Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"No, I'm still heading to Earth. Perhaps you could help mister Tiril with a palace job application, though?"


"The rumor came about when a few raptors went through the portal to your realms and never came back. One tribe sent a few more to find them; same outcome."


I hand her a copy of the note that was in Aj's birthday gift, everything the same aside from a nonexistent signature.
"Think of me as an... interested party to your cause. This just happens to be the first time any of you have met me in person, considering I know well what you usually do to humans."

"I'm new here, just heard good things about this arcade. Are there tokens, or is it just coins here?" I ask, taking a diamond coin out of my pocket and tossing it onto the counter. "If it's not too much trouble, I need a bit of change either way."

 

"Certainly, I'll see it attended to at once." The guard nods.

Tiril's eyes light up as he turns to say something to Ihra, though no words seem to come out; as if he's unable to explain his gratitude.


"Ah, well...if they went to Earth, they might have been killed out of fear..." Stephanie admits.


"What...are you?" Abigail says, stepping back, looking disconnected with reality.

"We...don't have enough money here to convert a diamond, sir." The guardian says, looking rather surprised.

 

"Tiril, good luck. I'll try to send a bit more aid to your home, but you're gonna do just fine." Ihra tells him happily.


"That would explain things, though... that really won't help settle the rumors.


"Human, obviously." I snark.

"Oh... my apologies. Though, I would like to ask again - does this arcade use coins or tokens?" I say, retrieving the diamond coin.

 

"Thank you." Tiril says honestly, tears in his eyes before the guard takes him to the palace.

Imp-chan lies on the ground, unconscious, with her belongings scattered beside her.


"What sort of rumors have been spread?" Stephanie asks, sounding concerned.


Abigail looks away, eating some of her chips and trying to come to terms with the situation.

"Coins. Gold for the cabinets, silver for the machines." The fire guardian explains.

 

Ihra looks her over, a bit concerned.
"Is there any safe place we could leave her to come to?" Ihra asks.
"...Other than a cell, that is?"


"A few of them are suspicion that the raptors set up their own tribe over there, others that they were just killed and sold by the demon race that was once here."


"Thank you." I say, sliding the guardian five gold before turning around and walking towards Abigail.
"If you decide to be done being confused, it won't be hard to find me since I'm the only human here." I tell her in passing, going to walk around the arcade to check what games are present.

 

The guard turns around.

"We could leave her in the gardens, I suppose." The guard shrugs.


"It's possible they could set up a tribe. I don't think the forest guardians would mind all too much." Stephanie says, pondering.


The fire guardian looks a little confused, but accepts the gold anyway.

Abigail nods, still processing things and enjoying her food.

The arcade seems to host quite a few standard racing games, complete with a drivers seat and steering wheel. The left side of the arcade seems to be host to more classic and old school games with modern, brighter and crazier versions next to them. The right side seems to be host to new games entirely, while the middle is occupied by coin-fall machines, slot machines and slot machines that seem to have some kind of RPG aspect to them. At the back of the arcade, there appears to be a couple of dancing-based games, as well as a few plug sockets on the walls and a water cooler and vending machine in the left corner.

Most notably, the arcade appears to be half-full, every other game taken up by a guardian who doesn't seem like they'll take kindly to a human trying to take the next game. An earth guardian hangs out by the vending machine, looking ready to break someone in half with his noticeably defined muscles.

 

"That should be fine. I can wait for her if you'd like." Ihra offers.


"I was only told of seven who went, though I know nothing more than their chiefs."


Under the coins is a small note; "Thanks for not killing me, I'm a bit tired of calling on dragons to get me out of a pinch."

I go left, looking for any older vacant games.

 

The guard nods, heading back and throwing Imp-chan over his shoulder. He collects some of her belongings in his free hand and Tiril helps out; hoping to look good.


"I haven't been able to explore Earth very much recently, so I can't confirm if they made it there." Stephanie says apologetically.


The older games seem a little less popular than the more modern ones. Three appear to be available: A fighting game with incredibly burly characters, a game with strange enemies that seem to descend the screen with what could be considered a tank at the bottom, and a game about navigating a maze while avoiding colourful ghosts.

 

Ihra levitates the rest of Imp-chan’s belongings before starting to follow the guard.
“I can get it, Tiril. You should start working on the job application and maybe a room in the palace.” Ihra says, giving Tiril a gentle smile.


“Don’t worry about that, you have other things to concern yourself with. I’m grateful you’re willing to take the time to worry about us, though.” Maralune says, turning the dial outside of the portal room back to Xlentia’s domain.


I approach the maze game, putting a coin in and playing if not forcefully disturbed.

 

"Y-Yes." Tiril says, nodding, nervous but joyful.

The guard carries Imp-chan into the palace gardens, laying her down beside some sweet-smelling lavender and putting the belongings he was holding beside her.


"Well, Praecantatia told me that we needed to help out your reality in any way we could. She was mostly referring to weakening the hive master, but helping out your world also counts." Stephanie says happily.


There's a tune as the game starts up, before a yellow pie-shaped character starts moving in the direction the joystick is tilted; turning at corners of the maze. Ghosts funnel out of their home in the center of the maze over time, each of them seeming to have a different movement pattern.

There isn't much disturbance other than some loud cheering and laughter from a table near the dance machines.

 

Ihra sits down next to her, waiting for her to come to.


“Prae... who?”


My game winds up lasting about ten minutes, though I seem frustrated with making it to level eight.

 

After a while, Imp-chan regains consciousness. The eye on her forehead opens first, looking around frantically for a moment before it closes in time with her normal eyes opening.

Imp-chan sits up, looking around, before noticing Ihra.


"The goddess of magic in my reality, and also my mother." Stephanie says happily.


A guardian sniggers beside the human, though doesn't say much else.

The machine seems to process something, and a couple of orange tokens roll out in a small return slot of the cabinet.

 

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't know it was you. Are you okay?" Ihra asks, seeming a bit pained.


"O-oh... uh... I-I don't remember what to do in front of a god..." Maralune says, stopping suddenly.


I step away from the machine, seeing if the guardian wanted to play.
"By all means, show me up." I say.

 

Imp-chan nods, glancing around at her belongings and taking a potion bottle filled with light blue liquid. She uncorks the potion and downs it's contents. She looks a little guilty afterwards, unsure what to do next.

"Sorry." Imp-chan says, her voice oddly comforting to hear; sounding silken and delicate.


"I'm not a god, I'm a demigod. So don't worry," Stephanie says happily, "I don't expect you to bow before me or anything."


"Any day, chump." The fire guardian says confidently, stepping up to play.

The fire guardian manages to get up to level five, before failing miserably and seeming rather frustrated.

"Stupid ass old game. Probably rigged anyway." The fire guardian mutters as he storms off, leaving behind an extra token.

 

"It was my overreaction. I hope you can forgive me. I... didn't expect it to be you, honestly."


"O-oh... okay then..." She stutters, continuing through to her namesake world.

The outside of the respite looks just as withered as always, though the respite itself seems as healthy as ever.


I take all but the token that was dispensed from the guardian's game, turning towards the modernized version of the same game.

 

Imp-chan nods, before looking rather depressed as some kind of realization hits her.

"I failed..." She says, sounding hurt, "I got caught...Aj will be so disappointed in me..."


Stephanie takes out a small disc, before casting a spell to activate it. The disc floats in front of Stephanie's chest as she stands still, a set of armour forming around her and covering her entire body and head. A sheath and sword to go with it form on her back as she taps the front of her helmet; the helmet's front seeming to disappear to expose her face.

"I hope you don't mind the armour, I just makes me feel a little safer and stronger." Stephanie explains, smiling.


An air guardian seems to already be playing it, and by the looks of things, seems to be doing extremely well. A bright rave of colours flash on screen in what could only be described as an epileptic nightmare, the air guardian making light yet precise inputs and racking up an incredibly high score; occasionally flapping their wings to whip up a cool breeze to cool themselves down.

 

"He'll forgive you, he didn't count on Iris getting in the way." Ihra says, trying to comfort her.


"N-no, not at all. Whatever you feel the need for, Lady Stephanie." Maralune says, trekking slowly but steadily through the forest towards the respite.


I nod as I watch them, though occasionally I grimace slightly when I notice mistakes in their play.
I keep an eye on their score.

 

"He'd probably count her as an obstacle I was meant to deal with..." Imp-chan says, down, "I probably wouldn't have been able to make it to his robotics lab anyway..."

Imp-chan glances over her belongings, before taking what looks like a black potion bottle judging by it's corked top. She goes to open it, before just looking at it and trying to hold back tears.


"It's just Stephanie, I'm not quite a 'Lady' yet." Stephanie says cheerily, a little amused by the title.

Stephanie's armour clanks lightly as she moves, though seems to fit together quite snugly. She leaves visible footprints in any soft ground she walks through, her boots looking heavy.


The air guardian's score seems to be at 1.7 Million, teetering close to 1.8 Million. Their gameplay is looking like it'll end soon, though.

 

Ihra uses her tail to block Imp-chan's hand.
"It would've been okay. It'll be okay, I'll make sure of it. If nothing else, there was no way he'd expect you to be able to deal with Iris when he can't deal with Iris."


"Do demigods not warrant nobility titles?" Maralune asks, a bit confused.


I ready a coin, seeming a bit amused by their lack of control over the game's top speeds.

 

"H-He can't?" Imp-chan asks, surprised.


"Well...I'm not sure. I want to prove myself first. Once we've defeated the hive master, then I'd be ok with being a Lady." Stephanie says confidently.


The air guardian fails shortly after, scoring eighth on a top 10 scoreboard. She puts in 'HiFlya' before finally glancing at the human beside her. Instead of responding in a hostile manner, however, she just blushes.

"Oh...hi. Did...you want to play?" The air guardian asks, smiling.