The Storm Queen
Chapter 8: 8 - Intermission: A Child's View and Friends New (Edited... Once Again)
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Suki was playing with one of her toys in her room, just acting like she was the captain of her own airship. She ran around the room, black tail swishing as she played with her airship model in the dull light of the crystal-lit room.
“I’m going to get you! You won’t get away with stealing mommy’s crown!” She cried, acting like she was chasing an invisible foreign ship for the obviously treasonous act of stealing the royal crown.
Suddenly, without warning, it seemed as if the air itself tore open in the middle of the room. This… tear, seemed to have a reddish-purple, eye-filled space inside of it. Of course, there was only a split second to inspect this tear before someone unceremoniously fell out of it, almost as if they'd been tossed, and then the tear closed itself up again. If Suki had been listening closely, she might have almost caught a woman saying ‘Have a nice stay~!’ in the distance before the tear closed.
Suki, startled, jumped up on her bed, scrambling to the edge closest the wall. “Who are you?! How’d you get in?!” She yelped.
The person who had fallen out of the tear seemed to be a young female human. “Hyeeek…!” The girl suddenly shrieked in surprise with a surprisingly quiet voice as she shot to her feet and clumsily backed up to the wall opposite Suki's bed, staring with wide eyes.
“I said who are you?! Don’t make me call the guards! I’ll do it!” Suki threatened, pointing her airship model at the young girl in what she hoped was a menacing way.
This young girl had started trembling and whimpering as she shrunk away, tears forming in the corners of her closed eyes. She seemed to be too terrified to respond. However, before Suki did anything more, a feminine voice spoke up in an almost scolding tone.
“Stop it! You're terrifying Rom!”
This voice was coming from… somewhere Suki couldn't pinpoint. It seemed to be disembodied.
“Wh-Where are you? Show yourself! I mean it!” Suki demanded.
“I wish I could show myself,” the voice shot back, very irritated. “Except that damn hag put me in Rom's head, so I don't have a body anymore.” Suki slowly calmed, although just a bit.
“So… You’re like Ventus, then? A Ghost?” Suki surmised, lowering her airship model.
“No, not a ghost,” the voice answered, also sounding less tense. “It would be more accurate to say that I'm a consciousness that's been forced into someone else's head.”
Suki just looked confused. “What’s a consciousness?”
“E-Eh…?” the voice sounded confused. “U-Um… I'm not really sure how to explain…”
“Y-You s-scared meee…” the girl, which Suki presumed was Rom, suddenly stuttered in a small voice, still teary-eyed and trembling a little. Suki shook her head, jumped off her bed and walked over to Rom.
She offered her a paw up. “Come on, I’m sure mommy can help you. Besides, you haven’t tried to kidnap me like Ventus said others might, so that makes you okay in my book.”
“Kidnap…?” the voice muttered. “It'd be pretty ironic if Rom kidnapped someone…”
“I-I would never kidnap someone…” Rom retorted to the voice. “Because I know how scary it is…”
“Good!” Suki said, helping Rom up to her feet and patting her back. “Come on!” She said, motioning her over to the two double doors.
“O-Okay…” Rom said, timidly following Suki with her hands held close to her own chest, glancing around nervously.
While they walked, Suki took a closer look at Rom. Rom had shoulder-length, light brown hair and deep, yet somehow still soft, blue eyes. Suki judged that she was a few inches over four feet tall. She was wearing a pastel blue coat which doubled as a dress, reaching a little more than halfway down Rom's thighs. The coat had fluffy white cuffs, a white hem at the bottom, a fluffy white collar, and had two small, white pom-pom-like bits on each side of her waist , and two more near the collar on the front. She had a bright pink bag resting against her right hip with a long strap that went across and over her left shoulder.
She was also wearing boots of the same colour as her coat, with fluffy white cuffs, white soles, and two pom-poms dangling from the front of each one. She also had white leggings on under the coat and boots. On her head, she had a round hat whose shape was reminiscent of the top of a muffin. This hat was the same blue as her coat and boots, and had a white trim going all the way along the edge, and a small, pink, sideways hollow rectangle symbol on the front, positioned in the white trim. After thoroughly inspecting Rom's appearance, Suki finally noticed that Rom was trembling and shrinking away from the Storm Creatures littering the halls.
“You don’t have to worry about them. They’re really just big softies,” Suki assured. She walked up to one of them, patting his knee. He reciprocated, patting her on the head before returning to standing rimrod straight. “See? They won’t hurt you.” Rom relaxed just a little.
“O-Okay…” she responded, still a bit nervous.
“Rom, it's okay,” the disembodied voice said, consoling Rom. “You don't need to be so scared.”
The guards tensed at the new voice, but otherwise didn’t move. They only shifted their eyes around, looking for the source of the voice.
“It’s just a friend like Ventus, guys,” Suki explained to them. They visibly relaxed at that.
“Ah, right,” the voice said sheepishly. “Sorry, I'm just so used to being like this that it sometimes slips my mind just how weird a disembodied voice is.”
“Eh, it’s fine. We have a similar problem with Ventus around,” Suki said with a shrug. She looked around. “Hmm… Mommy should be…” She pointed down a hallway. “...That way!” She then marched in the direction she pointed. Rom hurried after Suki, not wanting to be left behind.
The two girls continued in silence for a bit longer. Eventually, the voice broke the silence, trying to hide an irritated tone.
“cough Ah, I don't think you've introduced yourself yet,” the voice said.
“Oh! I’m Suki! Well, technically I’m Suki Petremol, Princess of Storms, but eh, I’m just here because mommy lives here,” Suki said, waving a paw dismissively.
There were a few moments of silence before the voice spoke up again, cracking ever-so-slightly at the beginning.
“Ahem, right then, Suki,” the voice said, trying to maintain some dignity in her tone. “My name is Hayakawa Maiko, but you can just call me Maiko.”
“Okay!” Suki chirped. They padded down a few more hallways until they came to a tall, tall stone door with many interlocking mechanisms and eight hexagonal slots. Each slot was glowing an eerie green, and the center, of which the slots were arranged around, glowed with a symbol none of them recognized, they only found it to be menacing. “This is where mommy usually spends her time.” Suki explained, rapping her paw against it’s surface.
“I… see,” Maiko said, her tone somewhat flat.
“Nnnn…” Rom whimpered a little, barely audible, as she looked at the menacing symbol on the door, feeling a slight sense of foreboding.
“No need to worry, mommy won’t hurt you!” Suki assured, before loudly pounding on the door. “Mommy! Someone is here to see you!” She called. No answer.
“I-Is she maybe… s-somewhere else…?” Rom started to ask. Just then, the door started to open, a light hissing echoing from it - causing Rom to jump with a squeak - before it swung ajar, and a tall, cloaked woman with dark blue, almost purple and flawless skin, silver hair that was long enough to cover part of her face, and shining, golden eyes peeked out.
She looked to Suki first and smiled tiredly. “Hey muffin top, what’s going-” she then noticed Rom and paused. The timid girl was quietly looking up at the imposing figure, frozen in place with eyes wide like saucers. “-...” The woman looked to Suki. “...Friend?” Suki nodded with a fang-filled smile. The woman sighed a little, but her smile returned soon enough. “Alright, just give me a moment to finish up in here, alright?” Suki nodded, keeping her smile as the door closed once more.
Rom then closed her eyes as a slight frown formed on her face. “Just being near that lady made me feel scared…!” she said.
“I… sort of understand what you mean,” Maiko answered. “Her appearance was rather imposing.” Suki giggled.
“That’s just mommy as a leader! She’s a real softie on the inside!” Suki explained. The sounds of many metal objects and such clattering around inside the room filled their ears, but Suki seemed undaunted. Rom glanced towards the door with an expression that was somewhere between nervous and confused. “Mommy’s just playing with her big girl toys, don’t worry!” Suki assured, patting Rom on the back.
A few moments later, the woman emerged from the room again, bags under her eyes, but she kept her smile as she came out and looked down at them. A strange floating eye was next to her head, though it looked less like an eye and more like a weird collection of disks and segments with a single blue eye in the middle.
“So, what’s your name, cutie?” the woman asked Rom, kneeling down to her level.
“R… Rom…” Rom answered timidly, averting her gaze and fidgeting as her cheeks turned a slight pink colour. The woman smiled, though it was hard to tell if it was with warmth or something else.
“Nice to meet you, Rom. I’m Lucette,” she said, ruffling Rom’s hair a bit before standing up. “Why don’t we head to my break room?”
“Oooh, oooh, can I show Rom the Map?” Suki asked, bouncing up and down excitedly. Lucette chuckled.
“Sure, muffin top,” she said with what was obvious now to be a warm smile.
“‘Map’…?” Rom and Maiko both echoed simultaneously. Lucette paused at the extra voice, looking down at Rom.
“Who was that, Rom?” she asked slowly.
Rom faltered easily under the suddenly cautious glare. “Th-That was M-Miss M-M-Maiko…” she managed to stutter out, barely keeping her trembling at bay. Lucette kept up her glare for a moment, before the strange robot near her spoke in a feminine tone.
“Oh leave the poor girl alone, L, you’re scaring her!” the robot chided. Lucette shot the robot a look, before sighing.
“Fine, fine,” she looked back to Rom. “Sorry about that, I’m used to insurgents and the like.” She then started to walk briskly down the hall. “Come on, then.” Suki followed after, bouncing in glee. Rom quickly chased after Suki, not wanting to get left behind.
“Uuuu… Miss Lucette can be really scary…!” she whimpered.
“I think she's being a bit overly suspicious of a kid…” Maiko muttered. The robot suddenly poofed next to Rom in a flash of blue particles, eliciting a startled squeak and a jump from the girl.
“L is just not used to kids like she was in her younger days,” the robot explained quietly. “Mostly when she was at bases in some place called Africa.”
“Africa?” Maiko said, a hint of recognition in her voice. “Lucette was in Africa when she was younger? Wait, Africa…” Maiko suddenly fell silent after a tone of thought entered her voice.
“Surprised you know it. Then again, you are human, so it makes a bit of sense,” the robot mused. “Oh, name’s Ventus by the by.”
“Human?” Maiko spoke up again. “Well, I was human before that hag from before shoved my consciousness into Rom's head, but… Rom's not actually human you know.”
Ventus looked at Rom for a moment, before Lucette called out. “Ventus, come here, please. Don’t need you scaring the kid more than I did.”
“Don’t think that’d be possible, knowing how you always scare people,” Ventus joked as she disappeared from Rom’s side in a poof of blue particles and reappeared by Lucette in the same cloud. Lucette retorted by lightly swatting her. “Ow! Hey!”
“Aw hush it,” she said, before turning back to a set of double, steel doors, which the guards opened to reveal a luxurious room with throw cushions all around a massive wrought iron table seemingly built into the floor, a glowing, mirror like surface on it’s center covered in a grid and colored purple. A number of windows allowed Rom to see a massive storm raging outside, though neither Lucette nor Suki paid it much mind as Suki rushed over to the table and started jumping up and down on one of the cushions.
“Come on! Play it play it play it!” she begged. Lucette rolled her eyes with a small smile, walking over and tapping a part of the grid.
Immediately, a fleet of airships spread across one side of the apparent board and another fleet formed across the other side. Suki jumped with joy.
“Yay! Thanks Mommy!” she cried. Rom went over to look at the board, slightly intrigued now.
“…A strategy game?” Maiko questioned.
“Correct,” Lucette confirmed, nodding. Suki was already engrossed in playing the game, setting her airships up in a certain formation. Lucette smiled at this before motioning Rom over. “Why don’t you play a game with her? I’m sure my muffin top would love it.”
“Oooh! Can you? Can you can you can you? Pleeease Rom?” Suki begged.
“This might actually be fun Rom,” Maiko urged.
“O-Okay…” Rom said, nervously sitting down behind the second fleet of airships. Lucette sat in the middle of the board.
“I’ll judge the match. Three rounds, red pieces can move three spaces in any direction, blue two in horizontal directions, and yellow one in any direction. You must move your airships so that they are at least one space apart before commencing an attack, in which case you will play a minigame of ‘who-fires-first’. First one to either destroy all enemy ships or reach the other side of the board wins,” Lucette explained. She raised a hand, then swung it down, like a flag. “Begin!”
“Awww…” Rom groaned, hanging her head. “I thought we had you…”
Suki giggled. “Well, I have played longer! Mommy actually made this game for me, so I’ve had lots of practice!” She shot a mock glare at Lucette. “Though I still haven’t beaten her myself…”
“It's definitely an interesting strategy game,” Maiko commented.
“It took me the better part of three weeks to get this thing working too,” Lucette said, patting the grid. “Right now, this is the only piece of technology we have at this level. We don’t have anything else but…” Lucette paused, then shook her head. “Nevermind.” She looked to Rom. “So, Rom, might I ask how you got here?”
“Um…” Rom tried to think of what to say. Maiko, however, took up the reigns and spoke up.
“To be honest, we're here against our will,” she began. “And all I know for certain is that the method that was used to throw us here is a form of spatial manipulation.”
“Hmm… I see…” Lucette said slowly, rubbing her chin.
“What’re you talking about?” Suki queried.
“Grown up things, muffin top. Why don’t you play single player a bit while Maiko and I talk?” Lucette suggested. Suki pouted, but nodded, knowing better than to disobey her surrogate mother. Lucette looked back to Rom. “Do you know who dropped you here? Were they wearing a red tailcoat?”
Rom shook her head, at least remembering what the person was wearing. She left the speaking to Maiko though, who seemed to know more about the person.
“No, she wasn't wearing a tailcoat,” Maiko answered. “She had on a somewhat old-fashioned dress, the main colour of which was purple. I also happen to know that hag by name: Yukari Yakumo.”
“Hmm… Well, at least you know who got you,” Lucette mused. She looked out the window for a time. “Well, anyway, you’re welcome to stay until we find a way to get you back, though I can’t promise anything. We aren’t at the level of making portals yet.”
Rom sighed lightly, seemingly relieved to have been offered shelter. “U-Um…” she began, standing up and bowing slightly, bending at the waist while keeping the rest of her body straight. “Th-Thank you for having us…”
Lucette smiled. “Anytime, cutie.”
“Hey, mommy, can I have some Storm Fruit juice?” Suki asked, giving her mother puppy dog eyes. Lucette chuckled, ruffling the tan and black furred head of Suki.
“Sure muffin top,” Lucette clapped loudly, and a guard entered the room, standing at attention. “Mind getting us some Storm Fruit juice from the kitchens?” He saluted and exited the room to do just that.
“‘Storm Fruit’…?” Rom asked.
“You’ve never had it? Ooh it’s so good!” Suki gushed. “It’s sweet yet tangy and it goes all fizzy, too! It tastes almost like grapes, and it’s just sooo good!”
“Ah, I like grape juice…” Rom commented.
“Why don't you try some Storm Fruit juice Rom?” Maiko suggested. “If it tastes similar to grape juice, then you'll probably like it.”
“I’d recommend it, but be warned, it packs a punch,” Lucette said, before the guard came back carrying a tray of three glasses filled with purple liquid not unlike grape soda in appearance, a straw in two of the glasses. The guard offered one to each of them, then left with the tray once he had handed them out. “Well, go on then,” Lucette said, gesturing for Rom to drink.
Rom looked at the juice, noting the similarity to soda before taking a small taste through the straw. Instantly, her face puckered as she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head side to side a little. Maiko suddenly speaks up, her tone sounding almost like she'd just drank the incredibly sour juice.
“That is--! Really sour--!” she shouted haltingly.
Lucette chuckled. “Tastes a bit like grape Warheads and grape soda, huh?”
“I don't know what you mean by ‘Warheads’,” Maiko responded, some slight bitterness in her voice. “But I do know that this juice is ridiculously sour.”
“Uh-huh…” Rom agreed, nodding her head, her eyes still squeezed shut. Lucette and Suki giggled.
“Heh, lightweight,” Suki teased, taking big gulps of the juice and purring at the taste. Lucette didn’t drink as much, but was similarly unaffected.
“I think you're just abnormally resistant to sour, Suki,” Maiko retorted, a hint of teasing in the background of her tone. “Most kids dislike sour tastes.”
“Uh-huh…” Rom agreed again, putting the glass down.
“Well, I’m tough, so of course I’m resistant!” Suki said, puffing out her furred chest proudly. Lucette smiled.
There was a bit of silence before Maiko spoke back up. “You know, and I'm sorry if I sound rude saying this, but,” she started, grabbing Suki and Lucette's attention. “Suki doesn't resemble you very much Lucette.” Suki frowned, head lowering and ears flattening against her head. Lucette frowned as well.
“Suki is… Well, she was orphaned after the ruler before me razed her country to the ground and thus brought her family’s end. I found her after my first few weeks here with another group of her kind, all orphans,” Lucette walked over to Suki and sat down next to her, petting her a bit to comfort her. “I took her in, and she’s been with me ever since.”
“I see…” Maiko said.
“So, it's like she's adopted…?” Rom asked innocently. Lucette nodded slowly, Suki obviously too shaken to talk about it. She didn’t cry, but she was obviously upset, and with good reason.
“Sorry for bringing up such a delicate subject, Suki…” Maiko said softly. Suki shook her head, slowly shaking off her sorrow.
“It’s… It’s fine, don’t worry about it Maiko,” Suki said with a forced smile.
“Um, so what will we do next…?” Rom asked.
“Well, we could-” Lucette began, before a flash of light blinded them all, and when it receded, a woman in a red, Victorian tailcoat with long black hair tied in a ponytail was on the table.
“Hello again, my dear,” she said sweetly to Lucette. Lucette’s eyes were wide as saucers, before she growled and reached for the gun at her hip. Only to find it wasn’t there, and instead in the woman’s grip. “Tsk tsk, you must remember your manners, my dear. Can’t go shooting everyone you don’t like.”
“You! You little-!” Lucette began, before her mouth was clamped shut by some unseen force.
“Ah ah ah, there are children here, darling,” the coated woman chided. She looked to Rom for a moment, uncaring for how Lucette was fuming and trying to scream at her. The woman grunted. “Ugh, seems that harlot got another one.” She shook her head, a smile returning to her face. “Maiko and Rom, correct? I’m here to show my own Displaced about, well, Displaced, but I might as well tell you two as well, since the harlot isn’t likely to.”
Lucette moved to tackle the woman, but was pinned down by an invisible force. “Manners, dear, remember?” the woman said idly. Suki was shaking with fear at the woman so easily disabling her mother.
Rom was wide-eyed, frozen in place. Maiko was flabbergasted that this woman had been aware of not only her presence, but also her name. “E… Eeeeeeh???” was all Maiko could muster.
“Hmmm, confused, it seems,” the woman noted. She spread her arms out, a cane appearing in one hand, before she did a gentleman’s bow. “I am The Trader. Don’t confuse me with that jerkwad called the Merchant.” She shook her head. “Anyways, I’m here to give you three the spiel about what you are.”
“What we… are…?” Maiko echoed.
“Indeed,” The Trader confirmed, nodding. Lucette seemed to be calming down, even if only because she was getting too exhausted just trying to get unpinned. “You see,” The Trader swept her cane through the air, creating a small picture of two people, one cloaked in shadow, and one looking like a normal person. “Displaced are normal people, whether from Earth or an Earth-like world, who are, as the name suggests, displaced to another world - usually an Equestria of sorts - with new abilities, some of which aren’t so obvious.” The shadowy figure then picked up the normal person and tossed them into a portal, and rubbed its hands together like an evil genius. Rom, who had moved her gaze to the image when it appeared, cocked her head to the side a little, seemingly having trouble understanding the verbal explanation. Maiko, however, spoke up, her voice suggesting that she understood.
“I see…” is all she said.
Lucette slowly calmed more, until she was no longer struggling or making muffled screams of rage. The Trader noticed this, and removed her invisible binds. As soon as she did, Lucette jumped up, clocked her in the face, and sat back down with a grunt.
“That’s for taking me from my home,” she growled. The Trader groaned a bit, but eventually sat back up.
“Fair enough,” she said, rubbing her face. Lucette made to speak, but The Trader stopped her with a hand. “And no, I’m afraid I can’t take you back. Rules of the… Well, trade. If you want back, you’ll have to do it on your own.” The Trader looked to Suki, and around the room briefly. “Besides,” she added with a smirk. “Would you really leave all these people without a leader?” Lucette faltered at that. Ventus appeared, letting her partner ruminate on that thought as she asked a question.
“So what else is there to know about Displaced?” Ventus queried.
“Well, not much, aside from Tokens,” The Trader began.
“‘Tokens’…?” Rom asked, taking the initiative this time.
“Correct,” The Trader nodded. “Tokens are like calling cards for Displaced. If you have a Token of a fellow Displaced, you can use it to summon them to your world.”
“Tokens are essentially summoning tools then,” Maiko paraphrased. “How does a Displaced get a Token of their own then?”
“Simple. Take or make an object that represents you or your character, give it a message, either written or verbal, and then toss it into the Void,” The Trader explained, opening up a portal for them to do so.
“U-Umm… So… Mommy is a Displaced thingy?” Suki asked timidly, a far cry from how she’d been previously. She did not feel comfortable around this new person. The Trader nodded with a smile.
“…I see,” Lucette said slowly. “So I just need to make a Token?” The Trader nodded. "Next question then. How do we know this isn't another trick? How do we know you won't just take us to some place worse for giggles?" Trader sighed, placing a hand to her forehead and shaking her head.
"Come now, my dear, I'm not heartless," Trader started.
"Says the woman who tore me from my old home," Lucette interrupted. Trader cleared her throat.
"AS I was saying, I'm not heartless, and you've already made a trade with me, so I'm bound by certain, well, rules to leave you here," Trader explained. Lucette snorted.
"Sure, sure, and I'm the Queen of England," Lucette retorted. Trader clicked her tongue.
"Classy, aren't you?" she answered.
“Would I be able to make a Token too…?” Rom asked, stepping inbetween the current discussion.
“Correct! Have a cookie, free of charge!” The Trader said, materializing a chocolate chip cookie and handing it to Rom.
“Personally, I wouldn't eat something so dubious,” Maiko commented.
“Well, more for me, then,” The Trader said with a shrug, eating it in one bite. She licked her lips before looking around at the group. “So, any of you three gonna make a Token?”
“Well…” Maiko started. “It's probably a good idea for us to make a Token, Rom. After all, it's good to have more allies.”
“Okay…” Rom consented.
“…I could certainly use some of my own,” Lucette surmised after a long moment of silence. She sighed after another three moments of tense silence. “Alright, I’ll do it.” She opened her palm, Ventus reappearing in it, and said, “Ventus, mind giving me some Relic Iron from our reserves?” Ventus did her version of a nod, and a small lump of rust colored metal appeared in Lucette’s lap. “Okay, now, let’s make this into… A knife, I guess.” Ventus nodded again, and the lump was lifted up by a beam from Ventus’ eye, and it glowed brightly. A few minutes later, with Suki and Rom watching in awe, the glow died down and revealed a simple army knife made of some form of iron. Lucette then gripped it tightly, and arcs of flame surged from her hands into it, giving it a warm, flame like glow. She released it after that.
“Good, now for your message,” Trader instructed. Lucette sighed a bit, rubbing her temple and thinking.
“Mmm…” Lucette looked to the knife, then shrugged, deciding to wing it. “I am The Storm Queen, Master of Light and Walker of Dark. If you need the power of a Storm, simply whistle any tune while holding this knife, and the Storm shall be upon you and your enemies.” Lucette looked up to The Trader. “Will that work?” The Trader nodded, and Lucette tossed it into the portal, where it split into different copies and faded into the black of the Void.
“So, that's what the creation process of a Token looks like…” Maiko commented.
“Indeed,” The Trader said with a nod. She turned to Rom. “So, ready to toss your hat in, so to speak?”
Rom grabbed her hat, clearly opposed to separating from it. “Rom, she didn't mean it literally,” Maiko assured her. “It's a figure of speech.”
“Correct, though, again, anything will do, even a hat, and you’d get it back too,” The Trader informed.
“We’d get it back?” Maiko repeated. “In that case… Rom, how about your pen?” At the shake of Rom's head, Maiko could be heard sighing. “You'd get it back, so it'll be fine.”
Rom paused for a few moments. “O… Okay…” she said, hesitantly taking a pen from her coat pocket. The pen was the same colour as her coat, with a bright pink clip the same colour as her bag. After a moment, Rom decided to take after Lucette's example and poured a small amount of magic into the pen. As she was doing this, Rom began nervously speaking the message.
“I-I'm one of the CPU Candidates of the nation of Lowee…” Rom began before pausing. Maiko then took up the continuation of the message.
“It is the obligation of a CPU as well as a CPU Candidate to help those in need,” Maiko said with purpose. “If you find this pen, then whenever you are in need of assistance, call out for White Sister with this pen in hand, and you will be blessed with her aid.”
“I'll do my best to help…!” Rom finished, before looking to the portal. She hesitated for a few moments, then - after a bit of urging and reassuring from Maiko - she tossed her treasured pen into the Void. She watched with tears forming in her eyes as the pen duplicated and the many duplicates began to fade away in the distance… Then, one of them - the original - was ejected back out of the portal into Rom's lap. After a moment of shock, Rom swiftly picked the pen up and clutched it in her hands, holding it close.
“Wow…” Suki said in awe, no longer scared as she stared at the wonder of the portal. The Trader smiled and closed it.
“Well, unless you all have any further questions, I’ll be taking my leave. I have an appointment with my father, sadly,” The Trader said, moving to the door. “Oh, and just a note, you’re about to get more visitors, my little ruler.” With that, The Trader left through the door.
“More visitors…?” Rom questioned.
“By the way Rommy, what’s a CPU Candidate? And where’s Lowee?” Suki asked curiously.
“I’ll admit to my own curiosity of the subject,” Lucette concurred, happy for a new subject to focus on.
“Um, Lowee is the nation I was born in…” Rom answered.
“To put it simply,” Maiko began. “Lowee is in another world called Gamindustri, and is one of four nations that are each governed by a power known as a CPU. CPU Candidates are the younger, blood-related family of the CPUs, meaning they'll take over governance of the nation once the CPU either perishes or decides to willingly hand off the position.”
“So she’s one of these CPUs? You told me earlier that she isn’t human, and to be fair, neither is Lucette, who's an Awoken, but just what is a CPU?” Ventus chimed in.
“Well,” Maiko said. “Strictly speaking, I guess you could call a CPU something not unlike a Goddess.”
“Woah woah woah woah, hold up, Rommy’s a Goddess?!” Suki screeched.
“…I want proof aside from just your word,” Lucette said after a short while.
“I kinda do too. I have many functions, but being a lie detector is not one of them,” Ventus agreed.
“What do you mean, Mommy?” Suki asked curiously. “I mean, yeah, it’s out of nowhere, but she doesn’t look like she has a reason to lie to us.”
“Call it a… Soldier’s intuition,” Lucette said simply, standing up. “Come on, follow me. We’re going to test you,” Lucette said crisply, walking towards the door. Suki looked between her mother figure and Rom a few times in slight worry.
“You’re not going to hurt her, are you mommy?” Suki asked slowly. Lucette stopped. A pause followed.
“...No. Just a demonstration,” she said after a short time.
“A demonstration, huh?” Maiko repeated. “If we take you at your word that you won't hurt Rom, then we don't have any reason to decline. Of course, we can only properly meet suspicion with suspicion, so I hope you don't mind if I ask Rom to exercise caution.”
“Feel free,” Lucette said simply as she opened the doors. Rom hesitated momentarily before following, sticking close to Suki, who likewise followed.
They walked down many stairwells and through many halls, every surface adding to the idea of power and majesty that the castle held. From the stands of armor and plaques with weapons and shields, to the banners and carpets and rugs lining the walls and floors. All of it demanded respect and recognition.
Rom was looking all over as they walked, awed at the entire experience as a whole.
“This is…” Maiko trailed off, unable to properly finish the thought.
“Mommy likes to let others know who’s in charge,” Suki explained as they walked, Lucette a bit ahead of them.
“I can… tell…” Maiko muttered.
“You should have seen her when she caught Grubber slacking on the job and getting frosting all over one of the trophies, it was really funny!” Suki giggled as they walked, her black tail swishing back and forth.
“That sounds kinda like Blanc after Ram and I prank her…” Rom shares, cracking a tiny smile.
“Yeah? Are they your family?” Suki questioned. At this, Rom looks as if she was suddenly reminded of something before lowering her gaze with a frown.
“Yeah, Blanc and Ram are Rom's sisters,” Maiko supplied. “Ram is Rom's twin, and Blanc is her older sister, as well as the current ruling CPU of Lowee.”
“Oooh, cool!” Suki said, blue eyes seeming to sparkle. “What’s she like? Is she cool and tough? Does she have any cool powers?”
“Blanc is usually very calm and collected, and believe it or not, isn't very good with conversation,” Maiko explained. “She's both smart and strong, so it's obvious that Rom and Ram look up to her as an older sister. One thing that she could probably work on is her temper, though. When you make her angry, ‘calm and collected’ goes right out the window, and she starts cursing like a sailor.” As Maiko answered Suki, Rom just continued to silently stare at the wall, a distant, forlorn expression on her face.
“You okay, Rommy?” Suki asked, now a little worried for her new friend. “I’m sorry if I brought up bad memories…”
Rom didn't seem to hear her, so Maiko answered instead. “It's alright,” she said. “It's just that as a result of what that hag did to me, Rom got separated from her sisters. Back in the other world, we were still in the process of searching for them.”
“Oh…” Suki said sadly, ears flattening a bit against her head. “Well… I’m here for you, if you need me!” She said, perking up a bit. “I’ve been alone for a long time, but I found mommy, and she made everything better! So I’ll do the same for you!” Suki said with a fang-filled grin. Rom turned to look at Suki.
“…Th-Thank you…” she said.
“Anytime!” Suki said, hugging Rom tightly and nuzzling her.
“We’re here-,” Lucette began, before hearing talking coming from the other side and stopping. “That’s weird… I thought Tempest and Grubber were out doing errands…” Lucette muttered to herself, before looking to the two children. “Keep quiet, okay?” She whispered. At their nods, she slowly cracked the door open, allowing her to see five people on the other side, all of them in green, futuristic armour, with the same designs.
The only things to distinguish them individually was what they carried. Weapons to be more specific. One of them was carrying a two-handed Warhammer, one which glowed with strange markings and sigils, almost looking demonic. Another had, from what she could tell, a Sniper, but the design was also futuristic, as if it were a hybrid of a hand-held Railgun. The third one was carrying a Chainsaw. A freaking Chainsaw. And from what she could guess, this one might be the crazier one. He definitely gave off that sort of feeling.
The fourth one was carrying a Chaingun, the only differences being that this one had nine barrels on it, which seemed unusual, and a little overkill. The amount of bullets that beast would be spitting out must be insanely immense. The final one had a sword on his back, and one on his left hip, though it reminded her of a Chainsaw, except in a form of a sword, because of the sawteeth running along the blade. However, for some reason, she felt a little fearful of him. She didn’t understand why such a feeling was coming over her, but it would be best not to piss him off, she reasoned.
“…Okay, what the fuck happened?” The one with the swords asked in confusion and anger.
“Something pulled us off course. As for the reasons why, I don’t know,” The crazy one answered with a shrug. “Although, I don’t think this is Equestria.”
“No kidding. I can feel the bloody cold,” The first spoke, shivering a little.
“I noticed that, too,” The fourth said with a nod. “We may need to be careful, this might be an enemy fortress.”
The second looked at them, but didn’t say anything. Strangely enough, though, the rest of them seemed to nod towards him, as if he did say something.
“Hunter’s right. Let’s stay out of sight and have him look for this place’s leader,” The swordsman stated, though their Sniper, Hunter, walked up to the door the Storm Queen was looking through and opened it up, revealing her and the two girls behind it. “Oh...nevermind.”
Lucette let her hand hover over her holster, but didn’t do much else besides stare into the visor of Hunter, as he was called.
“Hey, isn’t she an Awoken?” The crazy one asked, as they all looked at her.
“She is an Awoken,” The fourth one confirmed.
“...I am. As well as the ruler of this nation,” Lucette said guardedly, eyes shifting between them all. “...I assume you’re all Displaced as well?”
“No shit, woman,” The swordsman answered her. “We were about to return home, until something changed our course and brought us here. Any reason why?” He asked.
Lucette kept her hand near her gun but stood up straight. “No idea, and honestly? Don’t care as long as you don’t fuck up my castle or plans. So if you’d be so kind as to sit and watch, I have a bit of a thing to make sure of.” Lucette stated, walking past them and into the room. She looked back at Suki and Rom. “Come on. Show me what you can do, kiddo.” She gestured to one of the many training dummies dotting one side of the room.
“O-Okay…” Rom answered as she approached a training dummy.
“No reason to hold back Rom,” Maiko advised. “Go for HDD and everything.” Rom nodded once before a brilliant pillar of light sprung up, centered on her. After just a moment, the light vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and when everyone present looked… They did a double take, not sure if they were even looking at the same girl as before.
Rom, though she had the same facial structure as before, as well as the same stature, was now sporting slightly unkempt, pastel blue hair instead of the light brown from before, a large lock of which was longer than the rest, hanging in front of her right shoulder down to the same level as the small of her back. In addition, her eyes had gone from a deep blue to a startling hot pink, and her pupils had been replaced by white power symbols. Her winter attire had also been replaced with what looked like a skintight suit, which was mostly white, with pink accenting.
Then, some white light appeared in her right hand, forming a long, slender shape with some kind of medium-large ornament-like structure on the higher end. Then, the light dissipated with a soft burst to reveal a staff of that exact shape in her hand. She then twirled it a few times as a circular design with many arcane symbols - a magic circle - appeared around her feet.
“Ice Coffin!” Rom announced, her voice a bit louder and more prominent than before, as she firmly brought the butt end of the staff to the ground, holding the staff upright. A massive block of ice - easily over seven feet tall - instantly froze over the dummy, completely encasing it, before shattering, leaving hundreds of ice shards all over the floor of the room, some of which still had fragments of the now-obliterated training dummy frozen within.
“Hmm… I’m starting to see what you mean. Certainly a Candidate, though, not an actual Goddess or whatever you called it,” Lucette mused, observing from a good few paces behind Rom.
“That was awesome Rommy! Do it again! Do it again!” Suki cheered, jumping up and down excitedly next to Rom.
“Oh, cool! She can use ice magic as well!” The crazy one said in excitement.
“That really was amazing,” The first said with a nod.
“What he said,” The fourth one pointed out, as Hunter nodded his head in agreement.
“Hmm…” The swordsman just let out a rumbling hum, nothing more came from him.
“Oh yeah, I also forgot to point out something important,” The crazy one stated.
“And that would be?” The swordsman asked him.
“The Storm Queen herself…” He started, pointing towards her. “Also has the Dark Sign, from Dark Souls.” This alarmed Lucette, as she wondered how he knew she had it. She rounded on him, weapon drawn in a heartbeat.
“Spill. Now,” She growled. “How do you know so much about me?”
She heard him give a little chuckle, and before she realised it, the tables were turned on her as he managed to take her gun and pointed it at her. She was surprised by how fast he was, blinking in surprise.
“You think you’re the only one that has that mark?” He asked her, becoming very serious. “Well, guess what? We’ve come across some others that have the Dark Sign on them as well. So, in all honesty, you’re not that special. None of us are.” He told her, giving her gun back. “As to how I can see it? Well, I don’t suppose you remember Warhammer 40K?”
“...” Lucette shot him a glare, but nodded slowly. “What’s your point?”
“Hey, dumbass,” the swordsman said, gaining her attention. “Does this look familiar?” He asked, taking up the Chainsword from his hip and showing it. And what she saw on it made her eyes widen. The marking on it held the Blood God’s sigil. “Yeah, Khorne gave me this Daemon possessed Chainsword, and his blood to me, as a gift. So guess which one, out of the four, gifted him?”
Grinning like a madman, the crazy one took off his helmet, showing off his styled out silver-white hair, which covered the right side of his face, leaving only his left eye visible, which was Blood red in colour. Moving his hair away on the right, he showed her that his right eye was very different from his left. The white part was all pitch black, the iris was blue, and his slit pupil was purple. “Thanks to this eye, gifted from Tzeentch himself, I can tell certain things that you may hide from plain sight, among other things. As OP as it may sound, you may as well accept the reality that everything throughout the Multiverse can be pretty stupidly OP as fuck, and it doesn’t care about your opinions, because you don’t rule it.”
“...” Lucette stared at him for a solid ten seconds, before sighing deeply and placing her gun away, her other hand meeting her face. “I need a damn cigarette…” she groaned.
“Sorry. Don’t have those on me,” the crazy one said with a shrug, placing his helmet back on.
“It's definitely way too late for this by now,” Maiko said in an exasperated voice. “But I don't think that this kind of language is healthy for a kid to be listening to, Goddess or not.” Lucette just shot a look at Rom - who, by now, had reverted to her previous human appearance in a flash of light similar to before - then Suki.
“Suki knows not to repeat it, as for Rom… You deal with it. She’s not my kid,” Lucette said, walking towards the door. “Suki, why don’t you go play in your room with Rom? I’ll be in the personal tavern.”
Suki nodded. “Okay mommy!” Suki then grabbed Rom by the hand and rushed out of the room, talking excitedly about what she wanted to show the other child.
“Hold up, Storm Queen,” the swordsman said. “If you wanna get shitfaced that bad, here.” Going into one of his pockets, he pulled out a small flask. “This has Dragon Ale in it. An infinite amount. Knock yourself out.” He explained, passing it over to her. “Not to mention, we haven’t exactly told you our names. Well, codenames, to be precise.”
Lucette wordlessly took the flask, taking a big gulp of it, before sighing in relief and wiping her lips. “Mmm, Jesus that’s good shit. I’ll have to contact the dragons to get a steady supply, because what we have here is just grape Warhead wine.” She handed it back. “Come on, might as well pass time with veterans of battle again. Been too fucking long honestly.” She started to walk out of the room without another word.
“Really? You were a Marine before all of this, as well?” The fourth one asked her, as they followed her. “Shit. And I thought I was the only Marine to get Displaced.”
“I was stationed near one of the bases in Africa, CAR, which was built after we made a deal with them in like… I don’t know, 2014. Got to see some sick shit,” Lucette said, walking down the hallway, decorated with armor stands and plaques with weapons, just as before. Guards were stationed at several key points, all of them, the men noted, looking similar to Yetis, only with nearly luminescent blue eyes and hind legs like a cat’s. They all wore royal purple plate armor and wielded greatshields and halberds, both lined with gold.
“Who are these people?” The swordsman asked. “Are they Yetis?”
“They’re my Royal Sentinels. Think of them as the Royal Guard from Equestria, only much better and not so laid back. They’re race is called Skili, though others just call them Storm Creatures,” Lucette explained as they walked.
“Because of the constant raging storm?” The first one guessed.
“Pretty much,” Lucette confirmed with a nod. They finally arrived at a set of purpleheart wood doors, decorated with golden floral patterns. Lucette just shoved them open and stepped inside. “Oi! Tyl! Jo skul la tios!” she cried. The barkeep, a Storm Creature, or Skili, looked to her and immediately went about grabbing some bottles from the shelves, as well as shot glasses, and placing them neatly on the purpleheart wood counter. He wore a simple dress shirt, but nothing else. Lucette walked briskly over to a seat and waited patiently for him to pour her a glass, before slamming it back. She sighed in relief after drinking it. “Ah! Good, starting to feel the burn again.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve met the Equestrians, yet? Have you?” The crazy one asked, as they sat with her. “You seem to have. They weren’t annoying, were they?”
“Those prissy, preachy ass horses? Yeah, met ‘em about two weeks ago, they said they wanted to offer me a seat on some UN style council or some shit, as well as a general alliance. I told them it’d be fine…” She slammed back another drink after pouring herself one. “...After they removed their damn spies from around the Island. Little pony princesses didn’t like it, but agreed. Haven’t gotten any reports of pegasi or the like since then.” She looked into her glass for a bit. “...Though they could be using invisibility spells or some shit.” Lucette grunted, pouring another drink and once more slamming it back.
“Goddammit, Tia.” The swordsman groaned, before taking off his helmet, showing that he, too, had silver-white hair, blood red eyes, and also a lot of scars. “Well, it’s either her, which it most likely is, or Luna. Still, if they do still have spies around here, they’re really fucking with the wrong crowd.” He snorted, before pouring himself some and slamming it back.
“Anyway, how about we introduce ourselves now,” the first one suggested. “I’m Pillar, my full title being ‘The Mountains Pillar’ as the locals called me.” He said, taking off his helmet as well, practically the same colorations, but his hair was combed back, looking professional, with only a couple of scars.
“This one is Hunter, known as ‘The Hunter of Silence’, because he's mute, but is also, literally, an actual hunter,” Pillar explained, pointing towards Hunter who also took his helmet off. “As for his culture, he’s half Native American and half Japanese.”
“I’m Runner, also known as ‘Deaths Runner’, because I’m an insane lunatic,” Runner snickered madly, taking his helmet off and pouring himself some.
“I’m Collateral, also known as ‘Collateral Damage’,” The fourth one said, removing his helmet to show that he’s African American. “I used to be a Sergeant back in the Marine Corp. as a Weapons Specialist. Went on some tours around Afghanistan and Iraq.” He told her with a sigh, pouring himself some and leaning back.
“And I’m Berserker, ‘The Bloody-handed Berserker’, because I punch a lot of stupid shit into a red, gory paste, for all the bullshit they tend to get away with,” The swordsman told her with a grunt.
“Well, good to meet you all,” Lucette said with another grunt as she adjusted herself on the seat. “Full name’s Lucette Petremol, so you can tell I’m part French from the get go.” She took a more relaxed sip of a taller glass after making a gesture with her hand to the barkeep. “Was in the 3rd Marine Corps. Division in CAR and at one point Iraq. Worked as an Intelligence Specialist, so I would often smack other sausage brains and jarheads upside the head for being dipshits.”
“That sounds about right,” Collateral commented with a chuckle, pouring himself another and slamming it back.
“Say, since you’re wanting some Dragon Ale, and want to get it from the source, I should warn you about how most of the Dragons can be...stupidly dangerous. At least, from what we’ve seen from other versions of Equestrias,” Berserker told her. “As for their leaders, they’re known as Dragon Lords. If you see one with a staff, with a red gem sitting on top of it, that’s what a Dragon Lord uses to command the entire Hoard.” He explained.
“Oh I already know. My second in command, Tempest, told me what I needed to know after I shot the previous ruler of this country in the head, and thus became their Queen,” Lucette replied. She took a long gulp of her drink, starting to feel even more of a buzz. “Honestly, been trying for about two months to get her to fuckin’ unwind. Bitch has to be wearing a thong or some shit with how uptight she is.”
“Sounds like a real hardass. No pun intended,” Berserker replied, earning a snicker from Runner.
“No, that’s about right. I may have been here only two months, but I know a toned ass when I see one,” Lucette said shamelessly, chugging the rest of her drink.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Runner shrugged. “Besides, do you have any idea how many women Berserker has on him?” That made Lucette do a spit-take in Runner’s face. “Ah! For fuck sakes, why me!?” Lucette started laughing, even snorting as she did so.
“Ohohoho my God, so he’s one of those players!?” She laughed before raising a glass to Berserker. “Good on ya! To pussy!”
“Uh… To pussy?” Berserker said with uncertainty, clinking his glass to hers. “Honestly, I’m not even trying, and yet they flock towards me. Although there is one that’s dating all five of us. Well, more than one.” He stated, with the others nodding in agreement. “Fucking multiverse man.”
“Huh, well, still, good on y’all!” Lucette said, grinning like a toon. “Now, who’s up for a good ol’ fashioned Marine-Style Drinking contest!?”
“I am!” Runner shouted excitedly.
“Oh boy,” Collateral sighed with a chuckle. “Here we go again.”
“How do you Marines do it?” Berserker asked. Lucette’s grin only grew.
“Oh, this is gonna be good…” she said with a chuckle.
“And this is the knife Mommy gave me after my first week here!” Suki said, presenting an Army Knife made from some kind of black metal. It certainly wasn’t iron, not with it’s weight. And it seemed to react with a glimmer of light whenever Rom got close.
“It looks like a pretty high-quality knife,” Maiko commented as Rom examined the knife, nodding her head a little in response to Suki.
“I know, right? Mommy has all kinds of cool things in her room, too!” Suki chirped, before deflating slightly with a pout. “She won’t let me play with them, though…”
“That's probably because they're dangerous weapons,” Maiko responded. “Probably considerably more dangerous than a measly knife.”
“But I wanna play with them! They’re so cool!” Suki whined.
“Maybe she just doesn't want you to hurt yourself by accident…?” Rom suggested. “Blanc is always worrying about Ram and I…”
Suki continued to pout adorably, now crossing her arms. “Still wanna play with ‘em…”
Maiko audibly sighed. “What's dangerous is dangerous,” she said. “That can't be helped.”
“...Fine…” Suki conceded, though she was still pouting.
“So, what should we do next…?” Rom asked.
“Well, we could go out into the city, or maybe check out the caves below the castle…” Suki mumbled.
“Caves, huh?” Maiko said. “That sounds like it could be interesting.”
“I guess…” Suki said, sighing, before uncrossing her arms and taking her knife back. “We’ll need to be careful. Kraken babies sometimes nest in the lowest parts, though that’s also where all the fun is.”
“That shouldn't be too much trouble,” Maiko responded. “Rom has quite a lot of experience with monsters after all. Isn't that right Rom?” Rom nodded her head.
“Uh-huh… I'd sometimes take hunting quests from the Guild in Lowee with Ram to get stronger…” Rom explained.
“Have you ever fought ones that shoot Soul Spears? Like Hydra?” Suki asked, walking toward the door and securing her knife to a sheath on a previously unseen belt. “Because Kraken’s are that and more.”
“Uh-uh…” Rom answered, shaking her head as she followed Suki.
“Still, Rom's fought all kinds of monsters,” Maiko said. “I have confidence that Rom's strong enough to take them.”
“Well, good, then we’ll have lots of fun!” Suki said with that same eager grin. “Now follow me, we have to be quiet and sneaky, or the guards’ll catch us and bring us to mommy, and she won’t be happy.” Rom glanced at Suki with a nervous expression, but stayed silent. Maiko also didn't say a word. “Oh calm down, we’ll be fine, Rommy,” Suki assured, waving off the girl’s concerns after seeing her expression. “I’ve done this loads of times!” The black siamese cat girl said confidently, keeping up her grin.
“Doesn't mean it's not against the rules…” Maiko muttered under her breath.
“But rules were made to be broken, silly!” Suki giggled, having heard. She opened the doors and peeked out. “Coast’s clear, come on, quick!” Rom quickly followed after Suki, doing her best to step lightly without falling behind. “We’re going to be taking the long route, since it’s night time and the shifts are more tight around now, which means we have to sneak through eight hallways, five stairwells, and then the workroom that leads to the caves.” Rom nodded quickly to convey her understanding.
This was going to be a long stealth mission.
“...I don’t know whether to be appalled or accepting of this,” came Tempest Shadow’s blank reply as she looked on at the scene of Lucette, her boss, having an arm wrestle with Collateral. The tavern itself was somewhat trashed, with one of the Doom Marines hanging up on the chandeliers, laughing deliriously as he mumbled about something. Hunter was completely sober, choosing to instead watch, Berserker nodding off a little bit, while Pillar was on the ground, sleeping away.
“Come on, that all you got big boy?! My grandma is better than you at this shit!” Lucette said defiantly, pushing against Collateral’s hand.
“Alright,” Collateral said with a shrug, slamming her hand down and taking the match. Lucette stared at her own hand in disbelief. She slowly looked back to Collateral.
“You fucking asshole! You were holding out on me!” she growled, though not in actual anger.
“Yeah, I was,” He answered with a nod, chuckling a little. “Hell, if you were arm wrestling against Berserker, he would’ve broken your arm off.”
“That’s true,” Berserker replied with a yawn, looking up to where Runner was hanging. “For old time’s sake…” Pulling out his Pistol, he aimed at the chandelier and charged his shot, shooting it at the chain connected to it and the ceiling, causing Runner and the chandelier to fall down to the ground with an immense crash, making a crater in the floor.
“Owwww… Berserker, you fucker,” Runner groaned, crawling out of the crater.
Tempest just stared for a time, until Lucette noticed her. “Oi! Hard ass! Get over here and drink with us! Unwind that toned plot of yours!” Tempest’s eyes widened and she kept staring. Lucette groaned. “Are you fucking serious? You shut down just because of a comment like that? Fucking dick…” She sighed and walked over, picked the mare up, who flailed a bit, and put her on one of the seats by the counter. “Barkeep! A round of Storm Wine!” The barkeep sighed and nodded, quickly producing the drink.
“Y-Your Highness, I can’t, we have to-” Tempest began, but Lucette stopped her.
“Shut up and drink, maggot,” she said, shoving the glass towards Tempest. Tempest looked to her leader, then the glass, then back and forth, before sighing and taking a sip.
“Fucking skull it, woman,” Berserker told her, which confused her. “Fucking Hell, Lucy was right about you, you need to loosen up. Ah, for fuck sakes, Lucy, did I ever tell you that I managed to get into the Royal Cellar in the Dragon’s Imperial City, and drunk at least half of the damn place?” He asked her, causing both Lucette and Tempest to look at him in shock.
“You drank that much dragon ale…?” Tempest asked slowly, shocked.
“Yeah, that, and I’ve become a Dragon Lord. Well, one of the three Dragon Lords,” Berserker added with a snort. “Although, the Imperial Dragons practically just laughed at that, saying that it was one of the most insane things they’ve ever heard or witnessed. I still got away with it, scott free. No one pressed charges on me.”
“Oh that’s a good one!” Lucette said with a laugh. She calmed down after a bit, and looked to Tempest. “Well? Drink the damn thing ya zut putain!” Tempest frowned, looking back to her drink, before sighing and downing it. She placed the drink down without a fuss, though she was sporting a light blush, and looked to Lucette.
“There, now, can we please get back to-” Tempest began, but was cut off by Runner shoving a bottle in her mouth.
“Not enough! Get some more alcohol poisoning in yer system!” He declared, tipping her head back as she was forced to chug it down. She flailed and thrashed, but Lucette held her down until the bottle was drained. When it was done, she was wobbling a bit and coughing. “There! Better!” Runner exclaimed, chuckling as Tempest tried to stand up straight.
“Jesus, you take two drinks and you’re already stumbling? You ponies are fucking lightweights!” Lucette cried, slapping Tempest on the back, who crumpled, groaning.
“Oooh… Everything is spinning…” she groaned.
“She’s not Irish enough,” Runner stated, making Berserker laugh at that.
“I remember an Irish guy I used to date. Well, till I found out he was micro. Only upside was that he could drink anyone under the table, and had a good personality. But micro dick is a deal breaker, ya know?” Lucette said, waving her hand airily.
“Wow, does that mean us two, as well?” Berserker asked, pointing to himself and Runner. Lucette shrugged.
“Depends on if you got micro dicks,” she said simply, moving towards the counter for another drink. She grabbed another drink and chugged it down, sighing in content as it slid down her throat. “Then again, you guys aren’t my type anyways.”
“You say that now,” Runner retorted, rolling his eyes.
“Ah va te faire foutre, Runny Nose,” Lucette said, waving her hand dismissively as she chugged another drink.
“Leave her be,” Collateral told them.
“Alright,” they both said, drinking some more.
Tempest then suddenly groaned out, “Lady Suki was… Urp… In the caves…” She then passed out. Lucette stopped at that, and then her glass was crushed in her hands. She stood up and stormed towards the door.
“Goddammit! That girl takes too much after me, and I’m not even her biological mom!” she growled, stomping towards the door.
“Uh-oh. Should we follow after her?” Runner asked as Lucette stormed out through the door.
“Might as well,” Berserker sighed, getting up and retrieving his helmet. “C’mon, let’s go!” He said, the other four quickly grabbing their helmets and placing them on, heading outside and going after the Storm Queen, leaving the wasted Tempest on the floor, groaning.
Lucette stormed into Suki’s room, slamming the doors open, the young cat girl sitting on her bed, nervously twiddling her cat-thumbs and looking at the floor. Rom was sitting silently next to her, hands in her lap, hanging her head guiltily.
“What the heck have I told you little missy?! You can’t go into the caves! Not until you’re at least fifteen!” Lucette ranted. Suki wilted a bit.
“S-Sorry Mommy…” she said sadly.
“This is the fifteenth time! Fifteenth! I shouldn’t have to keep telling you!” Lucette raged. She pointed to Rom. “And this time you dragged Rom into this, too!” Lucette crossed her arms, giving Suki a disapproving glare. “I am very disappointed. I taught you to think before you act. You’re both grounded for a week and a half. Maiko, I want you to enforce that even if you get sent back home early. Rom needs to learn this shi-I mean, stuff,” she instructed, before adding in under her breath, “God it’s hard to keep from swearing while drunk…”
“Just swear your head off, woman. My mum used to do that whenever I or my siblings got into trouble,” Berserker stated, earning a groan of annoyance from her.
“I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have to agree with him on this one,” Maiko chimed in. “Whenever Rom and Ram get in trouble from scribbling and doodling in their older sister Blanc's scripts, she always gives them a curse-filled scolding. Rom will know for sure that she's done something wrong if you start cursing.”
“Other than that, though, I think we may need to...build Rom’s confidence up,” Runner suggested. “I mean, she needs to at least try to stand on her own two feet and legs. We just need to teach her how to do so.”
“Yeah, I'm also thinking about more strongly enforcing independence starting now,” Maiko agreed, then adding in a quiet mutter, “I don't know if this is just a coincidence, but I swear these guys are talking more sense now that they're drunk…”
“There’s one problem though,” Berserker said. “No offense, Lucy, but the location we’re in isn’t going to work. Especially the weather, since it’s always fucking stormy around here. We need a change of scenery.” Lucette sighed deeply.
“Well, unless you want to take a five hour trip to the tundra in the south, or an eight hour trip to the main continent, that ain’t happening,” Lucette said, before shooting a final glare at the two children. “Do this again, and I will find a way to contact your guardian, Rom. Suki… Do this again and you’ll lose privileges to the training room, and the Game Board. Understood?” Suki nodded rapidly. “Good.”
“Unless that hag conveniently dropped us somewhere within the same world as before, which I think is very unlikely,” Maiko started, “then you'd better have some form of interdimensional communication if you hope to contact Rom's current guardian figure.”
Lucette just gave Rom a flat look, hoping the meaning would reach Maiko.
“Do you even have a better idea on how to boost her confidence up? Because I’m telling you right now, this place isn’t suitable to do so,” Berserker asked her.
“With how the weather conditions are around here, she’s not ready to tackle it,” Runner stated. “It’ll be like feeding her to a bunch of sharks in hopes she feeds off of them instead.”
“What exactly is it that you're planning to have her do?” Maiko asked, ignoring the bewildered look Rom was giving Runner.
“Well, we’ll have to start off somewhere a little more calmer than this,” Runner pointed out the window, the storm still raging outside. “Somewhere with a lot more green in it, but not with many dangers lurking within. Combat isn’t what we’re pushing her into, yet.” He explained. “We just need to expose her to the environment.”
“Well, we could take her to your world or hers, then,” Lucette suggested.
“Our world is at war, so that’s a no-go,” Collateral informed her.
“And it's the dead of winter in ours,” Maiko added, Rom nodding in confirmation.
“So that means…” Runner started, as everyone in the room turned to face Lucette. Lucette sighed deeply.
“Well, I don’t know then,” Lucette said with a grunt. Ventus appeared in a puff of blue particles.
“L, it’s time for court, we should wrap this up,” she said. Lucette groaned.
“Ugh… Forgot there’s still those damn Warrior-Nobles to deal with here…” Her shoulders sagged a bit, but she turned to the Marines nonetheless. “I gotta get to being a Queen again, so, I guess this is goodbye for now. How do I send you all back?”
“Here,” Berserker said, pulling out an Obsidian stone, with a mark glowing on it. Throwing it to her, she caught it, but was not suspecting what would happen next. She collapsed to her knees, her mind racing through the memories stored inside. Their memories. All of the horrible deeds the Demons of Hell had done, all the many innocent lives lost, tortured, sacrificed, converted. The battles the Doom Marines had fought against the Horde, the many Demons they had slain, even when the odds were stacked against them. And finally, the message within it.
“They are Rage… Brutal and without Mercy… But you, you will be Worse… Rip and Tear, until it is done.”
Once it was done, Lucette started taking in deep breaths, a bit shaken by what she saw. “Fucking hell… Warn a girl before you drop a mental nuke on her, at least…” She said, muttering, “Almost worse than Africa…”
“You’d think so, but that’s not even the worst part of it all. But you don’t need to know that,” Berserker said with a snort. “Anyway, I think we’ve sobered up enough, just say ‘our contract is complete’, and we’ll be on our way.” He told her.
“I’m guessing it’d be the same for Rom?” Lucette asked for clarification.
“I have no idea,” Maiko said honesty. “Either way, you'd probably need a copy of her pen first.”
Conveniently, a pen, the same Rom used as a Token, dropped on Lucette’s head. Lucette blinked, bent over, and picked it up. “Well, that’s done then.” She turned to the Marines. “Our contract is complete. Hit me up if you guys get the time, I need time to wind down every now and then.” She gave a two-fingered salute.
“You got it,” Collateral said with a nod, giving off the same salute back to her, as a portal opened up and they went through it, finally going back to their Universe. Lucette smiled and looked to Rom. She walked over and patted the young girl’s head.
“Try and think more for yourself, okay? Oh, and Maiko, remember she’s still grounded for what she did,” Lucette said, before adding, “Our contract is complete.”
“Mhmm…” Rom answered, her head still down.
“Don't worry, I'll be sure to enforce it somehow,” Maiko assured Lucette as a portal opened next to the bed. “Alright, looks like it's time to go.”
“Okay…” Rom said, standing up. “Bye…!” She waved to Suki. Suki waved back, a small smile on her face.
“Come back and visit soon!” she said with a little of her old cheer.
“I'll try…!” Rom responded, a small smile of her own forming before she turned and went through the portal.
Lucette turned back to Suki and lightly patted her head with a small smile. “You may have messed up, but I want you to know that I don’t hate you, okay? You’re still my adorable little muffin top.”
Suki nodded with a bit more of a cheery smile. “Okay mommy.”
Lucette’s smile grew, before she summoned her mask and turned around, walking towards the doors. She waved goodbye before walking out and closing the doors behind her. It was going to be a long few weeks for them, Suki especially.
But, she looked forward to it. If it meant she learnt a lesson, and was thus one step closer to being as awesome as her mommy, she’d take it.
With a cool, smooth smile.