Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

Imp-chan shrugs, taking another sip and enjoying the gardens.


Stephanie looks for anything else hindering the machine's respite generation, concerned.


"Hm?" Abigail asks, confused, "I just wanted to warn you about Madeline so she didn't throw you from the upper atmosphere for fun. You're...different to other humans."

 

"Why did Aj tell you to get into the robotics lab, anyways?"


The sparks seem to have drained the crystal significantly.


"You probably guessed I'm not from here. You probably also noticed I've been hiding my name, since I'm not keen on it being thrown around randomly here. Do you remember what it is, though?" I ask,

 

"It was a test to see how stealthy I could be. I asked him to help me be sneakier, and this was a big part of my training. He said if I could get into the robotics lab and find someone called Eve, I could sneak anywhere..." Imp-chan explains, "He said she was a really good artist, too."


Stephanie performs the time stopping spell again, swapping out the damaged crystal for another new one. She looks quite exhausted after this, however.


"Eric Xavier Valentine?" Abigail guesses.

 

“She’s also a pretty good killer robot when she wants to be.” Ihra adds.


The respite starts to strengthen and stabilize once again, though the copper clearly isn’t going to serve as anything more than a temporary patch job.


“Eric’s good enough, you’re wrong about the rest anyways. On the topic of you, though, who’d you piss off to mess you up that badly if it wasn’t the Hive Master?”

 

"A killer robot?" Imp-chan asks, concerned.


Stephanie uses her last mage crystal to charge it with a sustainable small shield spell, using it to protect the copper and try to prevent sparks or outside forces from messing with it.


"My best friend's mother, who happens to be one of the best and strongest pirates out there," Abigail explains, sounding dejected, "She's unwilling to accept the fact that she basically wanted a child she was forced to adopt to die. It was tearing the family apart, honestly; and I only care about Katie. Her parents have been pretty shit since they'd just abandon her to go off and be pirates instead of raising their god damn child."

 

I just nod, and focus on where we're going.

 

"Eve's meant to be a weapon. She's also really good at art, but she was built to kill people."


It looks a bit better, but it's still probably something to call Eve to look at. Or anyone who knows how to fix it, really.


"I've got several questions regarding that, but I'll stick with one - how can something or someone tear a family apart when the family was never together?"

 

"That's so sad." Imp-chan says, sounding sympathetic.

"Should we go see her?" Imp-chan asks.


Stephanie accepts her inability, getting up and leaving - before looking for Maralune.


"I know one thing, Katie's parents love her a lot. I'm pretty sure her mother is going to start raising her to be her successor once she's old enough," Abigail admits, "They're still terrible for basically abandoning her, but I've seen how they act around her when they return; you wouldn't think they're pirates that kill humans and guardians alike. I think an extra child sort of broke that because it made them feel even less like pirates as they felt like they had some kind of responsibility to stay home and look after them rather than abandon another child."

Abigail pauses for a moment after her explanation.

"That's my take on it, at least. My parents let me move out when I was young. They didn't kick me out or just leave me to fend for myself." Abigail shrugs, looking calm. A warmth seems to radiate from her, like a soft blanket or a fireplace in winter.

 

"We can if you want." Ihra shrugs.


Maralune seems to be waiting near the moat.
"T-that was fast... thank you." She says, bowing slightly before catching herself.


"As long as you're fine with Xlentia ripping your face off on sight." I shrug. "Getting here was a bit of a pain since most of her guard is blockading her in her chambers."

The portal room seems to be open to the rest of Xlentia's domain already, fairly fresh footprints having entered Maralune.

 

Imp-chan seems to brighten up quite a bit, nodding.

"Let's go then." Imp-chan says happily.


"It's not fully fixed, unfortunately. I was going to get Eve to come here to fix it properly, but it should hold in the meantime." Stephanie explains, almost apologetically.


"Oh great, someone else unjustly mad at me?" Abigail asks, sounding annoyed.

 

Ihra stands up and offers Imp-chan a handclaw up.


"Don't worry about it, you didn't need to come here. We're all further indebted to you." She says, shaking her head.


"Not to rain on your parade, but you've given a ton of people a lot of reasons to be mad at you. You and your friends aren't exactly heroes, but I'd be lying if I said you were villains."

 

Imp-chan accepts it happily, not seeming put off by the less-human hand. Imp-chan picks up her tome before clustering the rest of her belongings - mostly just potion bottles - together and casting a weak shield spell over them; more to notify others they're not to be taken than to actually protect them.


"The fix I installed won't last very long, it was just temporary. It would be wrong of me to leave it in that condition with the ability to contact someone who can improve it and properly fix it." Stephanie explains, concerned.


"I'm a victim, if anything. Do you know how many of those dragons in that other reality are perverts who just want to catch me nude?" Abigail says, offended.

 

Do I recognize the footprints?

 

Ihra starts towards the inside of the palace.
"How many times have you... you know... gone back?"


"You've still done a lot for us. If there's anything, and I mean truly anything my people can do to repay you, please let me know."


"Yes, precisely the same number of humans who walked into your favorite arcade and showed up guardians at their own games." I say, blunt. "And you haven't even caught them yet."

They look like someone in armor and a mantis, specifically the Matriarch based off the occasional paint flake.

 

"...Do you want to check out Maralune?"
I suggest.
"Post-apocalyptic-esc planet."

 

"Sounds interesting, but I was hoping you'd take me somewhere a bit more fruitful than a sightseeing tour."

 

"Gone back?" Imp-chan asks, confused.


"I'll keep that in mind." Stephanie says happily with a nod, starting to head back to where she came in.


"So you understand my problem. That reality is messed up, it even has perverts coming to my house and trying to break in to catch me in the shower or something." Abigail says, sounding hurt.

 

“Like... died.”


Maralune nods, letting Stephanie leave.


“No, I’m saying you make yourself out to be a bitch when you’re just paranoid about the wrong people. You either told me that humans walk in to the Bit Crush Cano every day and trash guardian scores, or I told you there’s only one person who’s stalking you and you’ve been too busy calling Rineth and Chroma perverts to notice.” I say, blunt. “I’m not saying I don’t feel bad for you, nobody should have to worry about that shit. You’re pointing fingers at the wrong people, though.”

 

"A few times, I suppose," Imp-chan says, sounding a little distant, "Mortius is always nearby when I wake up again though."


Stephanie heads back to the void, and then to the realm of shadows - unless stopped along the way.


Abigail looks incredibly offended.

"They are perverts, dumbass! I have cases against them trying to catch me indecent, and it doesn't surprise me I've got someone stalking me because they're probably just the same!" Abigail says, raising her voice slightly, "One time Rineth even tried to kill me because I exposed him for being a pervert!"

 

“Why do you get sent there anyways? Isn’t hell reserved for those with malicious intent?”


There are no interruptions, though she sees Thirteen with a naga spellthief that eyes her in passing.


I sigh, then laugh.
“If you think I’m the dumbass between the two of us, I would be very interested in how you expected to break the curses on Emerald and Amethyst without my intervention. I won’t argue with you on the rest, though, I’d rather not have to call in my family to avenge me when there’s already a cult dedicated to killing you.”