Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"This is going to be risky."
I disable the magic hiding the village before Xlentia gets any closer

 

Xlentia looks down.
"Ooh, oh no, oh yikes... that was close." She says, worry on her face as she barely avoids stepping (and causing tremors) on the very edge of the village.
"Well, at least I found it. Right where Emerald said it was..." She says to herself, though it's audible to everyone in the village.

Xlentia then leans down to get a better look at the village.
"Hello? Mortals? Can you move, or like, be bigger than a speck of dust for a moment? Show signs of being here?" She asks, eye alone bigger than three houses as she slowly scans the village, somehow managing not to damage anything.

 

Stephanie heads through to a large kitchen, counter spanning it with various pieces of equipment used in making food. Cupboards seem to hide everything, including the fridge and freezer.

"Here's the kitchen. It's where we prepare food." Stephanie says.

"What? I wasn't going to get someone to kill her. Just someone to protect you and maybe hurt her a bit if she tries attacking you." I say.

 

"But if she gets hurt, she might get sick and die like the world. Then there won't be a person to be queen anymore."

 

I call out
"You know you call us mortals but we are not exactly 'mortal'. And what are you doing all the way out here? I said I didn't want to be disturbed, I need to prepare my village for the coming war."

 

"How did you get all this stuff?"
I ask, curiously.

 

"I do not see as to why you would be discriminated. In what I understand, you would have been, to an extent, exalted."

 

"What about you? Couldn't you be the new queen?" I ask, "And if you don't want to be, why not just tell her that? Then she'll stop trying to kill you."

"Shadow Aj, mostly. Most of us thought he had a high paying job or got a lot of loot from adventures to sell before we found out he was king," Stephanie says, "Here, let me show you something secret."

Stephanie opens the freezer door, strangely, and takes out the trays of frozen food.

 

"What about it?"
I ask, looking at the trays.

 

"Well, you're not gods and you're not a demigod, so you're a mortal to me." She shrugs. "I came out here to offer help in your war. Hoping it would ease your distrust of me and my servants."

"Exaltation is concealed discrimination."

"I mean after me. And I can't make mommy sad, or I'll have read a bunch of books for nothing!"

 

The trays contain frozen bags of food, as well as meats, including a whole chicken.

"Follow me." Stephanie says, crawling into the freezer, oddly.

"Have you told her your sister is trying to kill you?" I ask.

 

I follow, interested.

 

The freezer appears to be much longer than seems physically possible, Stephanie crawling through an icy tunnel, breaking icicles as she goes.

 

"She knows. Mommy keeps watch over me on my hour a week outside my room."

 

"Woah."
I say, a bit amazed.

 

"You're not allowed outside your room?" I ask, concerned.

"I don't think the others know about this place!" Stephanie calls, her voice echoing slightly.

After a bit of crawling, Stephanie eventually crawls out of the tunnel, looking back at you.

 

"No, I'm not."

 

"I have a friend who was treated like this. Her parents locked her up in her room, only letting her out for an hour a day so she didn't die," I say, shaking my head, "Are you happy living like this?"

 

"Yes, I like playing with Missy Maralune!" Perry says happily.

 

"But, you don't get to go out and explore the world. Dig holes with sticks, pick flowers, find beehives. You're living such a...sheltered life, it's no way for a child to develop." I say, concerned.