Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

“General Aramce of Lady Gaia’s forces. A draconian prosthetic would be... expensive, but I think I could pull enough strings to get one big enough. It would feel like flesh and respond to movement just like a normal hand, but be many times stronger.”

Maybe you could try thinking of super speed next time we need to get around.

The guard approaches you.
“You seem to be deep in thought. Something troubling you?”

Fable continues following, looking up at the sky to guess how long it’s been since she first was there.

 

It's the late afternoon. If she wanted to fight in the ring, now would probably be the time to go there.

Katie and her parents step through, Aquira taking a long breath of the salty air.

 

“Hey, Katie, where was that town? I was going to go watch the ring fights.”

Kiin leaps up and hugs Aquira out of nowhere.
“Miss Alice did find you!” She says happily.

 

"Oh, it was in the mountains just near to here." Katie says, pointing over the cliffs.

"Hello, Kiin." Aquira says happily, hugging Kiin back.

 

"Oh, no. Just thinking for myself."

"I want to ask you something. This place, is there a specific person who runs it? Like a mayor or something?"

 

“I, uh... don’t know if I can get back in time on my own.”

“She wanted me to give this to you.” Kiin says, giving Aquira a small letter.

The letter reads:
“To Aquira and Sidus,
Hi, you never had the chance to know me, nor will you ever. My name is Alice, a detective from the Shadow Realm. Or, was. In locating you and working to extract you, I made the mistake of killing someone. My inner demons, feral instincts began to emerge, and I leave some of my belongings to help you recoup ship and crew.
I will never know you either, but promise me you and Katie will make it worth it.
-Alice”

“We do have a mayor, yes. You’d have to arrange an appointment, though, he’s been unwell as of late.”

 

"We could try swimming there, I think there's a stream running through them." Katie suggests.

"She...She was the one that saved us from those humans." Sidus says, remembering.

 

“I can’t swim. I’m really good at sinking, though.” Fable says, a bit annoyed with herself.
“Wait, you could carry me in gauntlet form, maybe?”

At the bottom of the letter is a taped-on mage coin.

 

Katie nods.

Aquira seems surprised, but not as thrilled as a normal person would be.

 

Fable glances at Aquira and Sidus.
“If they’re fine with it, I’ll leave it to you.”

Also in the envelope is a small folded-up map showing where Alice’s house was, with another note on back.
“If you dare dive into secrets best kept by no one, the soul locks on my filing cabinets will open to you. Do not take what’s inside lightly - you will no doubt find something you should not know. You may be hunted for it, or worse. You have access to the living room files, and only them.
Who they were, where you were held, their operations and intercepted communications... but beware the demons inside us all.”

 

"Mum, dad, I need to take my friend somewhere. I'll be back in a short while." Katie says.

"Stay safe, Katie." Sidus says, walking over to Katie and giving her a hug.

Katie looks to Fable.


Aquira puts the envelope and money in her pocket, looking towards her underwater palace.

 

Fable transforms over Katie’s hands, and Katie feels a surge of strength.


It seems unaffected, but there’s small distortions in the water nearby, particulary near the docks.

 

Katie runs to the water and dives in, swimming around the cliffs. As she swims, her lower half changes to a fish tail, and her speed increases greatly.


Aquira freezes the water under her feet to walk on it, inspecting the distortions.

 

Katie’s every move seems to have more power behind it, making it a rather short swim.


Once she gets close to one, it reveals itself to be an ice ship from the Crystal Armada, a draconian strangely sleeping upside-down dangling off the deck railing as if they were a bat.

 

Katie soon finds a waterfall trickling down into the ocean from a stream, which she climbs up with agility and swims toward the mountain source.


Aquira seems a little startled, then sighs, seeming mournful.

 

Fable’s extra strength almost makes her overshoot the waterfall climb, making Katie very briefly go airborne at the top.


“Hey, mum?” Kiin asks. “While we were leveling the cities, I found one of your old crew.”

 

Katie doesn't seem to mind, flipping as she's airborne.

Katie hastily makes her way up the mountain stream, unaffected by the flow.


"You did?" Aquira asks.

 

Fable seems to tone down her strength contribution a bit.


“A forest guardian looking woman.” Kiin nods. “I can’t remember her name.”

 

Katie doesn't seem to mind, reaching a pond in the mountain town after swimming through a narrow rocky tunnel.


"Were there anyone else?" Aquira asks, hopeful.

 

Katie seems to be able to hear Fable’s thoughts.
“Is this it?”


“I dunno, I was called inside to explain why I ordered four volleys of artillery.” Kiin shrugs.