblings fell silent. Sailor swears that she can see her brother’s wheels turning in his head, looking for some smart and witty response to drown out Sailor’s scolding declaration. But also, a dominating part of his brain was trying to figure out what she said. And so, his brain completely ditched the whole finding-some-roast-to-use-on-my-little-sister mission and said-

Oangia: “...I am incapable of this matter comprehension.”

Sailor: “Speak English!”

*****

Kitari: “...Hah...I think this is good.”

Kitari was in the kitchen, with her jacket laid aside and the sleeves of her undershirt rolled up. She had made sure to tie up her hair and wash her hands, because she was completely decked out in icing, flour and other things. Sighing, she wipes off the minimal sweat from her forehead using the underside of her wrist.

Kitari: “...this is kinda big. Why did Partheno have to made the cake parts into a three-way tier…?”

She grumbles, scratching a part of her head with a finger. Looking around her workspace, she saw that she made a bigger mess than what she figured. Who knew that someone who was so work oriented was so clumsy in the kitchen. She wonders if Sailor ever had to face things like this. Sailor’s older than her, so she might be able to cook and bake properly and not live off of instant noodles and pizza.

???: “Ah...I’m so hungry...maybe I’ll finally make something...hopefully none of the members are in here...then again, why would they be…?”

Kitari felt herself jolt. The kitchen itself had all of its lights out and Kitari worked under the light of her fire, to avoid suspicion of people thinking there’s someone in here. But now Kitari’s having second thoughts of perhaps it would’ve been better to say that there WAS someone inside. For all Sailor knew, ANYONE could be in here, for experimenting on human foodstuffs or making a surprise birthday cake for her.

But then a thought slightly calmed her down...didn’t she take an even more precautious measure…?

Sailor: “...Huh? The door’s locked?”

Kitari: (Yes-!!!)

Sailor: “Aw, but I’m really hungry...and I really don’t think asking anyone for food would be a great idea…”

Kitari: (She still didn’t leave!? How hungry is she!? Well...knowing her, when she wants food, she sometimes goes to...desperate measures…)

One year, while they were in college, Sailor and Kitari had gotten back from one of their gym units, and Kitari accidently ate outta Sailors box of pocky. Let’s just say...the gym unit was very intense and Sailor was really craving some pocky at that moment...and...well, Kitari doesn’t show it off, obviously, but Sailor kinda went rabid and took a big fat bite into her calf. Kitari was so scared of her eating her, so she had kicked her in the process, to put it nicely. There’s a double crescent-shaped scar on her left leg from it, so she knows a great chunk of what Sailor’s capable of doing when in desperate need of food.

Sailor: “Urgh...okay, this isn’t funny, I’m REAL hungry right now…”

Kitari: (Oh, sweet stars of the celestial-ack, I can hear the edge creeping on her voice, she gonna bust down the freaking door-!)

Sailor: “Hello? Is anyone in there? C’mon, that door can’t be locked from the outside, unless this sucka’s rigged...why would someone rig the...WAIT. Hey…! Hey, hey, is anyone there?!”

Kitari: (What the heck is she thinking, someone’s stuck in here?!)

???: “Huh? What are you doing, Sailor?”

Kitari: (Huh?)

Sailor: “Wha-? Dui, there might be someone locked in here! This door can’t lock from the outside, so it would have to be rigged!”

Dui: “You sure no one locked it from the inside?”

Sailor: “Who the heck would lock it from the inside and be in the dark?!”

Dui: “T-They can light it up from the inside…?”

Sailor: “But there IS no light! How would they get out?!”

Dui: “All Celestials can teleport…!”

Sailor: “...but...wait…”

Kitari could hear it in her voice. The only ones in the Celestial World that doesn’t have stable powers like teleportation, stars within their eyes and the like are Sailor and Kitari. She heard her voice shoot up a clear 3 octaves as she gets ready to beat the door down. Her movements get muffled. Dui is holding her back, trying to get her to calm down.

Dui: “W-Whoa, what are you doing?!”

Sailor: “Kitari might be in there! Some stupid-heck goddess must’ve locked her in there! She’s not even responding!”

Dui: “L-Look, the reason why I came here...w-was because...His Highness called you…!”

Sailor: “...?! What?! Why!? NOW?!”

Dui: “O-Okay, hear me out...you go to the King and I’ll...get the door open and...figure out whatever happened to the door, okay…???”

Sailor: “...B-But…”

Dui: “Please…?”

Sailor: “...Hah...fine...but. If anything...had HAPPENED. TO MY SISTER. Tell me. RIGHT AWAY. And DON’T tell Partheno or Oangia or anyone who might tell them. I’m gonna take care of Star King.”

With that she dashed out and practically sprinted to the ballroom. Dui had been nervously smiling the entire time. Now that she was out of sight, his smile turned dark, into an irritated smirk, his eyes clouding over into a darker shade. Cracking his knuckles and grinding his teeth, he personally kicked down the door causing Kitari to yelp.

Shadow Dui: “Why the heck you makin’ yourself so dang-look, dark room, and a door that can be only locked from the inside. What were you THINKING?!”

Kitari: “Dude…! You didn’t need to break down the DOOR…!”

Shadow Dui: “Hah, whatever. Just please tell me you...whoa…”

The shadow personality of Dui glanced past the flour-covered Kitari to the beautiful cake and the foods all arranged on the counter. Kitari swears that he saw him drool at the cherry strudels.

Kitari: “...Y’know, no matter what half of Dui you are, you’re still Dui.”

Shadow Dui: “Wha-!? What the heck did THAT mean?! You DO know that I can potentially KILL you right where you stand?!”

Kitari: “Hah, remember back when we worked in the Star House back on Earth?”

Shadow Dui: “...I have plenty of memories of that wretched place…”

Kitari: “Besides all the times where you laughed so hard you knocked out when Sailor swung Zyglavis out the window by his ponytail or when you cried when you were scared you wouldn’t be able to protect Dui...remember when you first met Sailor Pisces?”

Shadow Dui: “...I feel like I shouldn’t know.”

Kitari: “...You and Sailor working at the fountain and she gotta papercut? And you said you were gonna do ‘death wishes’ and she was screaming something about not doing wishes in the punishment department on her period?”

Shadow Dui: “...Oh...WAIT, NO I SHOULDN’T REMEMBER THAT…!!!”

Kitari: “And I was like ‘Dui, I was more scared for you than of you. I’m just glad you didn’t get yourself killed’.”

Shadow Dui: “...Y’know...I think you and Sailor are the...women...the only reasonable women...who has ever cared for us.”

Kitari: “...You mean, you and Dui?”

Shadow Dui: “Hmph, who else would I be talking about?”

Kitari: “...Then you should’ve said ‘who has ever cared for me’. No matter how different you two are, you’re two halves of the same constellation.”

Shadow Dui: “...Y’know...Sailor’s said that before...but she made it sound like a slip. And she said it differently.”

Kitari: “Really? What did she say?”

Shadow Dui: “Something like…’two halves of the same country’? Dunno why she said country but-”

Kitari: “ACK! I completely forgot! Dui! Good thing you bluffed under Star King’s name, he’d know beforehand. Ya know where Oangia is!?”

Shadow Dui: “Hey, hey, hey, that’s some high stuff you’re asking for, looking for THAT stick-up-his-butt.”

Kitari: “But it’s important! Y’know, what, you grab a pastry and DO NOT EAT IT! Bring it to Sailor and have her eat it. They’re all pocky-based, so be prepared if she’ll try to bite your hand off.”

Shadow Dui: “...She on period, again?”

Kitari: “Nah, it’s worse. But if you tread lightly enough, you’ll be fine.”

With that, Kitari makes a sprinting dash to the gateway portal that connects this world with all the others. Leaving Dui there with a pastry in his hand. He felt a hand grip slowly onto his shoulder.

Shadow Dui: “...!!!”

Partheno: “Ah, you’re the shadow side, aren’t you~?”

Shadow Dui: “...we’re the same person, wretch.”

Partheno: “‘Wretch’? Such a mean word. I was just checking where...Kitari was. Did she take care of the food? I was just alerted that she...had the food done...somewhat.”

Shadow Dui: “Wait, what?”

The parthenic member pulled out his phone and showed him a weird picture. It was labeled ‘OANGIA!!! Sailor’s at the KITCHEN!’. Kitari did not look happy in that picture. But it looks like she was able to send the message in the amidst. Just...sent it to the wrong person.

Shadow Dui: “I thought she was asleep…”

Partheno: “Isn’t she?”

Shadow Dui: “...no. I gotta get her a pastry before she bites someone. Kitari left, y’know.”

Partheno: “What? Where did she go? That...that wasn’t part of the plan…”

Shadow Dui: “What WAS the plan? How come the rest of us weren’t let in it?”

Partheno: “Well...for certain reasons.”

Shadow Dui: “Oh, c’mon, spill, what’s going on?”

Partheno: “You didn’t know? It’s Sailor’s birthday~!”

Shadow Dui: “...WUT-?”