Hope eventually woke back up and joined Erie and Juliet for breakfast. When she did, the three decided to square away the details for debut... or at least as much as they could.
Hope nibbled on the cornetto and said, "Thanks for the stuffed croissant, Julie!"
Juliet winced. But then she sighed and said, "It's a cornetto... but I give up on all things regarding food with you."
Hope paused. "...What's a cornetto."
Juliet was quiet.
Then, with the look of someone who reluctantly accepted an immutable fact of life... or arguably the look of one who opened a closet only to find an endless abyss...
Juliet grabbed a cornetto and bit into it before saying, "Just eat the damned croissant, Hope."
"...Okay?" Hope shrugged and kept nibbling on the pastry.
Erie smiled, clearly amused. But she didn't say anything to pour oil on that hellfire of a mess. Instead, she changed the subject. "Okay guys. Back to the important stuff. Like our avatars."
"Oh yeah!" Hope brightened and said, "I forgot! We need to do that, don't we?" She finished her cornetto and wiped her hands with a napkin. Then she said, "Have you two thought about it yet?"
Juliet shook her head, remembering what Erie said earlier. "Apparently, Erie wants to be a cultist of an eldritch deity that's puppeting Meryl Kodomo's corpse around."
Hope gasped. "That's terrible! ...I like it."
"Right?!" Erie pointed at Hope. "I knew you'd get me, Hope."
Juliet rolled her eyes and said, "I still think it's cheesy."
Erie snapped her fingers and said, "Cheesy! Perfect! I'll make my stream room a pizzeria and keep her in cold storage with the cheese!"
Hope let out a scandalized gasp. "That's unsanitary!"
"And that's the point." Erie chuckled. "I can even use Meryl's voice to puppet her when she's in storage."
Juliet tilted her head. "Meryl's voice?"
"Yep. That black company made us use cringey anime voices... like this. Ahem." Erie sat up straight and put on an exaggerated smile. "Oh hai, chat~ Welcome back to the streaaam! Let's have fun today!"
It was super bubbly. It was very sweet.
It was 100% NOT Erie.
Hope visibly recoiled, almost stumbling out of her chair. "Gah! Demon!" She crossed herself and said, "Back! Back!"
Juliet slowly blinked. Then she said, "Okay. I get why you want to be a cultist... are you going to go full necromancer?"
Erie coughed, clearing her throat. Then she sipped on her coffee and said, "Probably. Depends on what John lets us do. I REALLY want to have a skeleton prop."
Hope sat back in her chair and said, "No skeletons in the house! Even fake ones!"
Erie looked at Hope with mischief and said, "But there's one inside you, Hope. Does that mean we have to remove you too?"
Hope paused. "Skeleton? Inside me?"
"Yep." Erie leaned back and crossed her arms. "You're just a meat golem over a skeleton, you know?"
Juliet groaned. "I did NOT need that visual right now..."
"Ew, ew, ew!" Hope squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears. "Erie, noooo. It's too early! I'm still impressionable!"
Erie burst out laughing and said, "Aren't you the oldest, Hope? Why are you so childish?"
Juliet paused. Then she gasped and said, "Oh my god. We're the three kids dynamic." She pointed at Hope. "The oldest and a bit ditsy eldest sister." She pointed at Erie and said, "The red-headed middle child... literally." After that, she pointed at herself and said, "And the youngest who has to deal with all of your bullcrap."
Erie ripped a chunk of her cornetto and chucked it at Juliet. "Hey! I'm not that bad."
Juliet grabbed it and said, "You're throwing food."
"And?"
Juliet shook her head and looked at Hope. "...Anyway. Erie's being a cultist necromancer thing, apparently. I'm going to be Cinderella, myself. What about you, Hope?"
Hope gasped. "You're going to be Cinderella? We can do that?!"
Erie finished her cornetto and grabbed another one, munching into it. "Probably. Mister John has enough money to tell everyone to shove it."
Hope paused. "That's true... Oh! Then I'm going to be a goddess!" She jumped up from her chair and said, "Just like Sailor Luna! I'll even have a magical girl transformation and- and-!" She
Juliet laughed and said, "Calm down, Hope. There's no need to go all out yet. We're just brainstorming... but a goddess, huh?" She sipped on her coffee and said, "Well... Hana already called you Elpis, so that works..."
Erie snapped her fingers and said, "That's perfect! I'll be a cultist and Hope can be the totally not eldritch deity I worship!"
Hope's eyes lit up and said, "Can I be a Rap God?"
Juliet groaned. "Really?"
"But the puns!" Hope clasped her fingers and looked over at Juliet. "Think of the puns, Julie! And the wordplays!"
Erie nodded. "A rap god does sound pretty eldritch."
"It doesn't. You're just stretching it to make it work..." Juliet sighed. "But I guess if Hope's happy about it?"
"I am!" Hope nodded. "I can be like a goddess of music and hope! NO! Even better! I'll be the R+B Goddess! Rap and Beauty, but it's a pun!"
Erie laughed. "That's amazing. Corny, but amazing."
"I like corn, so it's fine!"
Juliet chuckled and said, "Fine. I guess that works. Then... Hm. Since our theme is protest, are we all protesting something?"
Erie stood up and pointed at the ceiling. "I protest death!"
Hope jumped up and said, "I protest despair! No bad vibes, forever!"
After that, Erie and Hope looked at Juliet.
Juliet blinked. "Uh... I protest..." She paused, then determination filled her eyes. "I protest societal norms!"
"Yeah!" Erie punched the air and said, "Screw society!"
Hope clapped and said, "Yeah! Down with society! Down with despair! Down with death!"
Juliet grinned and said, "Down with everyone who thought they could keep us down!"
"Yeah!"
"YEAH!"
The door opened.
Erie, Hope, and Juliet froze.
Meggie walked in and saw them all heated up. Adjusting her school uniform, she said, "...You guys do know that your room isn't completely soundproofed, right?"
Hope immediately collapsed to the floor and curled up in a ball. "Noooooooooooo."
Erie dropped onto her seat and covered her face. "The cringe..."
Juliet blinked. Then she shrugged and said, "Have a good day at school, Meggie?"
"...Sure." Meggie walked in and grabbed her CapsuMon backpack that she left there last night. "...I'll catch you guys later. If I can. Might get mobbed by Tsuki and Emma..."
After saying that, Meggie walked out, grumbling under her breath.
When the door clicked shut, Hope sat back up and said, "...I just realized. Is it just me, or does Meggie sound a lot like Mister John now?"
Erie slowly lowered her hands, confused at Hope's comment. But then she paused to consider it and said, "Huh. You know, you're right."
Juliet stood up to stretch and said, "It's the drama. Seems like she got Johnny's bad... good? Luck with girls... But anyway!" She clapped her hands together and pointed at Erie. "Necromancer Cultist."
"Yep!" Erie gave a thumbs up. "A necromancer cultist stealing Meryl Kodomo's body as a stage prop!"
"...That's definitely a crime, but we apparently do those here, so sure." Juliet nodded and pointed to Hope. "R+B Goddess of Rap and Beauty."
"Yeah!" Hope twirled and then did a peace sign. "Magical girl transformations included!"
"Alright. And for me... A literal runaway princess? I guess?" Juliet paused. "...Should I do some bloodstained glass slippers?"
Erie snapped her fingers and said, "That's perfect! You can be both! A Cinderella who died before finding her prince charming!"
Hope gasped. "That's tragic! ...But I love it!"
Juliet paused, rubbing her chin. "...It would let me cover edgy songs. And the costumes would be amazing..."
"Right?" Erie nodded. "Dead princess revived with a grudge is perfect! And you can even like curse out exes and stuff in your music."
Juliet's olive green eyes darkened, clearly remembering specific people. "...Oh, that sounds LOVELY. There are a few 'Romeos' I can make snide references to..."
Hope smiled and said, "Then it's settled! Project MirAIs EN, Protest! With a goddess, a necromancer cultist, and an undead princess who died at a ball after being poisoned!"
Juliet blinked and said, "What? I didn't say that."
Hope tilted her head. "But isn't that how all the villainess stories start? That's basically you, isn't it?"
Juliet paused. Then she gasped. "OH MY GOD. I CAN BE A VILLAINESS LIKE FROM THOSE WEBTOONS!"
Erie gasped too and started shaking with excitement. "WE CAN ALL BE VILLAINS! BUT LIKE, GOOD VILLAINS!"
"I DON'T KNOW WHY WE'RE SCREAMING BUT YEEEEES!" Hope giggled.