"Demitra…" The name filled Paige's mind so fully, it felt as though it would burst. And then it did. As did her body. Scattered across distances, worlds, and spaces in between too unfathomable to comprehend did she, Emily and Valandra fragment; all with one thought: finding the one that connected them all. Time, as it was in the Djinn Realm, was immeasurable. What may have happened in an instant seemed an eternity of explosion and re-solidification; a feeling shared by all three women as they slammed together as solid forms finally arriving at their unknown, obscure, darkened destination.
"Shit!" exclaimed Emily, jerking her head away from Valandra's, who shared much the same expression from their collision.
Paige rubbed her own aching temples. "How… long were we…"
"Most importantly, where have we been placed?" Valandra inturrupted, her attention on their present predicament, already vainly attempting to survey the darkness. She brought a hand up to conjure a flame, stared skeptically as only a small ember sparked to life.
The mocha woman's hazel eyes reflected the small light. "That's… all you can manage?" Paige asked, obvious concern in her voice. "That's… really not good. Emily can you-" A few small snowflakes made their way over to Paige, barely enough to decorate the woman's puffy hair. Paige sighed. "I guess that answers that."
Emily murmured a curse.
"It does appear our powers have not been taken from us, yet dampened here. Perhaps the collective's will in this place?" Valandra pondered aloud.
"Yeah, well, I don't like it. Whisked away by some Elder Djinn in hopes of finding my wife, and we're placed in the darkness, in what looks like some kinda cell. I'm tired of being tossed around!"
"Aye, as am I Emily. Yet, we collectively willed ourselves here: to the grain of sand on a world which contained Demitra. Let us not lose faith that the Elder Djinn seemed to want the same thing," Valandra said, still eyeing their surroundings. The structure seemed to be made of a lattice work of golden arches intersecting one another, but she had to agree with her other half: their surroundings did very much like a Djinn prison.
Paige stood, took a few steps toward the outer intersecting arches. She leaned forward to peer out of a hole the crisscross pattern created, inspecting what lie beyond. The ground, the sky, and the entirety of their surroundings seemed to be made of pure energy. Flowing waves of colors intersected, softly combining to form various shades of purple and golden lights and sparkles. In their center, floated a winged creature, dancing on rays of light and forming trails which became the aurora of colors. The woman wore wings of electric fuchsia and vivid purple, flapping as she twirled, suspending her in the air. Her purple skin glistened in the reflection of the lights, while a distant melody came to the cell, beckoning both Valandra and Emily to join Paige to see the display.
At once, all three women gasped as the winged one twirled into view. "Demitra?" they collectively exhaled.
Emily chuckled slightly. "Of course she'd be dancing."
Paige's mouth was agape, tears already filling her hazel eyes as she gazed upon the woman who'd stolen her heart, the woman she had spent a year attempting to find. The overwhelming feeling of relief, worry and anxiousness threatened to overtake her and for a moment she felt faint, until Valandra's hand unexpectedly came to steady her.
"Turbulent, our time has been, half-sister, but I am here for you, as you need. It is her. It is Demitra Naja Nyimah."
"But what's happened to her? Why the wings? Why is she just dancing? We've looked for her this whole time and she's just… dancing?" Emily spat in a veiled attempt to mask the truth; her relief in finding her wife tugged at her own heartstrings, but unaccustomed to allowing them through, she grasped onto the most obvious question.
"I… I don't know," Paige said with a longing look to Valandra for answers.
Valandra sighed. "As stated previously, the longer one occupies the Djinn Realm, the more one can change. And, Demitra has been here for a long, long time."
"Wait, there's that again! 'A long time?' What do you mean?" Emily asked, frustrated she didn't already have the answer. During their time as one, Valandra would often explain her thoughts to the woman without her having to ask, and it was a painful reminder they were no longer merged.
A sudden and jarring scream came from the floating woman pulling everyone's attention back to her. She held her head, cried out in pain, then quickly tumbled downward. Upon her approach, a village solidified under her, giving ground and building in which she plummeted. Upon impact, the village combusted, fires threatening to engulf its entirety.
"Dammit," Emily cursed. "This isn't good. I know what this is; she told me about it. We gotta… we gotta get her outta there!" The new ice queen struck the cage, which elastically bounced, the reverb sending the woman to her knees. "Dammit!"
"What is this? What is she talking about?" Paige grappled with the confusion.
Valandra looked out to see the fires rage, Demitra stand upon the center villa, screaming. "It is of her past. This is where her vengeance was born." In a single instant, however, it was Valandra's own hatred which suddenly took over, as she set sights on one she'd never expected to see again. From the distance floated the ungodly form of the lich, her former enslaver -- that which she never achieved revenge on -- Palawa Joko. "Joko!" she screamed, slamming a sparkling fist into the cage, which sent her barreling backward, collapsing onto her other half.
Emily huffed. "Palawa Joke? No, we killed him. I was in the battle; the commander's dragon ate him, they say. There's nothing left of that monster!"
Paige stared through the hole, her eyes transfixed on the display with worry, agitation, and uneasiness. "Then who…"
The figure floated down to stand upon the roof along with Demitra. His laughter carried into the heavens, where music stopped and the colors faded, replaced by red skies. "Gaze upon me and understand I am not which that you saw as a child," said the decrepit form. Two additional arms came from his sides, growing outwardly in the most grotesque way, as its legs withered away. The lich's entire body seemed to shift and morph into an equally decaying, disgusting, rotting corpse of what appeared to be a Djinn.
Demitra suddenly shrieked as her own arms manifested themselves, her wings shattering behind her. She looked up with childlike eyes of fright. "Sodulaj?" her voice cracked at the revelation.
The Djinn's laughter echoed and roared above the inferno surrounding them. "Aye; your former mentor, your creator… The instrument of your lifeline!" All four arms gestured to the raging blaze. "Your thirst for vengeance against the lich proved invaluable, as I knew it would when I lit your childhood, sending you on the path. Though it was not you who freed me from that corpse-of-a-vessel, I orchestrated his demise through you and your kind. All is as I have predicted! I am free, and shall be free to enter your realm shortly!"
Demitra shook her head in disbelief, glittery tears beginning to collect. "You? You were the one which slaughtered my parents? Made me believe it was Joko? You burned my village? Then years later take me in your guidance, train me, and gift me with my vessel? Why? Why would this be done?"
The Djinn floated downward, placed his gnarled hand upon the woman's head. "You see, child, you and your kind are destined to halt a great evil, which would destroy both our worlds. Had I not had the power to steer you into this role, you shan't be able to do such."
"Don't listen to him, Demi! He's lying!" Ember screamed, leaping toward the bars with what little electric energy she could call upon. The barrier wobbled, forced the woman to impact the ground just as violently as her own attempt.
Paige pushed through the emotions, made use of her analytical mind, absorbing the new information. "The Elder told us there would be a calamity caused by the 'former immortal-bound', Demitra's mentor, who can see the future…"
"Aye," Valandra said helping Emily up. "And, the Elder also said his gift of future sight made him 'overzealous'. And, 'That which he sought to destroy is what he has become.'"
Emily huffed. "Yeah yeah, so he's the evil one we gotta kill with our vessels or weapons or whatever, and we gotta seal them when we're done or something. Sure. Okay… but how the hell do we help my wife?" she growled, stomping toward the barrier again.
"We can't do much from here now… but let's hope she can hear us!"
"Or feel us, using such empathic powers she has shown, aye?" Valandra offered.
The women collectively yelled forth, each hoping to assist and support the purple-skinned woman.
"He's the enemy!"
"Demitra, you've got to fight him! He's the one you should be fighting! Look at what he did to your parents, to you village, and to you! Turned you into a Djinn and now wants you to fight alongside him…"
"Just as Joko did to me; do not fall for such manipulation, Nyimah! The lich was Sodulaj's vessel. With Joko gone, he shall set purpose to his cause, unless we halt him!"
Demitra downed her head, as her mentor petted her hair. Whether their voices were heard or their emotional support found its way to her is unknown. Suddenly, however, Demitra was filled with the warmth and comfort and clarity from her former lovers. Emily's unrelenting strong will, Valandra's calculating ambition, and sparkling above all, was Paige's unrelenting hope; a hope that had long been absent in Demitra's heart.
"No…" she said in an otherworldly growl. "You shan't make me a puppet. I am no slave; I am not one to which you can manipulate! I am Demitra Naja Nyimah, and I will not be bound by the destiny which you manipulate before me; my future is my own!" A radiant fuchsia energy flashed, emanating from the woman's aura.
As the scene played out before them, all three women noticed the same effect happening to each other. Valandra glowed a brilliant red, Paige a muted green, and Emily a vibrant blue, echoing their encounter with the Elder Djinn. At once, all three colors reached out beyond the Djinn prison, flowing outward and surrounding Demitra. The hues began to interact, mixing with each other eventually forming into construct of the various women to either side of Demitra. The woman's clothes immediately shattered, giving way to the sparkling golden flakes beneath her purple skin.
She looked upon her former mentor with eyes of fury, determination and disgust. "Be gone from my presence!" She screamed, unleashing the white energies forward. Beside her, visages of Paige, Valandra, and Emily each outstretched their hands toward their enemy and pouringforth their respective energies.
The unbridled power flew combined into a brilliant white, flew into Sodulaj, his decrepit being wailed in agony. "You… have… help…" The words were uttered through a blend of agonizing misery and painful shrieks. Lines on the old Djinn's soulless face began to crack, the brilliantness of the vivid bright energy threatening to obliterate him from within.
"Aye. I am uncertain why, but I feel their presence; their hope… their love… their fury… And I summon it all to vanquish you!" Demitra yelled as another burst of white energy came from her and the constructs, which suddenly shattered at the power unleashed, forming shards which promptly dove into Soduloj's flesh.
He screamed in anguish, but suddenly a slight grin came to his face before the power finished its work, with a violent explosion, which sent incalculable pieces of flesh to litter the ground.
Demitra collapsed onto what was now a barren landscape.
"She… She did it! She killed him!" Emily blurted into the silence, caused Paige to jump.
Paige finally exhaled, glanced around to the other women. "We helped her do that! Our glow… our auras; they gave her the power!"
Valandra looked concerned. "Aye, but we did not use our vessels/weapons to do such. Would the Elder Djinn speak untruthfully about such a thing?"
"Djinn lie. Her own mentor lied to her. It makes sense if he was lying too," Emily said, finally happy to offer an opinion. "So let's get her and get the hell out of here!"
Demitra lie within a circular arena, shimmering into view above, a precipice solidified with several Djinn looking down upon the scene.
"What has presented itself? Why has she been able to project such powers now, after the myriad trials we have subjected her to?" One Djinn asked the other, his arms folded, sockets staring down at the naked, disabled woman.
One Djinn looked outwardly, seemingly searching for the answer. After a few moments, his head darted to the cage, staring with soulless eyeless sockets directly at the three women. "An answer has appeared, along with the appearance of other lessers." He snarled, pointing one of his four arms toward the cell.
"Appears she had help," said another.
"This, then, factors into our equation; we must resume trials with them all," came the voice of the first.
"This isn't good!" Emily exclaimed the obvious. "We gotta get outta here! Demi!" she called out. "Demi, snap out of it! Let's all leave this place!"
Valandra glanced at Paige, saw her also working the problem, arrived at the same conclusion. "That is just what we do. We leave this place!" she said as she stretched her arms out toward Demitra, channeling her wishes toward the fallen woman.
"What are you doing?"
"What we all should be doing," Paige said, holding out her arms out toward Demitra. "We wish it; we wish us away from this place! The Djinn here are a collective will, but so are we!" The murky green aura began to emanate from the woman.
Emily took in a breath, in attempt to calm her nerves, and followed suit. "I hope this works. I wish it to work," she grunted, pushing her fire outward.
After a moment, all three energies pierced the cell, again flying into Demitra, who was lifted off the ground, glowing a brilliant array of all the colors, until they finally became the same bright white that had killed the old Djinn.
Demitra opened her emerald eyes, flashed them to the Djinn, emboldened and reconstituted from the power. "This was not he which has corrupted my destiny. Your trials are for what? For me to learn to kill your own - our own - kin? You believe subjecting me to tests for years will better help me defeat an enemy? What it has taught me is to embrace this power, and despise those which abuse it. So hear me now: I wish you all away!"
A sudden shockwave flew from the woman, disintegrating the Djinn, the cell… the very world around them, with a feral scream which echoed into nothingness. At the apex of the energy wave, it returned to all four women, who suddenly each exploded into sand, carried across the wind to another place… another world…
[To Be Continued...]
Note: Those that I built this in-game RP storyline for abruptly quit the guild at the conclusion of the story. There are a few more chapters which were roleplayed out and screenshots captured, but I'm uncertain if I want to continue to put forth the enormous amount of effort that came with writing and painstakingly pouring through chat logs to ensure all dialog is authentic, just to conclude the story that they abandoned. If anything, the entirety of the RP will be shortened to tell the conclusion if I so decide to tell it. It's been a few years since, but old heartaches run deep...
Note: This story may contain sexual situations, strong language, images, etc...
Intended for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised.
The unimaginable brightness of traversal through the sand portal gave way to an eerie darkness as the women re-materialized into a vast cylindrical room. It base was coated with sands which flowed upward to incalculable sand portals suspended in the air, rising high into the roofless structure. The hiss of the portals added to that of the wind as it passed through the column-filled windows which blocked exit from the place.
Paige's hazel eyes could barely take in the majesty of the world in which they found themselves. "Is this… the Nexus?"
"Aye. A manifestation of it, to be sure. Though… it changes."
Emily almost toppled over as she stared up at the myriad floating portals. "You've been here before?"
"Aye; when I was trapped for all those years."
"Years?" Emily asked, now staring over the side at the magical quicksand-like landscape under the platform.
"Wait. What changes?" Paige said, her thoughts dwelling on the previous topic.
Valandra traveled to the end of the overhanging platform, measuring up distances. "The Djinn which hold dominion over this labyrinth are Elder Djinn. They scatter and change this structure and manifestation on their whim. As I stated before, if Djinn collectively make up a region… if they choose to believe it, the world becomes solidified and reality sets in."
Paige tapped her chin. "I get it! If there's a group of Djinn that believe they are birds, and the world is only sky, then that's what the world becomes."
Valandra nodded. "Aye. And while the combined power of three Lesser Djinn may be enough to overwrite the world created by another, it is most certainly not enough to overwrite that of a collective. Nor an Elder."
"These Elder Djinn are that powerful?" Emily said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"They are. The Elders are from the primordial core elements of Tyria. We cannot risk confrontation with one. I have spent years of a lifetime here; you have spent less time significantly… None of us, even combined, are enough to overpower an Elder."
"So they're like… What? The rulers of this place? The rulers of Ahdashim?" Paige asked.
"I do not think this is the correct way to think of it. I have seen that each collective world seems to have a predominate Djinn which began the belief in the world. It starts with one: a Djinn traveling for the first time to Ahdashim creating their own wish. Usually with the belief in who they were before becoming Lesser Djinn. Such is the way of various species within the realm. Moreover, others which join into that belief populate their world, thus adding to the solidification of the collective's wish. The world becomes real. It is in one of these worlds that I believe Demitra resides in. The question is… which one?" Valandra gestured to the myriad sand portals around them.
Emily rubbed her temples in frustration. "Okay… Lemme get this straight, for all the frost girls here. Basically, you're saying mortals that become Djinn (whatever species they are) tend to come here and create a world with their mind. Most of the time they're content staying what they were before, so there's a lot of species here in various worlds."
Paige nodded, also working through the information. "And when new 'Lesser Djinn' show up and have the same sorta… mindset, they add to whatever world aligns to their thought and make it stronger. Is that it?"
"From what I understand. But the question remains, in what world would Demitra imagine herself in?" Valandra shrugged.
All three women stood, pondering, glancing around at the various portals, until finally Emily spoke up. "She'd want to be free. She'd want to come back to us."
Valandra raised an eyebrow, a flush of worry on her face. "Assuming her gateway shattered like ours… Where then would she go to seek such freedom?"
Paige shrugged, then straighten herself as a thought came to her. "So… if we can't answer the problem directly, can we wish to find the correct path?" she asked in earnest.
"Within other worlds, maybe. Here, in the Nexus, however-"
"Yeah this place is too powerful. I think I get it," Emily said succinctly.
Valandra grinned at the woman, always appreciative of how she could break things down to their core. She froze a moment, a thought occurring to her. "Core," she said absently.
"What?" Both Paige and Emily asked in unison.
"Perhaps the key is within our cores."
Emily made a face, recalling a conversation from long ago. "You said once that the Djinn's core were descended from the primal elements that make up the world. Right? So, what would that help us here?"
"Perhaps the earth-based Djinn of this Nexus can be reasoned with by one of their own elemental makeup. You," Valandra said, pointing at Emily, "are most definitely made from the elements which you inherited from me; that of ice and all that makes up air."
"Yeah, and like… lightning too," Emily giggle with a slight sparkle on her fingertips.
"That's um… what she meant by 'air' I think," Paige injected causing a groan from Emily. "So what about me?"
Valandra slightly shrugged. "You, Lady Paige Dejarin are… something different."
"Well, given my mother's magic and how innate I am with it… I think I have a guess."
Valandra took a few steps closer to an adjacent portal looking into the sands before glancing over her shoulder at the woman, almost whispering the word, "Death?"
Paige nodded slowly. "That's… That's my guess."
"Perhaps. Of this, we are not certain. Unfortunately, it may be millennia here before we garner an answer to this. But I do know, I seem to have a bit… more within."
"What do you me-" Emily suddenly stammered backward as a small brook of lava bubbled into existence at Valandra's command.
She stood a few steps away, her hand outstretched to create the lava font. Her fist then clenched, which immediately brought the lava together, compressing it into a solid pyrite row of rocks.
Emily tilted her head a moment, then just gave a simple nod with an even simpler smile. "Oh yeah. Earth magic," she said in the most accepting tone either Valandra or Paige would have expected.
"You… knew of this?" Valandra asked, puzzled.
"Well, yeah. Back when I first got Demitra back, I felt a connection to the earth. In that lava pit you jumped into when you freed her… I could feel the earth magic course through me. I even started exploring it a bit, but then the war… Looks like you have a bit more control of it than I ever did though. Maybe you were meant to wield it."
Paige suddenly chuckled at the incredulousness. "Are there any other huge surprising secrets
you want to let us know about, Emily?"
The woman seemed to seriously consider the question, as an exasperated puff of smoke came from Valandra's lips. Paige picked at her puffy hair for a moment, looked at the sand pool below, while Emily seemed to continue pondering.
"What… What if we just ask?" she finally suggested.
All three women looked at each other with a dumbfounded look upon their faces.
"Would that… Do you think that would work? I mean, diplomacy can be a powerful tool…"
Valandra's head slightly smoked. "Well, I suppose it may be more productive than haphazardly jumping through portals. Though… if it does not work; if the Elder is malevolent…"
"Yeah, yeah. We can take him. Djinn are ageless, not invulnerable!" Emily's eyes sparkled like glaciers during a sunset.
A chuckle came from the former ice queen. "Yes. But, you should heed your own observation: we are Djinn, and we are not invulnerable. We are ourselves here. Our bodies are not in Tyria, they are here (however incorporeal they may be at times!). And, whatever they appear to be - be it four arms or extra… appendages - they are us. We die here, we die. And, we will die if we attempt to engage an Elder."
Emily let out a frosty breath. "Well, there goes my plan."
"Then we don't die. We talk things over, appeal to him. We try something he may not even be familiar with any longer: diplomacy!" Paige stood, clenching her fists resolutely.
Both Valandra and Emily stared at the woman's posture, her resolve, and couldn't help but bask in the woman's uninhibited optimism. The women looked at each other in silent understanding that Paige was, by all intents and purposes, hope personified. And, it took little effort to see how the hope she kept alive for Demitra's return had played a part in the hurt she felt with the perception Valandra and Emily had given up.
Emily took a step toward Paige, placing a slightly frosty hand upon the woman's shoulder. "We… um… We believe we will find her, too Paige."
Paige raised an eyebrow at the woman, but made no facial expressions otherwise.
After a moment, Valandra came to the group. "Merged together… we may have lost sight of it…"
"But, we… we never stopped believing, Paige." Emily finished the thought.
Paige nodded slowly. "Then let's go find this Elder Djinn and find out where Demitra is."
They collectively came to stand on the edge of the precipice, looking down at the swirling sand below. In its center was a portal, rapidly fluxuating, flipping through scenes of innumerable various landscapes almost too rapidly to see.
"Our objective is to believe in it. Believe we will find the Elder which resides here. Believe and wish with everything you are to find the creators of this Nexus. Blank your minds, lest you find yourself in a world of your creation, full of mindless Demitras. The nightmare of your vessel is nothing compared to a sense-deprived mind. So blank your thoughts and fill it only of the Elder Djinn we currently seek, and not our ultimate goal."
"So should we… make a slide or…" Paige chuckled and nudged Emily in the ribs, who also started laughing.
Valandra blinked a moment, not understanding the reference. Her face flashed an annoyance at the ramifications and hurt the inside joke inadvertently had. It was the first time she had not known an experience, which Emily had without her.
Emily saw the look, knew it well, stopped herself mid-laugh. "Um… Okay, so we just jump down and hope for the best?" She asked, trying to take Valandra's mind off the uncomfortableness she undoubtedly felt, being left out of the joke.
"I… uh, yes," the woman stammered for a moment, then regained her composure. "We jump. But, we must remain cautious; must remain wary. Elder Djinn are… Well, they were the first. Such is why they govern the fundamental structures of Ahdashim. And they are old. As old, if not older than our world. Their ambitions are quite… foreign to us. And I have yet to hear of a benevolent one. As I understand it, they are filled with disdain for the lesser beings we represent: humans… mortals."
"Yeah, well, they've not met us!" Emily said with a chuckle.
Both Paige and Valandra face-palmed. After a moment of quiet contemplation, however, each nodded silently to the others. Simultaneously, all three women leaped from the platform, quickly fell and plunged into the swirling vortex below, which promptly swallowed them whole.
-----
"Move!" Valandra commanded, but it was already too late. Before the women could materialize fully and gain their footing, an explosion of earth sent them flying.
"The hell?" Emily said as she rolled over.
Paige pointed to the overbearing wall which bordered the circular platform. "Up there!"
Surrounding the women, high above on the tops of the walls were five floating earth-based Djinn. Each waved their hands, mystically channeling their magics for an assault.
Emily looked to Valandra, who gestured to Paige. "Well, comeon, diplomat! Diplome already!"
Valandra rolled her eyes but shook her head in agreement.
Paige stood, her arms held outward, palms up in a gesture of non-aggression. "We only seek council; advice on how to find one who has been lost to us. May we explain our situat-"
A large bolder suddenly sprung into existence at the behest of the three forward Djinn, promptly launched at the women. All three leaped from the impact zone, completely at the mercy of the rumbling tremors which brought them down.
Emily sprung up, lightning crackling around her person. "Fine! We got our answer; now let's send one in return!" She yelled as she slammed her foot down, sending a bolt traveling through the floor and up the wall. It struck its mark, instantly shocking the Djinn which promptly burst into sand.
Valandra was already to reprimand the woman, knowing full well the futility in confronting the elders, when something caught her eye. She channeled flames into her hand, then launched it forward in a blistering fireball that exploded onto her target. With a pop, the Djinn quickly turned into sand, landing in a pile.
"Well, this is most definitely not what we wanted. Maybe a taste of death will be enough to make them listen!" Paige reached inward, called upon the magic to turn herself into the personification of death magic: a spectral wraith. Instead, much to her surprise, nothing happened. She opened her eyes, with a perplexed look on her face. But the newly presented puzzle had to be solved later - a fact that was reminded to Paige as a large hand of stone erupted from the soil.
Paige quickly rolled out of the way as the giant hand of stone swept at her. She came to stand behind Emily, who was already following the suggestion. An ice storm came into view overhead as a whirlwind came upon the hand, the blistering cold only slowing its movement.
The Djinn above silently pushed harder with their magic, each weaving their hands in intricate patterns to enhance the conjuration.
"Emily, you fool; water freezes! Drench it, then freeze it!"
The new woman of ice brought both hands forward, channeling rainfall in one hand, maintaining the bitter cold from the other. She groaned as she poured more magic into their combination. Snow turned to hail, then to freezing rain, which solidified on contact. Within seconds, the entire arm was halted, covered in a thick ice. Ember almost fell on top of Paige, who caught the woman.
Valandra's eyes sparked with embers as both hands came forward, pulling in the desert heat, channeling into one point. She pulled the gathered plasma over her head, launching it into the sky. At its apex, the fireball suddenly burst into hundreds of smaller fragments of solidified flaming rock, the force sending them back down upon the frozen appendage. It shattered as the fragments pummeled it, releasing with it an energy shockwave of sand which promptly popped the rest of the Djinn.
Paige stood up, looking around at the disintegrated Djinn. "They… They weren't real, were they? They were like your Awakened conjurations from before."
Emily sat up, a bit wearily, then stood with both Paige and Valandra's help. "So, what? We missed the mark on trying to find the Elder Djinn?"
A heated breath was exhaled from Valandra. "No. I… I do not believe so. They should be here; this nexus infamously has multiple Elders…"
"Doesn't look like they're here now," Emily spat, crossing her arms, looking around at the empty stadium.
The mocha woman tapped her chin. "What, then, would cause the Elders to leave here?"
"Such is not the concern of 'Lessers,'" a voice tremored.
"Ah hell," Emily said, reaching for her staff. The weapon suddenly popped, falling to stand, as did her clothing, replaced by two additional arms from her sides.
A quick glance from Valandra showed Paige and herself doing much the same. All three women stood with their full Djinn forms exposed. Their skin glistened with their respective elemental hues. Emily was a pale blue, Valandra was a deep red, while Paige was a forest green. They found themselves more interested in each other's full Djinn appearance, than they did the swirls of sand coming from each pile of the former adversaries, combining in front of them.
Ever the voice of reason, additionally pulling attention away from her nudity, two hands were brought to point at the magical event happening. "Elder?"
Valandra's eyes grew wide. She quickly dropped to her knees, looked up at the other two women who stood like statues. "Get down, lest we be obliterated."
Both did as instructed, a cooperative Paige, with a reluctant Emily.
Before the three Djinn swirled magical flowing sands, waving and fluctuating as though they floated upon a river's windy circular current. Each group of sand pools found their way to each other, combining and flowing until finally shaping into what appeared to be a giant four-armed Djinn made of flowing sands. Two sand hands slammed Two sand hands slammed into the platform mere feet from the kneeling women. "'Lessers' which dare seek me?"
Valandra shrugged her shoulders as Paige looked to her for advice. "You're better at this; do something!"
The puff-haired woman cleared her throat, looking up to the enormity which was the Elder Djinn. "Great Elder Djinn, we beseech you. We come before you with a request: We have come from afar and as for passage to a grain of sand; a single world."
An otherworldly raspy laugh came from the creature of sand. "You request? From me? Who are you to request, but an insignificant spec on an endless sea of floating filth!"
"Oof," Emily softly grunted.
Paige sighed, tried her best to remain neutral at the insult. "We are specs who have found our way to your glory and wonder, and we humbly request your aid."
Emily flinched, gritted her teeth.
Valandra whispered, "I am uncertain appealing to his vanity is wise; these Elders do not think as we do."
The shifting sands that made up the Djinn's mouth formed into what seemed to be a grin. "My glory and- These things are unimportant!" He leaned forward, the everchanging face closer and peering into the hearts of all three women. "Tell me then, what is important to you? Why have you come to my Nexus? To simply travel to another world? Such a thing could be done at a thought in Ahdashim! Yet you seek one which could end you at but a command?"
Paige reached down, grasped onto the courage and hope she had continued to believe in. She stood, facing the giant head with a resolve that gave pause to both Emily and Valandra. Her fist clenched tightly as she took a defiant step forward. "We come seeking passage to find another Djinn. The one called Demitra Naja Nyimah!"
The sands suddenly shimmered, shaping into what appeared to be a surprised face. The Elder Djinn pulled backward suddenly, almost fearful at the instant recognition.
Emily stood, two hands on her hips, the other two folded.
"What do you know of her?" Valandra asked timidly as she stood.
The Elder Djinn pulled back, sliding his fists from the platform as his entire makeup shimmered and fluctuated for a moment.
Vigilantly, Valandra pressed forward. "Something… is breaking your concentration. Why, at the mention of her name do you act like this?"
"Yeah, if you fear her, why not just give her back? I'll take my wife and leave this place!" The woman's hair frosted over.
"Fear?" boomed the Djinn's voice. "I fear no human-turned-Lesser-Djinn!"
Emily chuckled. "Even I'm a better liar than you."
The Elder sharply darted its head to Emily. "You will not be so bold once you are facing him. If we Elder Djinn could not combat him, Lessers have no possibility!" The Djinn seemed to stop himself for a moment, considering. "Though, this name you say…" His hollowed sand-filled physique turned to scan each each woman individually, his unscrupulous gaze digging into the core of each.
Paige modestly covered herself while Valandra and Emily shared glances in an unspoken conversation that was Emily asking if she should attack and Valandra telling her not to.
In his own time, the Elder Djinn folded all four of his arms, casting a scrupulous sand-eye at the group. "You are the whispered descendants?" He cryptically asked.
Valandra didn't wait for another to respond. "We are!" She exclaimed with a false assuredness.
Emily groaned. "It's the vault again, isn't it?"
One of Paige's hands tapped her chin as another absently picked at her belly button again. "Possibly so. But I'm more interested in who whispers about us, and what do they want? Who is 'he' and where is Demitra?"
"All connected," the Elder began. "Okht Thaljia is correct: the vault. This is where your transformations began. He knew of this; It is why he placed the weapons in the hands of your ancestors. However, even with his gift of future sight, he has become... overzealous. That which he sought to destroy is what he has become."
"That was… You're talking about Demitra's Djinn mentor, aren't you?" Emily asked, then offered an explanation to the others. "See, Demitra told me she had a mentor that gave her those bracers. And then, back when we were in the vault the first time, her room was empty, except a box of sand! And, then the second time, when we were in the vault fighting the Djinn, he told us Demi's Djinn could see the future! Remember the tapestries?" Emily's face was a vivid blue as all eyes stared at her. "What? I remember stuff!"
"What does all of this have to do with us, Elder?" Valandra asked, her voice filled with unusual reverence.
The gigantic Djinn leaned forward, bringing all four arms to lean on the platform, coming closer than any of the women were comfortable with. "If you are, indeed, the whispered descendants, then perhaps his prophesy shall come to pass, and you shall champion the avoidance of the destruction that threatens both our realms."
Paige held all four arms outward, in a pose of non-aggression. "How are we to fight a threat we do not know? And, if we are the 'whispered ones'-"
"Whatever that means," Emily scoffed.
Valandra shot her other half a sharp glance.
"What I mean is if we are known and are to fight whatever this is… We're going to need all four of us. Me, Emily, Valandra… and Demitra."
The amalgamation of sand and stone which made up the Elder Djinn sat back, crossed all four arms, considering. His eyeless gaze peered into the distance, as though seeing through a myriad of swirling portals, realities, and worlds. After an uncomfortable silence shared by the women, the Elder finally spoke, his voice a low more humbled rumble. "I shall grant your request, conditionally, however. The weapon must be sealed away forever."
"What weapon?" Emily blurted before she Valandra could stop her.
"Are you talking about our vessels? Back in the vault, that's what the Djinn said, 'Weapons, all. To fight the immortal.'" Paige recalled.
The Elder nodded slowly. "Your vessels are the weapon against the former immortal-bound. Once the calamity has been averted, the transcendence shall herald in the sealing of the weapon forever. Do this, and I shall send you to that which you seek."
Valandra looked to the other women. "I do not know of this calamity, but if our vessels are weapons to stop it from destroying reality…"
Emily rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Okay, again for all the frost girls here... You're saying that our vessels are weapons, and we gotta use them to stop this calamity from destroying everything, but we gotta seal them away when we're done using them? And we'll know when to do that when some sort of 'transcendence' happens? If we agree to this, you'll send us to Demi?" Emily asked with finality.
Before Emily blindly agreed to the Elder's demands, Valandra interjected. "What transcendence do you speak of?" Valandra asked, working all angles of the puzzle. If her dealings with Djinn taught her anything it was that the cryptic speech, favors, and promises could not be taken at face value.
The Elder seemed to grin. "When the Djinn of Crystal rises," he offered without further explanation.
Paige covered her mouth with two three of her four hands. "Dem-"
"Demitra?" Emily frowned.
Valandra rubbed her temples, muttered under her breath. "Always her…" While the distain for her once-scorned lover had evaporated from the woman's once icy core, small remnants sometimes surfaced. While merged, Emily had helped with any lingering animosity; now, separated, it was something Valandra knew she needed to continue to work through, but secretly worried about her own role when Emily and Demitra were reunited. She took in a breath, exhaled heat, then looked at her sister, with resolve. "I shall bow to your decision, Lady Paige Dejarin."
Emily's eyes flashed a vibrant blue at a thought. "Is… Is she the villain we are to face?"
Paige clenched four fists. "No. I choose not to believe that.
"For the future of our realm and the future of the corporeal one, do we have an accord?" The Elder's voice quaked.
Emily pursed her lips, one hand crackling with lightning sparks. "Fine. We've come this far. Take us to Demitra; take us to my wife."
Valandra's head started to smoke, on the brink of ignition, but she nodded to Paige, who looked to her after Emily.
The smaller mocha-puff haired woman turned to the Djinn and shook her head in agreement. "Aye. We accept."
Without hesitation the Elder Djinn broke apart, returning to the sand and stone which shaped him. Each group began to swirl around the center as a giant sand portal shaped into existence. "Accords are not to be broken. Do so and all you know shall be extinguished. Go, whispered descendants, find the one you seek, and fulfill your prophesied destiny."
The three women walked up to the portal, pausing momentarily to give each other a look. There was an uncertainty that hung in the air, an unspoken cautious hopefulness that permeated each. The world they were stepping into: unknown. The choice they had made: uncertain. But, each stepped into the vortex with a desire to find Demitra Naja Nyimah, rescue her from this place, and finally leave the Realm of the Djinn.
Note: This story may contain sexual situations, strong language, images, etc...
Intended for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised.
The world rippled, shifting and changing like a mirage in the desert. Where once a great wall of Joko's Bone Palace sat, now shimmered into existence a vast garden with lavishly decorated corridors and exotic flora. A balcony overlooking the area manifested under Valandra and Emily's feet, whose mouth was agape at the sight.
"It's… so beautiful!" The woman's blue eyes took in the awe-inspiring site.
Valandra's red eyes, however, stayed transfixed on Emily. "Aye. Very beautiful, indeed," she smirked.
Emily glanced back to Valandra, recognized the double-entendre and promptly flushed a light shade of blue, a bit of precipitous snow landing on her shoulders. "I… Uh… meant the garden. This is Vabbi, right?"
"Aye. This is as close to what I imagine the Garden of Seborhin to look like on the inside."
"You never visited it?"
Valandra shook her head. "No. My village was on the outskirts of Vabbi, in what became known as the Desolation. This place, however, was for the wealthy. From what she explained to me, Demitra was fostered here after her parents-"
"You mean after Joko burned them alive? Yeah, she told me. Horrible thing, even for an undead lich."
Valandra ran her hand along the railing as Emily leaned upon it. "An interesting thing that: Demitra had told me of her past, and what happened so very long ago. She explained to me she saw Joko there… yet, after I became his… concubine, I inquired once about it. Much to my surprise, the monster claimed it was not his doing."
"Oh he lies though, right? (Or lied, since he's dead-dead now.)" Ember said, recounting the efforts she participated in to help rid the world of him. While she hadn't actually witnessed it, she heard the dragon Aurene had consumed the undead creature and had often imagined gruesome event.
"Aye. He lied much. Not about conquests though; he loved to boast," Valandra said, glancing up to the unnerving scene Emily had begun to manifest. Seeing the lich eaten, however, brought a slight smile of satisfaction to her face.
"So, you ever think about going back there? To Vabbi? To this garden? Maybe to your home?" Emily said, playfully walking her fingers against the railing which began to ice over.
Valandra paused a minute, considering. "I once did. I once dreamed of escaped from my slaver. But, that was long ago… before the events that transpired within that awful palace of bones. You… you never saw that part of me; I did what I could to block it from-"
Emily frowned at the thought. "I'm aware. And it's understandable. Just as I hid my past from you."
The former woman of ice nodded. "This may be the only reason we hadn't fully merged." She leaned on the railing mimicking Emily's own movements; where her fingers landed on the surface, small embers were left. "It's a strange thing, yes? Not knowing what the other is thinking."
"Is it bad… that I miss it?"
"Is it bad that I do too?"
Emily giggled, tried her best Valandra impersonation, "Ember, you fool. We are opposites!"
Valandra raised an eyebrow. "Oh I sound like that do I?" she said with an obvious imitation of Emily's normal frown.
The two began to laugh, sidling closer to each other in unison. Valandra reached over, brushed Emily's hair from her eyes, staring into them. Emily blushed profusely, staring up at the taller woman.
"You're like a big version of me; you look good with the black and red hair. I like it."
Now it was Valandra who flushed. "You know… It can be whatever with wish it to be here, but, when I arrived, I was like this." She comically pulled at her own bangs, inadvertently crossing her eyes as she did so.
Emily giggled. "Stop that. I think you look lovely. But, I'm not really sure I get it. If we can be anything we imagine here, how is it we look like we do?"
Valandra tapped her chin a moment. "I can only surmise that since this is who we believe ourselves to be without thinking, this is who we are. There are still things I do not understand here, and the other lesser Djinn are less than forthcoming to newborn Djinn, to say nothing of the elders." Valandra snapped a finger, a small flame dancing on its tip. "What of this, too, I wonder. Was the elemental transference we experienced when you broke the machine-"
"I did not brea-" Emily started, then at Valandra's grin saw she'd fallen prey to the tease.
"My point is, I am uncertain as to why you are still fully with my powers, and I with yours."
Emily exhaled, a bit exhausted with trying to figure circumstances out. "You know," she smirked as a thought occurred to her, "it's a shame we didn't have the fire when we were one. I'd show you just how good I was!"
Valandra chuckled. "So good that you could manifest a fire griffon?" The small flame atop her finger morphed into the shape of a mini fire griffon, which hovered slightly above her hand.
"That was one of our better adventures," Emily said with a fond smile upon her face.
"You hated me."
"I… didn't… hate you… (much)."
Valandra giggled. "Regardless, I taught you to utilize the flames. Who knows? Maybe I can control your powers better than you could; maybe you can do the same with mine. There's something different now. I feel as though this was always meant to be… Like I am finally-"
"Whole?" Emily said, taking the woman's hands into her own, almost giggling as the steam formed from their touch.
She smiled flirtatiously. "You think it does that no matter what touches?"
The same flirtatious smile was beamed back as Valandra lifted the smaller woman to her lips, in a wonderfully passionate exchange. Steam again hissed in the air around them. When suddenly, Valandra's hair turned to flames. She pulled back, began to frantically pat her head as Emily burst into laughter.
"Ah! So you got that too, huh? How's it feel to not be in control?"
Head extinguished, Valandra looked at her love with an impishly mischievous grin. "Why don't you show me?"
Ice quickly frosted Emily's own hair at the invitation. "C-can we even… do it here?"
"That… and much… much more," Valandra said, turning to walk slowly down the corridor, purposefully swaying her hips.
Emily promptly followed behind. "Wait… What more?"
Valandra chuckled at the woman's enthusiasm as they came to another clearing leading to a bedchamber. "What I mean is that anything (and everything) is possible here. This can literally become a paradise. Just as you learned within your vessel; though I imagine to an untrained emotional new Djinn, it was no doubt the opposite."
A shudder came to Emily. "Yeah. It was… not a good time."
"You could have changed it with a bit more practice. As you can here. Each Djinn has the power of absolute creation here and can create their own personal paradise. It can be... difficult not to remain content within, once you believe the creation is reality. There are those here that choose this. To believe in and live in a perpetual eutopia which they create for themselves. Or join others in a collective belief."
Emily nodded. "Yeah, I can see why. I considered it, in my vessel... for a moment… to finally be happy. With you, me, Demitra…"
Valandra broke her gaze from her partner, looking at a horizon that didn't exist. "Aye. If she's still… her."
"Wait… What do you mean? You think she might not be?"
"All I am certain of, is that this place has a way of changing one the longer one stays here. And, Demitra has been here for a long, long time."
A frown came to Emily's face as her expression grew dour. "I hope she's okay."
"Aye. As do I; though I do wonder: What of us, if she is found to be alive and well? You are bound to each other, yes? Married, as they say. Or is it 'were' married?" Valandra sighed, at the annoyance of having to speak aloud her emotions. "This was so much easier when I was inside you…"
Emily nodded knowingly. "I understand, but to be honest, I really don't know. I lost her on our wedding night. I did that, you know? And then when Paige and I chose to bind you to me… she just… I keep losing her, you know?" The smaller woman sighed. "You're right. This was so much easier when we were one."
Valandra brought her hand to the woman's shoulder, messaging it gently, steaming witch each squeeze. "We are still; you can speak to me implicitly and without reservation. I was there during the… difficult times, and there during the lustful times, and there during the small amounts of joy we both found through the turbulence."
"You're the smart one. What should I do?" Emily implored.
"That is… a question I can only advise on. You shall have to make your own decision. I will say this: you spoke of us all staying here, in bliss? I have seen your memories of Demitra and the love you feel for her, as well as the harem you and she found comfort in. But, I do not know how much of that would extend to allow my admission. I am, by all accounts, someone from Demitra's past who may not be as welcomed as one would hope." Valandra paused, leaned against a pillar. A scene behind her flickered into view for an instant of a younger Demitra and Valandra kissing for the first time in her village, so many years ago. She shook her head causing the memory to fade. "But, that was very long ago."
"And then there's Paige to consider. Demi is my wife, but with Paige… things are… complicated."
Valandra nodded. "Aye. Most relationships definitely can be. I know how you feel for Paige, and how those feelings got confused with the loneliness you felt from having lost Demitra and from our merger." She exhaled a heated breath. "All I can say are my own individual feelings. For the first time in quite some time, I know what I want."
"You… want to leave me?" Emily inadvertently blurted, her feelings already pushed to their max.
A chuckle came from the former ice queen. "Ember, you fool. What I want is you in my life."
Emily's hair again frosted over. "You… You mean that?"
"Aye. You know I do. You have felt me within, and I also know you want such a thing too. What you and I have is… beyond; beyond waiting, beyond lust, beyond love. We were, and truly are still one. You are part of me, just as I am part of you. No matter what. And, I am here in as much or as little capacity as is comfortable in your life. But, if you think for one second I will not be a part of that life, you are-"
Emily hopped onto the taller woman, wrapping her legs around her waist, and pressed their lips together. Valandra's wide eyes relaxed after a moment as she gave in, parted her lips and allowed the woman inside. The sensation was… beyond. The ice of Emily's tongue exploring the heat of Valandra's sent a steamy eruption into both women's bodies. They both pulled back staring at each other, faces filled with surprise.
"What… What was that?"
"It reminded me of… that first time-"
"On the mountain? Yeah. Exactly. I've never felt so much of-"
"A blissful connection? Aye."
Both simultaneously fell into each other, enjoying the newfound physicality of being distinct. Their elementally harmonious opposing magic couldn't be denied, and combined with their romantic connection, Valandra and Emily merged into one, as lovers.
------------------------
Paige was not an impatient woman. In fact, most would say she was the opposite. If years of training as a noble taught her anything, it was that most solutions could be found with patience and understanding. But things felt... different here, in the Realm of the Djinn: time, itself, seemed different. From the moment they arrived, the mocha puff-haired woman had felt anxiety, and while there was much of that to be expected, (given their mission to find Demitra) Paige had the odd sensation of accelerating even though she was standing still. It was unnerving and the woman continually had to concentrate just to keep herself from losing focus just keep herself clothed. The entire ordeal was an exhaustive exercise, and even exploration of Valandra's imaginary village did little to quell her nerves.
Then there was Emily and Valandra who scurried off at their first opportunity, and though she had little doubt what the newly disembodied women were doing, she forced her thoughts away from it. The Djinn Realm had a way of showing those inner-most illicit thoughts. Yet, she couldn't help but wonder what it could mean. Emily was married to Demitra, and both had invited Paige into their bedchambers as a member of what Demitra affectionately called a harem. But, after the binding of Valandra to Ember, things quickly changed. Demitra was no longer there, and without the preverbal glue that held them together, Paige and Emily just seemed to drift apart.
This divide worried her most. While she had been worried sick about Demitra, trying to understand all she could about the Djinn and what had happened, Emily had left to 'find herself,' as she said. Paige understood this, given the ordeal the woman had gone through, but she found herself questioning the woman's resolve. Demitra was Ember's wife… Not Emily's. And, certainly not Valandra's, who had all but confessed to looking at Demitra with distain. Paige couldn't help but wonder what that did to Ember's own psyche.
Whether through the woman's own inner turbulent thoughts about the couple, or through another means, a bitter chill came from the otherwise warm desert climate as a scene of the wintery landscape of Hoelbrak came into focus. Within the distortion was a scene of lustful abandon, as a naked Valandra and Emily materialized, locked and convulsing as they came off the throes of passionate lovemaking.
Emily's moan was quickly muted as her eyes spied a shocked Paige in the desert landscape.
Valandra turned around to inspect the disturbance, then immediately grinned when she saw Paige's eyes inadvertently look down to find her sister standing with a man's… appendage attached. "Seems your concentration was lost, my love," Valandra said, snickering.
Paige's face was as pink as a moas. "Wha-? H-How?" Her eyes were locked on the dangling member.
Emily immediately tried to imagine clothing upon her but was still downing in the orgasmic euphoria from moments ago. "Um… This… This is an illusion! We… We aren't real!"
Valandra looked at her own extra piece, then back to Paige. "This is very much real. As are both of us. Do you like what you see my sister?" she asked with an impish smirk.
No longer able to think, Paige simply looked away, rubbed the bridge of her nose. "That is… not natural. This place… Well, that explains where you two have been and what you've been doing and…" The woman's head pounded at the indiscriminate scene of fornication, and the disgust she felt for Emily's carnal unscrupulousness was palpable.
"Paige I… I'm sorry. I was recreating Hoelbrak like… Like where I went to discover myself after the binding. And… Well, come on! It's the first time we've been able to… interact. I didn't mean for you to see…" Emily tried to steady her nerves, manifest clothing, which promptly formed, only long enough to trip the woman. She landed face first, her exposed rear in the air.
Valandra ran her hand over her manhood which promptly shimmered out of existence, replaced by her original sex. Manifesting clothing upon her person, she winked at Paige, turned to help her lover up.
A sigh came from the puff-haired mocha woman. "Well, perhaps I'll go imagine myself an illusion of some lemonade."
"It won't work," Emily said as she finally clothed herself. "You have to believe it's real. If you know it's an illusion… it doesn't work."
Paige concentrated on her hand to discover a glass in it, filling with lemonade. She raised a skeptical eyebrow, then took a sip. "It tastes a bit off, but… it is lemonade." She glanced back relieved to see the scene of debauchery corrected. "I'm quite sure it's not as satisfying as… whatever it was you two were doing," she cleared her throat to drive her point across.
"No, perhaps not," Valandra said offhandedly with a glance and wink to Emily. "But, it is very promising, indeed. You both possess a level of control not usually seen in Newfound Djinn. Tell me, Lady Paige Dejarin, have you attempted other conjurations?"
"Well I've attempted other people and animals but they never seem to come out quite right. And when they look okay, they don't move and quickly dissipate. It is frustrating. I know what I want but I can't seem to be able to do it, and in this place I feel more-" She stopped herself short.
After a beat Emily approached, saw the difficulty her friend had trying to express herself, and placed an icy hand on her shoulder. "What is it Paige," she asked sincerely.
"I just feel so... so frustrated and frightened. I feel that no matter how far I go, the goal of finding Demitra keeps getting further and further away. And she's been gone, and you've been gone... and I..." Paige motioned to the sky. "If I thought I was lonely up there, it's far worse in here when I don't even understand the rules!"
Valandra approached the upset woman cautiously. "Then drop your walls, sister. Be willing to learn."
Emily nodded, tried to sound as supportive as she could. "The key is to really believe. Right now I believe a little friend would help. And that belief should create…"
Sands between the women swirled, shaping into a familiar shape of a small drake. Paige's face was surprise at the appearance of her long-deceased pet drake, Snapper. She squatted, reached out and was elated to feel the small creature's rough scaly skin exactly how she'd remembered it. She looked up to Emily with tear-filled eyes. "Dirty trick to play when I'm trying to be cross with you… But, it really is nice to see (and touch!) her again. How is it possible if she's an illus-"
The drake suddenly shimmered, falling back to the sands which made it.
"Belief is the key as my other half has said. When that will of belief dies, so does the construct. The stronger Djinn you are, the more you believe, the less likely you will think it to be an illusion. It shall become as real as you want it to be."
"Just as you wanted your anatomy change to be real?" Paige asked. While she told herself it was a question to reveal a piece of the puzzle, the woman was obviously still flustered at the sight and had much difficulties overlooking it. After a moment, she relented the statement with a deep sigh. "Sorry. I suppose I was just… shocked. And, I haven't been very fair to you two. Honestly, if my loved one was here, I'd likely do the same."
Emily's heart dropped, her stomach instantly in knots. Her hair iced over as storm clouds formed overhead, directly reflecting the woman's mood. "IF your loved one was here? What am I? I'm right here! So what? You're only focused on Demitra?"
Paige gestured to Valandra. "You… You have someone. You were just… with her… I don't want to get in the way of that. I… Em-"
A frosty breath came from the newly crowned ice queen, as she tried her best to calm her nerves. A look to Valandra helped in the endeavor. She stared at Paige with unblinking, shimmering blue eyes. "Were you ever in love with both of us… Or was I just convenient so you could be with Demitra?"
The mocha woman deadpanned. "I… Uh… I was. I wouldn't have entered the harem if I wasn't; I would never play with your feelings like that. But… we started drifting. You went off to discover yourself, and the thoughts of my own sister inside you… it… I let it get in the way of our intimacy. But now… you're happy! What I just saw you two doing… you were truly happier than I've seen you in a long while."
Emily cleared her throat, a bit flushed. "What you saw… Her and I have something that cannot be described. We were merged; we've known each other in a way that can't ever be replicated, and finding her here where we could actually express our feelings to each other-"
"And what about your feelings for Demitra?" Paige retorted, sounding more harsh than she would have, had her heart not been exposed.
Valandra rubbed her forehead. "Truthfully, we are not certain what Demitra will think. But, between Emily and I, there is a bond. Something unfathomable, something pure, and something extremely intimate. Our lives are forever together. What that looks like in the future, well that is up to you and Demitra…"
"How do you think she's going to feel being cheated on?" Paige's face grew red.
"What happened between us was inevitable. As I said, we are forever linked. We were of one person before. Engaging in fornication with ourselves would be considered cheating?"
"Doesn't matter. You don't get it Paige; you didn't have someone else inside you for a year. But what you did have is me, and what I see is that you were content letting me go while you pined over Demitra. You said, 'was,' meaning what? That you are no longer in love with me? Or were you ever?" Snow collected on the woman's shoulders.
Paige stared at Emily as tears ran down her cheeks. "I should have told you directly how I felt. I should have… told you how upset and jealous I was. And, I resented you for going off on your own while I was trying to learn about Demitra. It… It felt like you gave up hope. With the house falling apart, father's depression over losing Six and the estate, and all those letters I wrote to the victims in the mansion… I just felt so alone. Nalla, Demitra, you… I couldn't turn to anyone."
"I was still here Paige. Valandra tried to kill me on multiple occasions, yet… she never hurt me like you have. You never really loved me." Emily clenched her fists as lightning arched through the clouds over head. Tears found their way down her cheeks, freezing as they did.
"I did! I did! But everyone I loved was disappearing. I lost Six, Nalla, you, and Demitra. It's like the Dejarin curse of losing the ones we love. Six was captured, Nalla left due to her sister, and you… you drifted. I los everyone, and the only sanity I clung to was the hope of finding Demitra. Yet, every avenue I explored to help save Demitra just seemed to lead nowhere. Until now. Here we are in a realm which could reunite us, and it hurts that you're off… fornicating."
"For the first time, ever, I feel like a whole person. That is because of Valandra. Something within us has changed, and there's no possibility for you to understand our feelings toward each other. But, Demitra is my wife, and she is gone. You think I don't want to find her? You think I stopped loving her… loving you? Well, I'm sorry, but you're supposed to be the smart one… and you're wrong! You…" Emily choked on her words.
Valandra stood by to allow their grievances to be aired while watching the various images dance to life behind them: memories from past experiences, from the lover's dance, and from when they were children. After both sets of images faded, and neither woman spoke, Valandra finally cleared her throat, looking both women over. "I used to think such things were frivolous; that matters of the heart were unimportant. Demitra pulled me from my village when I was convinced to give my life to Joko to spare everyone. I used to hate her for it… I understand now what she did was to protect me out of love. But I threw away that love that day, and to be quite honest, I never felt it again… Until Ember. Through her eyes, I saw love, and I know love now. Though we fought; oh, how we fought!"
A vision of Ember and an icy Valandra fighting in a cave came to life behind her person. The storm brewing above Emily's head began to dissipate as the nostalgia replaced it.
"During the time of our merger, Lady Paige Dejarin, I saw you only a brief amount, but what I witnessed was you locking the door from the inside refusing to let Ember in. I did not pull her away, she felt ostracized - and given her past, which you no doubt know - both her and I felt inclined to leave. It also allowed, as you said, for us to understand our newfound bond." Valandra's red eyes shot looks to both women to emphasize her next statement. "Ultimately, it is what Emily wishes to do from here, and how you, Paige, perceive her now that will either mend or separate you both. And as of now, you have an eternity to decide."
Paige blinked, about to say something, when her inquisitive mind engaged. "What… what do you mean an eternity?"
Valandra sighed. "I do not fully understand it, but I believe us to be stuck here. The door from my vessel to here shattered upon my entry. Did yours not? Try as I might, I cannot summon the doorway back to my vessel."
"The whole experience was weird," Emily said, purposefully not thinking about anything witnessed in the nightmare. "But, from what I can remember before we came here, I think I saw mine explode too."
Paige lost her footing, fell on her bottom as the news sank in. "What… what if we can't find a way back? What will father do? He's already so… And what about the business and the people that rely on it? What will happen if I'm gone. And what will-"
Valandra's palm came across Paige's cheek (lightly, but hard enough to rouse her). "Lose hope, and you shall truly be lost here and remain forever. Your emotional state is paramount here, and giving into such hopelessness will create a perpetual nightmare similar to that of your vessel."
"Oh no, I'm not dealing with that crap again! We just gotta focus, okay? There will be time to figure out all the 'relationshipy' stuff later. We have to just concentrate on finding Demitra, right?" Emily asked, like a student would ask a teacher.
Valandra smirked at the woman's subtle cuteness. "Aye. In a manner of speaking. We must first travel from here to the Nexus," her eyes looked beyond the buildings, beyond the bone wall and into the infiniteness that was this conjured world.
Paige shook her head, forcing the moment of weakness past. "The what?"
"The Nexus," Valandra repeated. "Do you recall my explanation of this land? What it resides on? This entire world is a grain of sand, in the vastness of a beach that is the Djinn Realm. Ashadim is, by all accounts, boundless. Each Djinn can conjure their paradise… or hell, upon whichever grain they choose. The more powerful and willful the Djinn, the more solidly concrete the place is. Such is the power of faith and belief. If you two had more experience, you could overwrite this place with the strength of your will versus my own."
"The power of wishes…" Paige said with an awed expression.
"Aye. Such is the makeup of Ashadim. And such will provide us travel to the Nexus; we must wish for its entranceway."
Emily rubbed the back of her neck, dusting off her own snow-covered shoulders. "How do we wish for something we've never seen?"
"You follow instructions, you listen, you visualize my words, and you channel your powers into the creation of a doorway to get us there. The Nexus can be visualized as the center of a spider web reaching to infinite points. It is where all realities can be reach-"
"I thought you said grains of sand," Emily tried to follow, scratched her head.
Valandra giggled, even though she hadn't wanted to. Two additional arms materialized from her torso as she knelt between the women; both lower hands tugging at both Paige and Emily to join her upon the ground. The two women did so as Valandra's top arms pointed to the empty space in front of the group. Her fingers were locked in a grasp, as if clawing at an unseen fabric.
Without being prompted, Emily reached around Valandra's waste and held her free hand out toward the same direction. Paige glanced over, followed Emily's lead.
"Now concentrate," Valandra said closing her eyes. Before them, the world began to ripple, manifesting a crystalline structure from the sands that swirled around the distortion. Her additional arms were brought forward, parallel to the others as all four hands twisted, rotating to touch their backs. The woman struggled, grunting and groaning as she began to pull apart the crystals, revealing a dark void within.
"Lend her your power and concentrate," Emily instructed, closing her eyes. The women did so, empowering the process with a foreign magic they'd only just begun to understand.
"It's working! Now… Quickly… Think of… Home."
Images swirled within the vortex created, shifting from the House Dejarin manor, to a drake's nest, with a few scenes interspersed between. They grew faster and faster until finally, the crystal aperture shattered into a billion pieces, forming a vortex of sparkling powders… sand.
Valandra opened her eyes. "Now!" she exclaimed bolting to the portal with both women snatched at her sides.
A yelp from Emily and a squeal from Paige could be heard as the women leaped into the portal. The world around shimmered and vanished, like a mirage in the desert, replaced by nothingness, as the portal of crystal sands shut.
Note: This story may contain sexual situations, strong language, images, etc...
Intended for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised.
Harid opened his eyes and groaned, much different from the pleasurable grunts and noises the man had made during the previous night's activities.
"That sound is different. As was last night," came the voice beside him.
Harid was completely still for a moment, as if turning to the sylvari would acknowledge the events.
A brambled hand found its way to the mocha man's hairy chest, began to trace patterns in it. "Regrets? I did not think you were the type."
He held his hand, rubbed his temples. "Regret what? That you drugged me?"
Tressa giggled. "You did not complain; quite the opposite in fact. Besides, you needed to take your mind off things. I've learned from Pink over there that activities such as this keeps one's petals from drooping too much. 'Fun,' as she has called it."
Harid turned his head to the pink-haired woman at his other side, her pale nude sleeping form almost glistening in the firelight of the suite. Tressa peeked over the man's chest to view her lover.
"She is quite remarkable. As was last night," she said running her hand further south, tracing the man's abs.
"Yeah, well… We have work to do," he said, irritably removing the woman's hand, setting up. In truth, the man knew what Black Rose said was correct: he did need the escape the night of unbridled passion brought with it, but he found the guilt of doing so while his daughter was missing overwhelming.
On the mission to rescue Six-someone whom Harid cared deeply about- Paige and Emily had been separated from the group. In a difficult decision in the enemy structure, the decision was made to carry on with the mission. And, while Harid's militaristic background and time in the Lion Guard had taught him the chain of command and the importance of the mission, seeing the infrastructure of the Inquest base crumble and collapse sunk his heart.
In the weeks past that ill-fated night, he'd fallen into a drunken depression, yet, in a moment of weakness, he sought council from the most unlikely of sources: a witch named Zsia, an unscrupulous character he had run-ins with before. Talhia the Whisperer had listened into the mists for Paige's voice, and could not hear it; it was Harid's last desperate hope the witch would tell him his daughter and Emily's ultimate fate. And she did… for a price - the price of blood. But, it was one Harid gladly paid for the hope he now had for finding them.
Emily and Paige were alive, and Harid knew just where to start to discover how they managed to escape the collapse.
"You want to go back, don't you?" Tressa's voice echoed the man's thoughts. A study by trade of kinesics, Tressa often knew what those around her were thinking, based on context and their body language. It had become such a skill, the sylvari likely didn't realize she did such.
Kimura kept her eyes shut. "I ain't going back to that house of horrors anytime soon," she said, rolling over, her back to the pair.
Tressa blinked with eyes of golden nuggets. "You can do this without us? You will be bringing extras of your garden, yes?"
Harid gently smiled, looked over his shoulder, the first time since the previous night. "Worried about me Rose?"
The sylvari cleared her throat, even though she didn't have to-a reflex from spending such time with Kimura. "I… uh… I do care for your well-being, but my loyalties lie with Pink Thorn, Kimura. She is the soil from which I grow."
Kimura chuckled, breaking character, obviously still listening. "Aye. I'm dirt."
Tressa blinked, unable to detect the sarcasm in her lover's voice, and unable to see her expression to verify it. "What I mean is-"
Harid placed his hand on the woman's bare shoulder. "I know what you mean. Last night was fun; if it happens again, it does; purely physically, not romantically. It's clear you two are in love."
"I… Well…" Tressa stammered uncomfortably.
Kimura giggled, simply saying, "Aye."
---- A Week later ----
The sun shown on the horizon, bounced off the pools of water that made up the bottom of the mountainous terrain the Inquest facility was built upon. Slightly to the west of it stood a small garrison constructed for the purposes of excavation and research into recovered technology found within the collapsed structure. Harid had arrived a few days ahead of when the group he sent for was to arrive to make sure the garrison was fortified enough to offer action if needed. Satisfied with the accommodations, he used the remainder of his earliness to scout the basin, finding the most probable area Paige and Emily may have ventured to, and commissioned diggers to build a makeshift tunnel into it.
"And this is where they built the tunnel entrance," Harid said, pointing to a mapped sketch on a piece of parchment.
Ariadne rubbed the bridge of her nose with a slight sigh. Harid had known the woman for some time: a long-time guardian for House Dejarin, Ari had been with the house through conflicts and subsequent break-downs. Her gesture let him know she didn't think the plan was solid.
Taliha made her own misgivings known. "So we're going to waltz in there then? After what happened previously, with the multiple copies of-"
"Of me," came a soft voice behind her, as Shiera felt for the woman blindly. When her hand found the woman's familiar shoulder, she took a few bold steps forward, blinking with eyes of obsidian. "I don't feel like I did before though; I don't feel pieces of me within."
"At least not from here," Taliha offered, placing her darker hand on the Shiera's pale one. "It took you some time to feel the call here, right? Who's to say there's not another room behind a barrier with more?"
Harid stood upright, looked over the group. "Then we take it slowly; one step at a time. And, before we get going… I want to thank you all for heeding my call on such short notice. I know House Dejarin isn't quite what it used to be but…"
"And so the molecule says, 'No way! They're too unstable!' Unstable!!! Get it?" interrupted a small voice as it came to join the group, laughing at her own joke.
Ari glanced down. "J-Jinx? Is that you? Where… how… How are you? How is the boss Mister Cluckles?" She teased.
Jinx was staring down at the chicken at her side. "What? You don't get it? Is that because it wasn't about eggs? I swear you have no sense of humor! What? No! I'm not going to explain it again!"
Harid exhaled sharply, but made a face when doing so. "Jinx… I'm… glad you could make it; I was just going over the plan to-"
"Oh! Well hello there Tarid!" Jinx said, practically bouncing.
Harid sighed.
At the sound of her voice, Shiera turned to the asura with a welcoming smile. In any ways Jinx was one of her saviors, having finally allowed her to be separated from Kievaa's suit.
Jinx looked up at the group with an absent minded grin. "We're doing well! (Although some of us have no clue about the finer points of comedy!) An unapproving glance was cast upon Mister Cluckles, the chicken at her side, then the small woman sighed and returned her attention to the group. "Regardless, we got you message and we're here to help!"
Ari had been trailing off, but promptly perked up at the mention of adventure.
"Yes well... I'm glad to hear it. We need your know how with anything tech related. Long-range scans dont quite work due to the cave wall's interference (or so I've been told) and I'm certain we're going to run into inquest gizmos." The man inadvertently brought his mechanical hand into his view and clenched his fist.
Jinx suddenly screamed. "Oh! Speaking of tech... I almost forgot! No, no, you were in charge of reminding me. Yet again you drop the ball... the egg!" She scolded her chicken.
Shiera tugged at Taliha's side. "Is the avian creature speaking back?"
Taliha whispered back, "Sometimes others can't hear that which speaks to us." The sage advice was cultivated from years of experience dealing with the voices from the mists which constantly whispered to her.
"Where did you put it?" Jinx asked the chicken while she opened her satchel and shoved her entire head into it.
The rest of the group looked at each other uncomfortably. Ariadne took the time to introduce her companion, Michael Hedwick to Harid and go over the mission at hand, now excited at the prospect of adventure.
A few devices absurdly too large to even fit in the small pack were produced, tossed aside, as Jinx continued digging. When almost her entire small body had been engulfed, she cheered from inside. "Found it!" She said in sing-song, stammering backward. She emerged with a large ocular device in her hand.
"What is she doing? I can't make it out," Shiera asked, squinting to try to focus on the field of reds she saw.
"Exactly! Here... this may help!" Jinx trotted over to the woman, held up the object. "Come here and lemme get it dialed in."
Shiera released her grasp of Taliha, ventured slowly to the small red clump that made up Jinx. She dropped to her knees in front of her, then leaned forward. Shiera knew malevolence; she knew of such despicableness that could come from a deranged asuran mind in her experience with her former slaver, Kievaa. Jinx, however, while daft, was none of these things, and Shiera felt more comfortable in her presence than perhaps anyone, save Taliha.
The small skull-capped asura grinned as she went about fitting the device to the woman's head. "You know… A bit of sun may do you some good. Perhaps a Fizzlespring tanning light?" She turned a dial, which pulled the strap tighter, pressing the comically large goggles tightly against Shiera's eyes. "And there!" Jinx said with a button press. "Let my shining visage be the first thing you see!"
Shiera adjusted them slightly, was a bit unnerved when the goggles came alive in a static-filled hum. Slowly, the world came into focus, allowing for glowing auras around each person and object in her vicinity. She looked around with ludicrously large magnified bulging eyes, giving the thick goggles a test.
"I know it's not perfect yet, but it's a sight for your sore eyes!" Jinx giggled at her joke, then quickly realized nobody else was laughing. She scolded Mister Cluckles for the missed landing.
"Are you going to be able to assist, Shiera, or do you want to sit this one out?" Harid offered.
Shiera stood upright, clenched both fists. "I have my eyesight back; I shall not remain behind. I wish to see her body for myself!"
Harid's face was aghast, as was most others in the group, causing Shiera to rethink what she had said.
Jinx broke the silence as she began to remove her top. "Well, that's a little forward. I don't really want to get undressed right now, but I suppose if you wanna see my body…"
"Jinx… Not now. It's not the time. Care you explain yourself?" Harid regarded Shiera with a tinge of distain.
"I meant the asura's body. My captor. If Kievaa was in the collapse…" Shiera attempted an explanation; nuance and subtlety had also only just been practiced recently.
Haird simply nodded, turned to roll up the map, then pointed out beyond the garrison. "That's our objective. Out there. We will be walking into the ruins of an exploded Inquest lab. There's little we know beyond what the excavation team reported when stabilizing the entrance. There's a large power core within, we we'll need to be careful not to destabilize it."
"Full of chemicals, reactor cores, plasma batteries… not to mention the scores of weapons and devices that could explode at the slightest disturbance. BOOM! BLAMO!" Jinx said, making explosion sounds that lasted much longer than anyone would have wanted.
Ariadne huffed. "What are we looking for exactly in the ruins?" she said anxious to get underway.
"Clues," Harid said, equipping his backpack and equipment. "Something to tell us where they went and how they disappeared." Finished, he walked through his group. "We should probably get going though; burning daylight as they say."
"Aye," Ari said, following in step.
"Thank you for this, Jinx, and… I enjoy your… visage," Shiera said trying to be cordial. It was a talent that had laid dormant for so long, she was only just now beginning to exercise it.
Jinx looked up with a grin from ear to ear. "No problem! Mister Cluckles will send you my bill tomorrow! And, I meant what I said about the sun thing. You could most definitely use a bit of color!" Mister Cluckles clucked in agreement, before following Jinx on the way out of the garrison.
"What do you think about these?"
Tahlia laughed. "About what? The crazy asura? The holy man that leads us? The anxious to fight warriors?"
Shiera turned to Tahlia, blinking overlarge magnified eyes. "No… about the new visor… these… goggles?"
The woman fought the urge to laugh, only slightly chuckled. "They… They will work, for now."
A confused look came to Shiera's face, but she offered a smile-even if she didn't quite understand why. She and Taliha caught up to the group, where Ariadne produced a cookie, offering it to the pale woman. Perplexed by the offer, but attempting to maintain good relations, she accepted it and stared for a few minutes as they walked.
"It's chocolate chip," Ari said, shoving a whole cookie in her mouth and grinning.
Shiera's large goggles blinked at the small round object.
"You have never had one?" Taliha wondered.
"If I have, it was in a past life I can no longer recall; there's a familiarity to it that-"
"Just eat it! Just eat it! Open up your mouth and feed it!" Jinx yelled. She was further up the path, next to Harid, but apparently listening to the exchange.
The woman took a small bite. To her disenchantment, however, it was bland and completely devoid of flavor. She was about to spit it out, when she noticed Ari had sidled next to her and glowed with an aura of anticipation. "It… is good," Shiera lied.
Satisfied, Ari beamed a large smile, hurried to catch up to Harid and Jinx, who was already telling a joke. "I was going to tell you a funny chemistry joke on the way here, but they 'argon'!" The asura could barely contain her own laughter.
"You didn't like it did you," came Taliha's quiet voice.
Shiera shook her head. "It tastes of nothing. Perhaps a byproduct of what I am?" She tried not to sound as depressing as the words came out.
"What you are is a victim, but your soul is kind. I can hear as much." Taliha placed her hand on the woman's shoulder. "And you are not like that cookie. You are not nothing! Understand?"
The large bubbles of the goggles sparkled in the sunlight as it found its way through the trees. Shiera stared and nodded at the woman. To her, the Whisperer's aura was vividly iridescent and extremely inviting and one look at her mentor relayed Taliha's intent and goodness. Whatever the situation brought them together, both women truly believed they were fated to meet.
The cookie was sneakily tossed behind the pale woman's back, promptly hitting Mister Cluckles on the head. Jinx's extraordinary hearing picked up the cluck; she stopped to scold her partner. "Mister Cluckles! Don't eat that! You know what they say, 'A second on the beak… a lifetime on the thighs!' (Or at least I think that's how that goes!)" Bewilderingly, the chicken seemed to heed the warning, left the cookie to join his master.
The group continued forward around the marsh to stand at the mouth of a mountainside tunnel which led into what remained of the internal Inquest facility. The red glow of remaining power was painted on the cave wall, growing brighter the deeper in the tunnel went until it twisted in another direction, obscuring the innards. Despite the lab's collapse, there was still the hum of tech running within, along with what sounded like rushing water.
Harid paused, turned, ready to deliver another speech, when Jinx promptly shushed him. "Farid, we all know why we're here. Let's just get on with it, okay? Mister Cluckles has a date tonight!"
Mister Cluckles bwaked in excited agreement.
The man rolled his eyes, but heeded the advice, leading his group further in. Around the bend, however, brought everyone to another abrupt halt. Beyond was the open mouth of the tunnel leading to a massively hollowed area, filled with Inquest equipment and geometric structures. Within the center hovered a cube where energy traveled from its core, pulsed into a larger pool of energy plasma which dispersed itself outwardly to other parts of the facility.
"It's a reactor core!" Jinx exclaimed excitedly. She already had a small device performing scans on the area. "There's a small amount of radiation, but it should be nothing to worry about. At least, not enough to make our hair fall ou-" The little asura paused, staring up at Harid's bald head. "Uh… Nevermind."
Taliha and Ari both giggled softly, while Shiera asked what was funny. Harid rolled his eyes.
"So it's safe then?"
"Oh but… by these readings, it looks like it's filling up… and heating up. See?" She showed the readings to Mister Cluckles. "Then, BLAMO!"
The structures at various sides of the cave had collapsed, and now poured the same liquid energy plasma, spawning and traveling to it from the generator, back into the pool which made up the surface of its floor. As luck would have it, however, the tunnel connected to an intact overlook, complete with a console and various devices of asuran make.
Harid took in the situation considerably. "At least this side wasn't as affected by the blast. Let's do what we came for. Get in and get-"
Shiera suddenly stumbled forward, catching herself on Taliha, regained her footing with the woman's help. "I sense… Something familiar; behind the energies. It's… difficult to see." She took a few steps forward, her solid obsidian eyes staring through the goggles into the brightness that made up the reactor room.
"Bad familiar?" the Whisperer asked, taking a defensive stance beside her friend.
"Not sure, but I don't like it. Let's continue with the plan: in and out." Harid cast a sharp glance to Jinx, "No jokes."
The asura made a gesture like she was zipping her mouth. "Nope. No jokes here. No jokes from me. I'll be super-duper quiet. You won't even know I'm here I-"
"It feels familiar… like… home." Shiera craned her neck taking in the feeling as she stepped onto the platform.
The Whisperer was in tow. "See anything?"
Shiera was led by unknown memories, came to stand in front of an empty cylindrical tube. "It is a maturation chamber, like the one I was created in. What we fought before-the copies of me- they were all created in one. As was Eighteen Omega."
"Well, at least this one's empty," Harid said. He turned to Jinx, gestured to the console. "Jinx can you-"
"Yes, yes, yes Karid. I know… I know!" She waddled to the control pad, blew on it, then began to remove the ash, dust and soot from its surface. "This may take a while. This thing's been through a lot! (I'm actually surprised this place hasn't gone supernova yet!)" A few wire pulls and knob tightens later, the panel lit up, prompting a large smile on Jinx's face.
Mister Cluckles clucked in appreciation.
"Wait… There's something here." Shiera looked around, trying to ascertain where the feeling originated from. Then she knew. "It is not this place that's familiar; it is a 'someone'."
In a smoke-filled blur, the assailant came, slammed down into the middle of the platform, in a thundering quake which threatened to destabilize it. The shockwave sent everyone to their backs. Shiera's vision cut through the mist, found the assailant, and at once filled her with the same uninhibited longing and rage she'd felt before in her presence.
The smoke dispersed to reveal to everyone Eighteen Omega, Shiera's clone, and owner of the other half of her soul.
Harid sat up, holding his head trying to make his way through the ringing within. "What… happened?" A glance up answered the question. "Oh no," he mumbled, then surveyed the group. His eyes landed on the console and the asura, knew their mission of information to be paramount and acted accordingly. "Ari, Michael, get over here and guard Jinx! This number is dangerous, and we must find our answers; complete the mission!"
The soldiers were already on their way before the man ever stopped speaking, taking up position around Jinx who hummed a melody as she worked, oblivious to the goings on.
"What are you doing here?" Shiera spat.
The bladed staff was pulled from the tile in which it was stuck, then pointed at Shiera. "I'm here for you; what you have… It's mine!"
Shiera echoed the Number. "You have what belongs to me! Give it to me!"
Both women charged, slamming into each other with the immeasurable force of unrivaled equivalency. The shockwave spawned from the clash echoed within the cave, breaking apart a few nearby structures which collapsed into the deadly lake of energy below. The entire area quaked, threatened imminent collapse.
"Stop them," Harid yelled, "before the whole thing breaks apart!" He pulled at his rifle strap, unfastened it, then stared down the scope, aiming. Both women were completely indistinguishable, save Shiera's goggles, and for a split second, Harid was grateful for Jinx (even if he'd never admit it). Within his crosshairs: Eighteen Omega. He exhaled, then squeezed the trigger at her head.
Battle-locked, the two women struggled to overpower each other, until suddenly a bullet pinged off Eighteen's visor. The device sparked a few times, the red glow of the three horizontal lenses in the middle flickered. Shiera knew the symptoms, attempted to use it to her advantage. She reached down with her free hand, pulled her bloodstone axe and ran it up the woman's midsection. The black chain-linked armor sparked and screeched at the axe's blade, but held steady, though the magic of the weapon seared flesh underneath.
Eighteen winced and grunted. "Take… More than… that!" The visor came back to life while Eighteen channeled her energies into the dead lock, then exploded, blasting Shiera back with a shockwave of red and black smoke.
The woman landed on the ground with a boom, immediately attended to by her mentor. "Are you alright?" Taliha worried.
The former number sat up dazed for a moment. "She's much more… powerful than she was before. Maybe it's this place? The… energy here?"
"Then let the spirits drain it from her!" Taliha stood and raised both arms, which glowed an otherworldly teal. "Heed my call an appear; rid this one of its power!" At her command, two large monstrosities solidified, both wearing chains upon them, which suddenly darted into Eighteen to root the woman as they siphoned strength from her.
Eighteen fought the pull to kneel, fought the spirit's drain. She managed to lift her staff, began to twirl it. A vortex rippled from distortions in the mist which began to form in the wake of the twirling weapon. The spirits writhed in agony, began to be pulled into the vortex.
Taliha clenched her fists, put more magic into the effort, solidifying the spirits hold on this world as best she could. Additional chains found their way to Eighteen, the spirits anchoring themselves with her very flesh… and her very soul. She screamed in a pain unbeknownst to her: the soul being pulled from her own body.
Yet, her scream was echoed.
Glancing back to Shiera revealed the same effect was happening to her. Taliha was horrified, let go of her hold, ceased the magic, which promptly allowed the vortex to consume the spirits and explode them from whirlwind. Both women quickly gasped for breath, Eighteen falling to her knees.
Harid faltered, looked up from the scope. "So what? This means we can't hurt her without hurting the other one?"
"No, holyman! They are linked; not by the body but by spirit! They are two halves," Taliha bellowed.
"Yes, so just end this and give her to me! Give me what is mine!" repeated Eighteen.
"You can't have her!"
Eighteen raised an eyebrow, turned her red-lined visor to the others. "Then they die!" She channeled her magic, shoved it to Harid, Ari, and Michael. Immediately, smoke of black and white engulfed the group, with red superheated plasma interspersed. They collectively let out cries of agony and torment of searing flesh. "I can kill them easily! I just want what's mine!"
Jinx peeked over the console. "Can you guys stop your screaming already? I'm trying to work here!" She returned to the display, flipped through a few more screens until landing on something that made even the daft asura's face flush with seriousness.
Shiera dashed to put herself between the group and Eighteen, held both bandaged hands outward, redirecting the magic into herself. The chain-linked armor she wore began to glow with radiance as her entire person billowed smoke. To all around, the previous Number Sixteen was using her body, absorbing the magic, shielding them all.
"Jinx, hurry! You get what we came for?" Harid said rushing to the asura's side. On the display, an image of Paige and Ember with what appeared to be scans and analytics of their bodies. His jaw dropped. "What… What is this?"
"Oh well you see, I believe it is-" Jinx began what would be a lengthy explanation.
"Hey; no time for that! She can't keep this up! We need to hurry!" Ari inturrupted.
Taliha took a few steps toward Shiera. "Don't you die on me!"
Shiera grunted, but an unexpected smile was flashed to her friend as an unbelievable surge of energy from the absorption permeated her being, empowering her. "Back!" She roared, sending the energies to their source.
Eighteen's eyes would have been wide had the visor not covered them as the force barreled to her. She quickly grabbed her staff, swung into the blast, attempting some amount of dissipation. What wasn't dispersed slammed into her, sent her flying backward, closer to the edge of the platform.
"Get them to safety," Shiera said, eyes on Tahlia from the overlarge goggles.
"Wait! What are you-"
With a primal thunderous scream of fury, Shiera rushed Eighteen, slammed into her with all the power she had absorbed. An explosion of smoke poured from their contact, which promptly toppled over the edge.
"No!!! Shiera!!!" Taliha screamed dashing to the cliff. Below the dueling Numbers splashed, engulfed by the bubbling lake of energy plasma. She dropped to her knees, pulled off her cowl to reveal eyes of amethyst already filled with tears. "I… I was supposed to take care of her… She… can't be…"
"I got it!" Jinx suddenly shouted, then glanced around when nobody shared her victory. Harid, Ari, and Micheal had all joined Taliha to inspect and survey the dire situation.
"I doubt they could have survived that," Micheal offered. While the man was new to the group, he recognized the woman known as Shiera had saved their lives, and joined in the other's remorse.
The facility began to rumble and shutter, caused Jinx to become unsteady on her feet. She toppled over, then blamed Mister Cluckles for her fall. The momentary chaos caused her to glance around - perhaps for the first time - at their surroundings. "This place was unstable before; now even more so. We gotta get out of this kitchen, cause we can't stand the heat!"
Harid gritted his teeth, brought a hand to Taliha's shoulder. "I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye, but what she did, she did so we could live. If we stay here, that's not going to happen. We need to take this information and go. There may be three other lives at stake."
Taliha fought the urge to shrug off the man's hand and listened to his words. With reluctance she finally nodded, then turned from the plasma lake as the group began to make their way to the entrance tunnel.
Without warning, an eruption of plasma exploded as Sixteen and Eighteen emerged. They flew upward, both halting their ascension at the same time, some distance apart, floating in mid-air and staring at each other. Both women's hands were glowing, encompassed with the magical smoke and mist from the over-surge of energy the lake of plasma unexpectedly bestowed.
The group spun around, all elated at Shiera's re-emergence, yet all worried with Eighteen's presence. Taliha couldn't contain herself. She called out to her friend excitedly. Shiera glanced down at the woman and offered a slight grin, but the hesitation cost her. Eighteen plunged bodily into the woman, with a resounding boom, the sheer force of the impact causing more distance pieces of infrastructure to crumble down. Black blood came from Shiera's mouth a the blow, but in an instant, she flung Eighteen from her person with a body blast of energy. Both women stared at each other again for a moment, before crashing into each other again.
"We don't have long! I estimate this place will come down within- Yes, Mister Cluckles, what do you think I'm doing at this exact moment! Of course I'm telling them!" Jinx argued with her chicken which promptly followed the path to the exit, certain this battle was no place for a chicken!
"What about her? What should we do?" Michael turned to his comrade.
Ari, in turn, looked to Harid. "On your orders… but, with their power levels…"
Harid nodded. "Yeah, we can't win this fight. Go. Come on, Tahlia, this place is coming down and those two are not too concerned about it."
Tahlia reached upward, tears streaming down her face. "I… just got her back."
Another blast sent Eighteen flying into the cavernous wall, giving Shiera a moment to regard Tahlia. "Go! Now! If I die, I can whisper my goodbyes to you!" She said at a half-hearted attempt to lighten the worst case.
"No! If you die, your half goes back into her! You'll… cease. You must fight her! Fight for me, for our friendship, for your soul!"
Eighteen regained her footing, launched herself of the cave wall, and barreled straight for Shiera. This time, however, her opponent was ready. In a vapor cloud of brimstone, Shiera vanished, allowing Eighteen to completely pass through. When the Number halted, in confusion, Shiera reappeared behind her. She wrapped her arms around her enemy, then channeled her magic, pulling some of the woman's own magics into herself.
"I want my soul back!" Shiera screamed as she expelled all the excess energy in a nova of a concussive blast. Both women were blasted backward like ragdolls. Eighteen screamed as she was hurled into the crumbling structure and into the distant wall, her visor exploded, her armor broken and destroyed. Whether through her own strategy or happenstance, Shiera crashed into the platform the group was on. Her armor had been completely vaporized, yet the woman's nude body showed no signs of injury… But, she was as still as a corpse.
The Whisperer was immediately at her side. "Shiera, come on! We must get you out of here!" She looked up, about to ask Harid for help, but the man was already doing so. They lifted Shiera together, then promptly exited the cave, just as the platform on which they stood collapsed.
The party was exhausted, yet none breathed a sigh of relief until the innards of the facility collapsed. With the sound of breaking structures and distant explosions, the last of the facility collapsed. As per usual, Jinx was the first to interrupt the moment of quiet serenity.
"Well, I think the lesson we learned here is not to fall into lava, right?" All eyes glared at the asura, until Ari laughed. Jinx looked around. "Oof. Tough crowd, huh?"
"Jinx, be serious for once. Please, tell me… what did we learn in there? Did you find anything?" he asked as he handed something to cover Shiera with to Taliha.
"Oh! The console? Yes! Well, see, it definitely wasn't easy!" Jinx said, then began to play with Mister Cluckles.
Harid sighed, rolled his eyes. "Well, get on with it! What wasn't easy?"
"Huh?" Jinx looked up with a surprised expression. "Oh! The operating system on that consol. You know… They certainly don't update like they should. You see, back in our labs, we would make sure we used all the latest software. It just makes the job that much easier! (Especially when you are running multiple experiments!) This one time, Uncle Plopp," she chuckled at the name, "he was running this old system, and it took him three days (Three!) to get his experiment to even start. I always say, 'Make sure your consoles are up to date!'"
Harid rubbed the bridge of his nose as Ari and Michael stopped paying attention to the asura's rambling. Buried somewhere in the head of the crazy asura was the key to knowing the whereabouts of their missing comrades and he dug deep for the patience needed to obtain the information. "Jinx… Please. What about Paige and Ember? I saw the console in there; there were scans or something."
"Oh yeah! There were files on them both; pages worth, in fact! My uncle used to-"
Mister Cluckles clucked, much to the annoyance of the asura, who apparently reluctantly listened to the chicken's advice.
She cleared her throat. "Sheesh. I was just getting to that. Okay. So, it looks like Paige and Ember were being scanned. Why? I don't know, but it appeared to be a lot about their biology and a few test simulations on what would happen if they were introduced to something that kept being referred to as a 'battery'. Anyway, I can't be for sure what all that was about, but the last log entry showed something interesting…"
After it was apparent she needed prompting, Harid did so.
"It appears that Paige and Ember were sent through an asuran gate, before the explosion! And really… that's not even the best part!" Jinx clapped, then again paused staring at Harid, expectantly. When the man refused ro play the game, she folded her arms. "You're no fun, Parid. You know that? Fine! (Hope you enjoy spoilers!) The last log entry showed coordinates where the gate led to!"
Now it was Harid who crossed his arms. "Where, Jinx? Where have they sent my daughter?"
Jinx grinned from ear to ear, happy the game had resumed. "Well, as far as I could tell, the coordinates were moving. So I managed to get a lock on them, and from the speed and altitude, I'd say it could only be one thing: An airship!"
Haird's head dropped. "An airship? Great!" he said sarcastically.
"It is! Isn't it? See, the tricky part is if it's moving, we can't just plug the coordinates into another gate and step through. (We'd wind up behind it! And, quite possibly plummeting to our deaths, so…)"
"Then how do we get to it?" Harid asked.
Jinx shrugged, then looked back at a resting Shiera, a worried Tahlia, an anxious Ariadne and Michael. She opened her mouth as if to prophetically lay out a grand battle plan, but simply shrugged at Harid.
The man shook his head, unsure of what he thought would come out of the brilliantly crazy asura's mouth. He glanced back to the garrison, then to the skies above. An eyebrow raised as his metal fist clenched. "I know how... We steal an airship…"
