Love Rampage

by Alex Powell

  The unicorn knelt down like last time, and Maíra carefully climbed back on, sitting side-saddle to try and keep the skirts from getting tangled.

  "You know, just because something isn't tangible doesn't make it not real," the unicorn said as it stood.

  "You can't make a dress out of dreams and courage," Maíra replied.

  "Yes you can."

  "How?"

  "Magic."

  The unicorn took off running through the forest, and soon, the strange tinkling and jangling started up again as the door between their worlds opened. Maíra was worried the wind would ruin her hair, but the unicorn touched down lightly on the quay, and they somehow remained untouched by the sea breeze.

  Finally, Maíra was able to see herself, reflected in a storefront window.

  The fabric of the dress curled up over one shoulder and then wrapped around the rest of her torso down to her waist. After that, it flowed out from behind her in wisps and curls, as if it were made of clouds. Her hair was piled up on top of her head, and it was left loose in some places and braided up in others. Somehow, the elves had layered her hair so intricately that she had no idea how they'd managed. It looked as if they'd made her a netted cap made of her own hair, but even under that there were little braids and spun curls.

  "See? You're a princess," the unicorn sounded so pleased with itself that Maíra had to hold back a giggle.

  "That I am," Maíra said. "But now that I'm here, how am I supposed to know where Carol is?"

  "Oh, that's easy," the unicorn said with assurance. "You have to think of her with love. You'll lead us to her yourself."

  "With love?" Maíra said skeptically. "That sounds very cliché to me."

  "Cliché is just a word that the doubtful made up to reassure themselves." The unicorn tossed its head. "They didn't want to have to show their feelings freely. Disparaging romance is just a way to hide their emotional selves away. It's a very sad way to live, don't you think?"

  "Unicorn, did you say that this dress has courage woven into it?" Maíra asked.

  "Yes," the unicorn said. "Why?"

  "I'm going to need it."

  And Maíra loved.

  Part Two

  A dazzling spray of colourful light burst forth from the centre of Maíra's chest and, twining together into a rope, shot off down the quay, emitting bright sparks. The sparks didn't extinguish, leaving little glowing stars to mark the way.

  The unicorn immediately dashed after it, and Maíra hung on, determined to finish this mad venture now that it had come this far.

  "Keep thinking of her!" the unicorn said. "You can't let the sparks die out, or we won't find her!"

  Maíra had an inkling she knew where Carol was anyway, but did as she was bid.

  Carol.

  Carol wrinkled the bridge of her nose when she was thinking, and when she laughed, it was full-hearted and unfeigned. She liked wearing T-shirts from sci-fi shows and quoting them at every opportunity, even if no one understood what she was referencing. Once, someone's phone ringtone was an odd, wheezing noise, and Carol had gone in search of it until she'd found another person on the other end. She'd made a friend that day. Carol had a lot of friends.

  Carol had red hair, and for some reason, a lot of her friends would sometimes say, "Come along, Pond," and laugh. Maíra had checked, but Carol's last name was McFarlane.

  Carol was at least a head shorter than Maíra, and Maíra imagined that she would fit nicely under her chin if they hugged. She wore gold-rimmed glasses, and they would slide down to the tip of her nose, so she was always pushing them back up.

  She'd met Carol because Carol said to her one day: "I like your shoelaces."

  Maíra hadn't been wearing shoes at the time, but she'd known to reply, "Thanks, I stole them from the president."

  Maíra ran a blog that mostly featured pictures of unicorns by various artists and occasional gifsets from the animated movie edition of "The Last Unicorn." She'd scribbled down her URL at Carol's request, and to Maíra's surprise, Carol had followed her. Sometimes, if Carol found something unicorn-related, she would reblog it and tag it with Maíra's alias.

  Maíra had exactly twenty-three followers and very few messages. She didn't have an "About Me" page or anything personal up on her blog. She didn't even have a picture up––her avatar was a generic picture of a crescent moon. Carol had a huge number of followers, and the number would fluctuate wildly depending on her most recent meta analysis of a popular show and how often she would reblog social justice posts.

  Carol told people her real name on the site along with everything from her sexual orientation (lesbian) to what her favourite episodes of Doctor Who were (there was a list). People were always messaging her, and Carol would reply to them. Maíra knew Carol would be friendly to her if she messaged her too, but her finger would hover over the 'send' button and eventually click on 'cancel' instead.

  "No doubt! Don't let it in," the unicorn cried, and Maíra saw that they were almost back in Lynn Valley already.

  Carol had the constellation Orion on her cheek made of freckles. Maíra wanted to kiss it almost constantly, wanted to map out all the possibilities on her skin.

  "We're close," the unicorn reported.

  Of course. Carol was at the library, although if she'd had to guess, that's exactly where Maíra would have thought she'd be. Carol worked at the library as a page, and she wanted to go to school for library tech and possibly get a degree in Library Science. Maíra didn't even know whether or not she wanted to go to university yet, and Carol had it all planned out already.

  As expected, the unicorn slowed down and stopped in front of the door to the library. The doors automatically opened at their approach, even though Maíra knew they didn't have motion sensors.

  They burst through the doors in a predictably elaborate swirl of rainbow light and sparkles, and everyone in the immediate vicinity abandoned their activity to look at her astride the unicorn. Maíra ignored everyone else and scanned the area for Carol. One never knew where exactly to find Carol within the library, because she liked to read everything.

  Luck was with her––there was a flash of red hair and Maíra recognized the blue t-shirt with the police box in space on the front.

  She was about to yell her name when the unicorn drew up abruptly and reared up a little in surprise. Maíra almost fell off and was about to berate the unicorn when she saw it: wrapped around Carol's shoulders like a throw scarf was a black serpent.

  "What's that?" she asked the unicorn in a strangled voice.

  "That... is a demon," the unicorn said. "You know when I said that unicorns were made of love? I didn't mention that there were creatures that were made of hate."

  "What's it doing to her?" Maíra whispered, watching in horror.

  She shouldn't be so horrified, it was just a snake. Maíra wasn't afraid of snakes, and objectively, it looked beautiful. The scales that she'd thought were black actually sparkled in iridescent blues and greens when they caught the light.

  But if the unicorn said that this demon was created from hatred, then the last place she wanted it was around Carol's neck.

  "What do we do?" Maíra asked, nudging the unicorn.

  "We have to confront it," the unicorn said, and Maíra could feel its skin trembling.

  "Are you afraid?" she asked softly, putting her hand on its neck.

  "If we fail, I'll die," the unicorn replied.

  "What?" Maíra looked at the seemingly innocuous creature and then back at the unicorn. How could something as insignificant as that serpent destroy the unicorn? The unicorn was magic! It could do amazing things.

  "I might not have told you everything of importance when we met," the unicorn said, raising its head. "I told you we were made of love, but that love has to belong to somebody. Why do you think I chose to come to you?"

  "Mine," Maíra said, suddenly understanding. "You're my love."

  "Yes," her unicorn said, straightening out its neck.

 
"So all those amazing things we did today..."

  "You did that."

  Maíra straightened her back, squared her shoulders and threw back her head. "You said that there was no room for doubt."

  "There can't be," her unicorn replied.

  "Then let's go get that thing away from Carol."

  The serpent raised its head at their approach and coiled more tightly around Carol's neck. Maíra's hands clenched in the unicorn's mane, but the serpent didn't choke Carol. Carol looked up as they got closer and smiled, as if it were normal to see Maíra riding a unicorn in the library.

  "Oh, hi, Maíra, what brings you here today?" Carol asked. "I've found a book I think you'll like."

  "Really?" Maíra asked. "That's... good."

  Maíra wasn't sure what they were supposed to do to get the serpent to leave, but Carol didn't seem to be aware of its presence, or that of the unicorn's. Her normally bright eyes were dull and clouded and she lacked her usual enthusiastic energy. Something was very wrong.

  "Carol, have you been here all day?" Maíra looked at the serpent, and it regarded her smugly from its resting place.

  "No, I went somewhere," Carol said dreamily. "I can't remember, though. Where was I?"

  "Maíra, you have to tell her you love her," the unicorn whispered. "She can't see me, or the serpent, because she's being enthralled by that serpent. If you tell her, she'll come back to herself."

  "I can't just blurt it out!" Maíra hissed back.

  "That's fear talking!" the unicorn replied. "The serpent doesn't want you to confess, but if you don't do something, I don't know what will happen to Carol. You already know what will happen to me."

  "Fine. Okay," Maíra said, taking in a few deep breaths. "I can do this."

  Maíra steeled herself, and as she did, the serpent seemed to smile, and it flicked its tongue out in her direction. It didn't think she could do it.

  That did it.

  Maíra sat up straight and said, "Carol McFarlane!"

  Carol looked up sharply, eyes suddenly more clear.

  "I am here today to tell you that I love you," Maíra said, heart thumping wildly in her chest. She could hardly breathe, but she kept going relentlessly. "I want you to know that there is at least one person who cares very strongly about you, and that over the many months we've known each other, these feelings have been growing. I know there may be obstacles in our lives, but I will not back down or give up. This I promise you."

  "Maíra, you're riding a unicorn," Carol suddenly said, blinking hard. "In a dress! Is this a dream?"

  "No dream, believe me," Maíra said. "Now I don't want to alarm you, but there's something around your neck that you need to be rid of."

  Carol reached up with one hand and gasped as her fingertips came into contact with the serpent's scaled body. The serpent hissed, and suddenly grew, longer and thicker until it was wrapped around Carol's entire torso rather than just her head. Its coils pulsed like a heartbeat as they caged Carol up.

  "About time you arrived," the serpent hissed. "Do you have any idea how tedious the human realm is?"

  "Why are you here?" the unicorn demanded, stomping its front hooves on the floor in agitation. Each strike sent a bell-like chime resounding through the building.

  "Oh, I was bored," the serpent said. "I noticed you coming through and slipped into this world on your heels. It was easy to track this one down. And while it took you forever to get that one to listen to you, it was the work of seconds to get into this one's head. Did you know she thinks she's overweight? All it took was a few nasty memories and poisonous comments and she opened right up to me."

  "Get away from her!" Maíra said angrily. "How dare you hurt Carol?"

  "It was so easy though," the serpent said, shaking its head. "Your fellow humans did most of the work for me, all I had to do was make her remember them."

  "You let her go," Maíra growled. "Right now!"

  "She's stuck inside her own head now," the serpent said, with a hissing laugh. "She's spiralling around and around in there revisiting the same topic. She'll never leave."

  "I'll fight you for her!" Maíra declared, and the world around them was filled with the sound of pealing bells and wind chimes.

  "A duel to the death it shall be!" the serpent said, sounding triumphant. "But you can't win. This world is so wonderful for poisoning the minds of its inhabitants. Oh, you should know darling, that loving is so very difficult, but hating is terribly easy."

  "I won't let you have her!" Maíra cried.

  She felt a burning feeling rising up in her chest. At first, she thought it was a physical tell of the anger she was feeling, but it rose up in the back of her throat and settled there. It didn't impede her breathing, but it was very odd, like a hot, throbbing ball of air stuck in her throat.

  "Magic," the unicorn said. "You have the power of words. Be careful, if you say anything dark or evil, it will work in the serpent's power rather than yours."

  "I will never give up on Carol," Maíra said, voice reverberating around them. "You will not take her, demon!"

  The heat welled up and burst out of her. It circled around her and started glowing, so brightly that Maíra had to close her eyes against the intensity. Something warm, like sunlight on a summer day, was sliding down over her arms and across her back.

  When she opened her eyes, Maíra looked down at her arms to find she was suited up in gleaming silver chainmail. There was a rippling sensation over the crown of her head, and a matching helm settled over her head.

  There was a sword belted over her hip, and when Maíra pulled it from its scabbard, the blade shone with vivid white flames.

  "What's going on?" Maíra asked, and she could still feel the hot, syrupy magic bubbling up in her throat as she spoke.

  "They're physical embodiments of your commitment," the unicorn explained.

  "You'll have to fight me if you want her back," the serpent said, and it started growing and twisting, bigger and bigger until she was facing a wyrm of unimaginable horror.

  "What are you?" Maíra asked, readying her weapon.

  "I am Loathing," the serpent said. "I know all the secret things you hate about yourselves."

  Maíra could hardly speak. Had she created this monster as well?

  "I know all the things you love, both about yourself and Carol," the unicorn replied. "I will not let you down!"

  The unicorn reared up, and the serpent shook loose one of its coils and the end of its tail lashed out towards them. The unicorn leapt over it and Maíra made a slash at it with her sword.

  "Oh, Maíra," the serpent hissed from above their heads. "You can love Carol all you like. But why would Carol ever love you? You're not like her at all."

  "Carol is wonderful, and she sees good in everyone she knows," Maíra said, brandishing her weapon.

  "You're not good enough for her," Loathing said. "You're too jealous. Why are you jealous of all the other girls, Maíra? Do they have something you want?"

  "Carol is a good person," Maíra shouted, trying to drown out the voice. "She isn't like you! She wouldn't taunt somebody for being different."

  "But our Carol loves women," Loathing hissed gleefully. "You're not a proper woman at all, are you, Maíra? If we took away all your layers, underneath it all you'd still have the wrong body."

  "I am not the vessel I embody," Maíra said.

  The serpent was coiled up, piling its body around a central point, and Maíra bet that Carol was there in the middle of it all.

  "We need to get in there," she said to the unicorn.

  "Carol needs to reach out to us," the unicorn replied. "That snake is not physically here, it's just made up of self-loathing. It must have been whispering terrible things in Carol's ear all morning, while we weren't here. It's trying to do the same to you, so you mustn't listen."

  "Carol!" Maíra yelled. "I know you're in there, and you have to listen to me. You're beautiful! Everyone thinks so, not just me. Your smile is the best part of my day,
and sometimes I'll wait hours for you, just to see it."

  "Why should she listen to you?" Loathing rose up high and watched as Maíra and the unicorn ran around the perimeter made by its writhing mass. "Maíra isn't our only jealous one. Our dear Carol is always wondering how someone who wasn't born female can have a more feminine figure than her. Poor Maíra. Carol wants that booty for herself more than she wants Maíra."

  "No!" the unicorn shook its mane out. "That's not true at all! Liar."

  Maíra's chest ached from where that barb had hit home. Carol didn't really think that, did she? How could anyone think that? Maíra had been taking hormones for years and there were days when she still didn't feel right in her body. No one should feel jealous of Maíra, not when she had to fight the urge to cut herself out of this ill-fitting skin.

  "No!" There was a voice, muffled by the serpent's coils, but audible. "I don't think that, Maíra! Don't listen to it! I do think you're pretty, but I'm not jealous! I know what you go through."

  "Carol, you're so silly," Loathing said, looking down at where Carol must have been, locked inside its prison of scales. "Maíra doesn't love you. Who could love you? Just look at how lovely Maíra is, and ask yourself if anyone would want fat, loud, geeky Carol? No one does. You're not attractive enough for them to like you, especially not when you always say such uncomfortable things."

  "Carol!" Maíra yelled. "Don't listen to it! Listen to me, because what I say is true."

  "Don't listen to her, Carol. She's such a little liar. She never told you she's not really a woman, did she? She was never going to tell you, and then you'd find yourself with a nasty surprise sometime down the road," Loathing whispered.

  Maíra took a deep breath and ignored the hurt she felt at such accusations. "I love you just as you are, every single inch of you. I don't need a thin Carol or a curvy Carol, because I love Carol as she is. I don't want nice Carol or restrained, charming Carol. I like the Carol that can't keep herself from speaking out when people around her say ignorant things that hurt her friends. I don't need cool Carol or popular Carol because I think that her obsession with weird British sci-fi shows is the cutest thing ever. I love the Carol that is, and not the Carol that society wants her to be."