Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

Alice notices a silhouetted figure flying across the mountains, looking like they're headed to the other skyrail station.


"Celeste is quite good at defending herself. She just shrinks people down and steps on them!" Gaia says happily.

 

The guard's mood dampens.
"No, we have troubles with shapeshifters who try to pass as nothing more than humans... I'm afraid you've fallen in the same trap we use to catch them in. See, we know who is a shapeshifter, but if they refuse to admit their identity, protocol says we can't let them in."

Alice goes over and checks if Gail left her house.


"That's great, but with our enemy, that will work exactly once. Once you do something to one, all the others will instantly know to evade it. You have to constantly use new moves, which constantly limits you further." Emerald warns.

 

Gail's house appears to be empty.


"How would they be able to learn to evade being shrunk by magic? Nobodies been able to withstand Celeste's magic before, or any of our powers really." Gaia asks, confused.

 

The thing seems confused.
"...Huh? What do you mean I 'fell in the trap'?"

 

Alice smiles, heading back home and waiting for Holly.


"I know it's difficult to wrap your head around, but keep in mind this foe already has overpowered multiple high gods in our reality... the fact he was able to control Mistress Xlentia at any time is scary. I don't know if she's told you, but she has the ability to erase all traces and memories of a victim if she so chooses... the fact our foe was able to overpower her, and us, is no less than horrifying.

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"See, we already know you're a shapeshifter. Crown doesn't let us permit entry to any shapeshifter who won't admit their status."

 

Holly doesn't seem to arrive in the evening or night.


"That's strange and...kind of spooky." Gaia says.

 

"What? What makes you think I'm a shapeshifter?"
The thing seems genuinely curious.

 

Alice assumes she came while asleep, sitting out on the porch for a while before she opts to head to the community center.


"She gets a lot of hate for it... but that power is neccesary and vital to the way things are here."

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"This device." The guard says, holding out a small metal cube. "If you have the ability to shapeshift, somehow it knows."

 

The fish Holly left near the tank seem to have gone, though a gift appears to have been left for her; a small ring illuminates the area around it.


"No, I meant your foe." Gaia says.

 

"Huh. Smart thing."
The thing smiles, putting its hands on its hips.
"So, I guess I can't get in until your shift changes, huh."
The thing points out.

 

Alice checks for any other scrolls left for her.


"True... Wait, hold on. I'm getting a desperate link from another god's servants..." Emerald says, letting the connection lag.

"Yeah, sorry." The guard sighs.
"...But, if it's any consolation, my partner couldn't make it and I brought a deck of cards. You seem like a nice enough guy, would you mind helping me kill a bit of time during my shift?"

 

"If you feel like you can trust me with a deck of cards, I've got time to burn as well."
The thing says, approaching the guard and seeing if there's a place to sit and a table.

 

There appears to be a new scroll in a room with a desk and a large safe, asking for donations of money. They appear to be in separate amounts, one asking for two diamond and five hundred gold, another asking for double that, and another asking for quadruple. The last and most expensive donation appears to be twenty five diamond.

Alice notices that the overall reward for donating all the money is the repair of the skyrail.


Gaia just waits patiently.

 

Alice shrugs, summoning enough money to cover every donation and then an extra five diamond, putting each amount on top of the scrolls and the extra on top of the safe, monitoring the area to make sure it isn't stolen away.


The link stabilized again.
"I, uh... there's a problem I need to tend to. Sorry, but I have to go. Just, come over and I'm sure we'll be able to accomodate." Emerald says.

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There is no table, but the guard just sits down on the pavement, opening the deck and shuffling.
"Hey, if you were going to harm me, you would've probably just flown in by now."

 

"Trust me, I was thinking about it."
The thing nonchalantly pull out a small table and two folding chairs from nowhere, setting them up.
"C'mon, its more comfortable at a table."

 

The guard shrugs, getting up and taking one of the chairs.
"I figured, but if you didn't, that's a start."
Pause.
"What games you know?"

 

"Name one, chances are I know it."

 

A faerie appears, before looking shocked at the amount of money on the scrolls. The faerie begins to sing a tune, and more faeries begin to appear, each joining in the tune, the light each faerie emits illuminating the room and growing stronger, before all Alice can see is a bright white light, though it doesn't appear to be harming her at all. Suddenly, the light explodes outward, and the room looks practically new than what it was before. Everything appears to have been repaired, the desk and safe looking in much better shape than before. There even appears to be a couple of filing cabinets potted plants about the room, and a rug under the large safe. The faerie's voices sing lightly around Alice as the first faerie says something in a strange language to her happily, before gathering up the money and taking it to the hut.


"Oh, um, ok." Gaia says, sounding a little less confident.

 

Alice smiles at the faerie, checking to see if the rest of the community center is also repaired.


The link waivers before Emerald lets it drop.

"Blackjack?"

 

It appears that only the single room was repaired; each room is probably repaired every time all the bundles of items are completed.

The faerie takes a golden star out of the hut, affixing it above the fireplace at the back of the entrance room to the community centre. There appears to be slots for six other stars too. A few other faeries bring Alice gifts. An entire chocolate cake, a couple more soil nutrients in a different coloured box, a large metal rod and a strange, small futuristic looking box are brought to Alice by faeries.


Gaia doesn't try to quickly reconnect it, letting it fade as she considers if and when to gather the other gods to go to Xlentia's reality.