Cadence sighed as she flopped back onto the bed, tiredly closing her eyes and curling up with a smile. She was so proud of herself, being able to be good at the adulting. So nice.
She exhaled heavily as she fully relaxed, hoping to fall asleep quickly. Though that was a moot sort of hope, seeing as it usually took her like an hour to fall asleep. Maybe more, maybe less, who knows.
She opened her eyes, finding herself kneeling and slumped on a wooden stage, glowing strings wrapped around her joints and holding her up like a puppet. The strings came in one of three colors, either red, yellow, or blue.
The strings pull her up, standing straight before she finds herself bowing.
"Welcome guys, gals, and similarly brain-damaged non-binary pals!" A masculine voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere, the line sounding familiar, "So glad you could attend the performance of our crown jewel!"
Cadence looked down at herself to find herself in a pretty and slightly frilly dress, which was a bright red with orange accents, as well as a purple bowtie. Reminded her of some sort of dress she saw from a Twitter Trend.
"And now for her critically acclaimed newest hit, Stolen Hearts Hurt The Most!" The mystery voice finished, falling silent as music started, the music sort of rock-like but also reminiscent of pop and maybe a hint of ragtime.
She finds herself suddenly lifted up out of the bow, standing straight with her arms held wide before coming to rest over her heart.
"You stole my heart, stole my soul," she heard beautiful notes flowing from her lips in a slow, almost sad tone, "Left me wanting more..."
She slowly walked across the stage, head lifting to look over the crowd. It was many black blobs representing people, like the default profile icon for some sites.
"Can't keep going, in this way," she found herself back in center stage, slowly kneeling, "leaving me with feelings tooooore."
Slowly, she crawled forward, eyes forced to look far beyond the audience, at an almost sort of royal box with floating glowing eyes she recognized as Sun, Moon's, and Eclipse's.
"Love me, love me," she begged, slowly sitting up, baring her heart in how she leaned back, baring her very soul, "Please won't you love me?"
She fell back, stretching out as she looked towards the sky. "I promise I won't be in the way," she sung softly, back arching as she had her hands above her head, "I'll be good, I'll be nice."
She inhaled deeply before raising her voice, "Do whatever you SAYYYYYY!"
She slumped against the stage, sitting up slowly, hand over her heart as she looked to the royal box with lidded eyes.
"I thought I'd never feel this," she sung softer, the strings bringing her up into the air as she spread her arms wide, "Get attached... I'm filled with feeling, leaving me with emotions and sensations," she slowly leaned back, closing her eyes against the bright lights above, which were a soft almost orangey white.
She inhaled deeply before continuing, "To keep me reeling."
She dropped to the stage, finding herself standing straight again, the lights slowly turning a dark blue. "But I can feel it in my bones," she hugged herself, looking around, "Something's got to break, something'll make me swoon."
She found herself being dipped by an invisible force, the words continuing to flow from her lips as she was trapped in her own body, "And I just know, it'll send me over the Moooooon." She was spun around, finding herself embraced by Moon, both starting to tango.
"You've been so kind, so understanding," she was spun and lifted into the air before finding her face close to Moon's, "so freaking appearetically hot." Internally, she winced at that wording.
"So calm and collected," she was set down, "At ease and connected," she was spun away, slowing and falling to her knees in the middle of the stage, purple spotlight locked to her location, "While I'm just not..."
She found herself being lifted again, the lights changing to yellow as a glowing yellow orb lowered down to hover over the stage. "The Sun's gentle rays are warm and inviting," she hugged herself, the strings lowering her down to stand alone on the stage, "leaving me wanting to stay all day."
She found herself wrapped up in Sun's arms, melting into his touch as she rested her chin on his chest. "But I shouldn't feel so connected to someone," she continued, Sun leaning down to bring his face close to hers, "Making me want to fuck every day..." She felt his lips on hers for a moment before she was pulled away, Sun disappearing in a puff of smoke.
The lights suddenly plunged to red, large hands pulling her back against a warm chest, a pair slipping over her stomach, one hand around her neck and one tilting her chin up to look at the smiling face of Eclipse.
"The dark and the bright, oh the Eclipse sets me alight," she leaned back against him, a hand on her stomach slowly sliding down her front, "but the thought of what I want makes me oh so filled with not what I desire...."
She watched the hand, an icy chill flooding her veins and replacing the heat when his hand flashed white, Eclipse's chest pressing against her back, and his hand slowly slipping into her waistband as she sung out, "But friiiiiiiiight."
She fell forward, on her knees as she looked up at the royal box, where Eclipse had returned. The lights were all off save for her light purple spotlight.
"Love me, use me, choose me," she begged as she crawls forward, eyes locked onto their eyes, "Please oh please, never lose or abuse me!" She found herself resting her chest on the floor, hips high in the air like a cat, "I can be whatever you want me to be!" She surged into the air, baring herself with arms spread wide, "I can give whatever you want from me! Please just stay, and keep me company..."
She flipped back, the strings wrapping around her like a cocoon as she struggled. "I shouldn't let myself be this way, but god I can't help it," she inhaled as her back arched, cocoon disappearing as she was spread starfish by the strings.
And then, louder, "I want to be useful, used like a puppet..."
The strings made her dance side to side, in tune with the beat. "I'm just a puppet, dancing on your strings..." She tripped, tangled in the strings that controlled her, "Controlled by others, making me feel things."
She tried to free herself from the strings, struggling and thrashing. "I can't trust myself to make the right choice, so I'll learn and adapt and still never use my voice."
She suddenly fell to the ground, the strings piling up on her and slowly crushing her as she kept singing, "Trapped by my desires, trapped by my shame! If you ever leave, I know who I'll blame!" Tears came to her eyes, looking up at the royal box, reaching out as she was slowly buried, begging, "I can't give back in the way I want to. I need the things to happen to me from youuuu!"
She sobbed once. "I can't, can't, can't reciprocate what I desire, showing what I want," the strings started glowing brighter, "it makes my brain catch fire!" The strings burst out in an explosion of glitter, leaving her in a glittering dress that was quite modest, with long-sleeves and a turtleneck, as well as the shining material going down to her ankles. It was in a wave sort of pattern, with blue, yellow, and red on the entire thing.
Her voice was softer as she found herself kneeling in the center of the stage again, looking up at Sun, Moon, and Eclipse all looking down at her, wearing what she realized was human-styled tuxedos.
"Love me, use me, choose me, please," she whispered in a beg, watching them, and being watched in return, "I need you," she found herself slowly pushed onto her back, hearing the tearing of fabric, "I want you, oh how a shame... If you ever leave, I know who I'll blame..."
The lights turned off, leaving her in darkness as she felt 4 pairs of hands on her, peeling off the dress as the Jesters glowed in the dark.
She didn't know how long she laid in the dark, but sat up groggily, blinking wearily as she looked around. She rubbed at her eyes, finding herself back in her room on the ship, the clock on her nightstand saying it was currently 1:50 AM.
"What in the everloving fucking fuck kind of dream was that???" She grumbled to herself, rubbing her eyes as she flopped back onto the bed. "Oh my god... Seriously what..."
She shook her head, groaning as she curled back into a ball, murmuring, "I'll write it down in the morning..."
She did not write it down in the morning.