nexus_crossings | Returning From the Ether

Current Location: Downtown

Returning From the Ether

A loud crash echoes from one of the abandoned houses in the residential area, one of the armoires tumbling to the floor. A swirling portal hangs in the air, covering the room in a brilliant blue light as a slender young woman steps through from the other side. She groans a bit, scowling as she looks down at the ruined armoire.

"That certainly wasn't there before. Then again it's been a while since I've been here..."

She sprawls out on the nearby bed, her trip through the portal taking a bit out of her.

"I wonder if anything's happened since I last visited. The last I remember the plaza was in shambles and everyone was still helping rebuild... I wonder if the clinic would still be willing to donate blood..."

She licked her fangs as she contemplated ways to get sustenance. Speaking to no one in particular, simply thinking aloud, she poses a simple question.

"What's been going on here lately since I've been away... and how long does it take to readjust to the goings-on here after being away for so long? I'm sure so much has changed, I hope there are at least a few familiar faces still milling about."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hello. You've been here before? I know it's possible to come and go, a friend of mine did that, but I didn't know people do that often."

Shiro came upon hearing the crash, ready to help anyone in need. And then he sees the portal, and then, the young woman. Who doesn't seem to be injured, at least.

"The plaza isn't in shambles anymore, at least, last I've checked," Shiro says.

She smiled, sitting up a little to get a better look at where the voice addressing her is coming from, giving him a pleasant smile.

"Oh, it was no easy feat, trust me. My first visit here was by total accident... though I get the impression that's how it is for most people who find themselves here. Unfortunately, I had some pressing matters back then that necessitated my hasty return home."

She let out a small sigh of relief sitting all the way up, resting her chin on her knees.

"Thankfully everyone back home is safe and sound now, for the most part, so I can truly appreciate everything this place has to offer now. I guess you could consider it a vacation of sorts."

She stretched her back a bit, looking around the abandoned house wondering if her stockpiles and supplies were all still stowed away where she left them.

"I don't believe we've ever met... please, call me Tielle."

He's a human man, apparently in his twenties, with a prosthetic (and visibly so) right arm. And he was quite concerned at her, even though she's a stranger, because well, walking through portals isn't always safe.

"No, we haven't met. I've arrived here a month and a half ago, with two others, a friend and an ally. On accident, and, well, I'm also on vacation. I think."

Why is that so strange? Being on vacation? Of course it's strange, during the war.

But maybe not every strange is bad. Right?

He offers her a smile, and his hand, for a handshake or whatever.

"I'm Shiro. Pleased to meet you, Tielle."

Tielle's fangs may him wonder if she's quite as human girl as she looks, but well, that doesn't change anything.

"This place is so mysterious, I don't think anyone knows of it before first visit."

She takes his hand, giving it a light squeeze as she gingerly shakes his hand. Her eyes drift down to his prosthetic, widening as it was definitely piquing her interest. She could be rather inquisitive when encountering new things, especially when they're from other worlds or planes, and as Shiro was about to find out could be quite blunt about it. Pulling out a small leather-bound book, she thumbed through the pages a bit.

"What exactly is that on your arm?"

She absentmindedly fishes around under the bed with her foot, pulling out a small case. Popping it open, she pulls out one of the many small vials of red liquid inside before shoving the case back under the bed. Popping the top off the vial, she took a few sips before turning her attetntion back towards Shiro.

Shiro frowns a little.

"It's not on my arm, it's my arm, actually. It's a prosthetic - an artificial limb. A gift from my alien captors, you could say. Theoretically, it can read from my brain, at least one of my friends, tech expert, says so. Don't worry about it. It won't hurt you without anyone without my permission, you see."

Edited 2020-05-31 07:56 (UTC)

Then, Shiro smiles a little, and would wink, almost, but he's not a child.

"If you ever need a light or a spark, it can light up, just like that, if I will it. Quite a hit at parties."

She scribbled a few notes in her book, making a few hasty sketches of the prosthetic before stowing the book away again. She chuckled a bit at his remark not to worry.

"Oh, I'm not worried at all, just extremely curious. I tend to keep a log of things that are new or of particular interest to me. Besides, I'm quite capable of fending for myself should things come to that..."

She pauses for a moment, lightly cracking a knuckle against her hip.

"You seem so sweet, so I really hope it doesn't come to that, for your sake."

She smiles brightly at him, quickly moving the conversation along.

"You mentioned something about aliens? I've never really encountered such things, though I've heard stories from others in the Nexus about them. Would you mind telling me more?"

She digs out another book, flipping it open to another blank page.

If she says she's a capable fighter, Shiro has no reason to doubt her. He knows people like that, even people who don't seem so at first, like her. His friends, no, his, well, more like almost adopted family, sort of. Yes, like family.

And so, he has no reason to doubt this young woman can fight, if she wants to.

Curious, hm? He knows people like that, too.

"I'm afraid I'm not a very interesting research subject-"

Suddenly, he winces, as he says that, and he trails off. He's silent for a moment.

He shakes his head, still seeming suddenly distraught, then says, "I'm fine. Right, aliens. I can tell you. There's an evil Galra Empire, and - well, what do you want to know? Unless you just want a whole story."

She pondered for a moment as she flipped to another new page in her book.

"I suppose just start from the beginning. A little context couldn't hurt."

Shiro stares at her for a moment.

However, if she wants to hear the story, what's wrong with that? It can't hurt. And Tielle's free to walk away or tell him she's no longer curious at any second, after all.

So, the question is, why not? Shiro might as well talk.

"I won't take at beginning literally, or we'd be here all day. I won't start with me enrolling in Galaxy Garrison, unless you want me to."

"Suffice it to say, I'm from Earth. My crew, including me, where exploring Kerberos, a moon of Pluto. When suddenly, hostile aliens arrived out of the blue and attacked us. I heard them say something about some Zarkon, and that was it."

Shiro sighs.

"When we woke up, we were prisoners. Gladiators, at that; we were made to fight various aliens in the arena. Mainly the Galra."

"Right, I didn't clarify. Those aliens. Galra Empire. Ruled by Emperor Zarkon and his witch, Haggar."

"Haggar... when I met her much later, I don't know if for the first time or not, she said I could be their greatest weapon. I still don't know why. She was probably just trying to mess with me."

He frowns, and rubs his head.

"Back to the Arena. To tell the truth, I don't remember a lot. I've only remembered bits and pieces. Things that mattered later. More than enough, really. I fought in the arena. A lot."

"A year later, I managed to escape. Back to Earth. With the help of a Galra rebellion organisation. I owe them my life. I-"

"Back on Eath, the Galaxy Garrison couldn't believe me. Put me in quarantine. I couldn't... There was no time, the Galra Empire was about to attack Earth. For some weapon called Voltron. I still don't remember how I had learnt of Voltron. I might never remember."

"My friend, Keith, and three other Garrison students broke me out. We found a piece of Voltron and left Earth. If you imagine we had any kind of plan, perish the thought. Only Voltron had plan. Yes, the weapon is sentient, in a way. Five robotic lions who can mentally link with people."

"The Blue Lion, first one we found, flew us to his home. Here's where it all really begins. Remember what I said about rebellion? The five of us, and others, would soon become a rebellion against the whole Galra Empire, you could say. But first, we found the Castle of Lions and met a princess."

"I still remember. That's a relief."

"It sounds like you've been through a lot then... I certainly know what it's like to be on the run from my enemies. The things you're forced to give up, you can't really put a price on that, I'm sure."

She gazes over at his arm again.

"And this rebellion..."

Her voice trails off a bit, debating on how far she should push the subject. She can already tell Shiro seems a bit on edge reliving the ordeal, and as eager as she is to learn more, she isn't completely heartless.

"Is the fight still ongoing, or was everything resolves prior to your stumbling into the Nexus?"

He nods at that. Sounds as if she's been through some ordeals, too. Shiro won't ask.

"It's still ongoing. However, we are beginning to win. Or, you could day there's been a breakthrough. It seems so, at least."

"When this war is over, I'll get my team, all of them, back home. Whatever it takes."

He promised.

"And then, who knows? We might visit Nexus again someday. Vacations."

She sighed, a bit sympathetic to his plight.

"At least things are looking up for you. There's still hope at least, that's the most important thing."

She makes a few more notes before closing her book and tucking it away.

"Cling to that hope as long as you can. Believe me, it's not something you want to lose..."

Her voice trails off again, now more lost in her own thoughts and memories. Her eyes dart downward for a moment, a sullen half-frown crossing her face before she pulls herself back to reality.

"I'm sorry, I got a bit distracted... I suppose I should share a bit more about myself, it's only fair. Anything you'd like to know in particular?"

"What are you?"

Shiro blinks. That's, was that what he wanted to ask? If it was, why was it so sudden? His head hurts a little. All of a sudden. Even though it wasn't, not anymore. Things are off again? Aka. As usual? Still, there's nothing wrong with that question. So he lets it linger.

Edited 2020-06-02 20:51 (UTC)

She smiled a bit, prominently revealing one of her fangs.

"I'm a vampire. I could go into more detail if you'd like if you're not familiar with the concept."

She said this more in earnest, realizing from past encounters in the Nexus that not everyone here has encountered or even heard of vampires before.

"And before you start to panic, don't worry, I don't bite... I mean unless you're into that sort of thing."

She giggled a bit before pulling out the small case of vials again from under the bed.

"I've got a bit of a stockpile still leftover from my last visit here, and I had a deal with the clinic that kept me well supplied. That reminds me, I'll have to pay them a visit again and let them know I'm back in town."

She relaxed a bit, trying to keep the conversation as light as possible. Not many were very accepting of her nature, but in spite of this being blunt rather than hiding things worked out for the best last time she was in the Nexus.

"Was that all you wanted to know or was there more?"

"I've suspected that you might be a vampire from the beginning, and thought it'd be rude to ask, especially if vampire isn't a good word, or - well, I just don't know."

"Don't tell anyone, but, I don't know why I've asked. I really don't know. Something's wrong with me, sometimes. I - I should do something about that, but I just don't know what. I don't want to worry my friends. I'm sure you understand."

"Stockpile? Huh. As long as it's not from killed people."

Now that was rude, probably, unintentionally, but that was all him, since they're now talking about the subject anyway.

She chuckles a bit at his awkward backpedaling holding up a hand motioning for him to stop.

“You’re fine. Most people I met from home only sought me out to kill me, well with one exception....”

She pauses again, this time lost in thought just long enough to notice.

“As long as you’re not trying to kill me, you’re fine. Besides, I prefer getting right to the point. Whenever the clinic would run blood drives they’d set aside a few cases of samples for me in exchange for volunteer work. The irony of drawing blood without using these...”

She gave her fang a light tap with her fingernail.

“... certainly wasn’t lost on those who knew me.”

Truth is, Shiro honestly has no idea why he asked what she is.

However, since he's forgiven for that, there's no reason to wonder, now, is there? If he wasn't forgiven, then he might spend time wondering, or trying to find reasons, deeper, but, now, no need for it. Isn't that how it is? He's pretty sure.

"I can imagine."

He smiles, a little hesitant, but genuine.

"Yeah, people constantly trying to kill you gets pretty tiring. At some point you begin to wonder if you'll live to see the day when they stop trying. Some patience's necessary, when it comes to that."

"And exceptions like that make everything better."

No matter who is that exception of hers.

Edited 2020-06-04 10:58 (UTC)

Letting out a sigh, she falls back onto the bed, sprawling out.

"That they do..."

She closes her eyes, simply laying there for a bit in silence. The silence lingers a bit, almost awkwardly so before she speaks up again.

"Do you have anyone special back home... a wife, fiance, someone you're just casually dating?"

Shiro smiles softly.

"I have friends. My team. In the war, but, it's not like we won't still be friends after the war ends, I know we will. They're like brothers and sisters to me. Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and Coran. And now also Lotor, I suppose."

"As for anyone special, I... I had a fiance. We love each other, still, I'm almost sure. But we broke up. Adam just didn't want me risking my life and couldn't accept that I continued doing so. Nevermind..."

Edited 2020-06-05 08:35 (UTC)

"At least you're still close... and they're still alive..."

Her eyes darted downward for a moment as she let out a sigh.

"You have a lot to fight for. Don't take that for granted."

She gives him a reassuring smile, lightly patting him on the shoulder.

"Gives you something to look forward to once that war is over."

"That's true. Thank you."

"A lot's changed since then, and I can fill you in on a bit of it. What caused the shambles?" Kinner knows about the winter, and he was told about a few other things during his time in the Nexus, but he wasn't there for the chaos god or the invasion that he was told about. "Last time there was somethin' like you're describing, the PINpoints froze and a gang of space pirates showed up. Dunno if you were there for that. "

The little cook doesn't recognize this woman, but he could have forgotten about or simply never met her. This could be a chance to learn a little more about Nexus history. There's a lot that happened before Kinner arrived. He's a bit curious about the past, even if it is frightening.

"I'm Joseph Kinner. Nice to meet you."

"Tielle, it's a pleasure."

She extended her hand towards him, giving an eloquent yet firm handshake.

"I first arrived just after the invasion by some chaos god, when the Nexus was still in complete ruin. I mostly helped with rebuilding, volunteering at the clinic, and handling blood donations."

She chuckled a bit at the irony before moving on.

"I found a way to return back home a short time after the Nexus was mostly back to normal, or normal relative to this place. I had family business to tend to, but now that everyone is safe back home I figured now would be a great time for a vacation."

She smiled at him, shrugging.

"So I take it things haven't been completely without incident by the way you're describing things. Hopefully, this slight lull in the chaos lasts a bit longer than last I was here."

"I'm a cook. I run a fish stand in the Plaza. You're welcome to stop by any time."

Kinner took her hand and shook it warmly.

"It's been quiet since the winter before last. Reynard was especially hard on us that year. The pirates are still around - turned out to be old enemies of Blaze's people, if you know her. They live out in the Wilds now. We made a deal with their boss. We leave them alone, they leave us alone. So they hopefully won't be an issue anymore."

From the tone of his voice, he's less sure than he wants to sound.

"But it's been pretty quiet since then. The good kind of Nexus chaos. Wasn't there for the chaos god, but I had to learn the hard way that the Nexus ain't always nice. Figure that ain't unusual. It seems that way until it isn't. But hopefully it'll stay peaceful for a while. If you don't mind me askin', what happened with this chaos god?"

He was told a little about this, so he can't help but be a little curious. There's a lot of Nexus history he wasn't there for.

"Figure that must've been pretty scary."

"Sadly I don't know much about what started it all. I ended up dropping in during the aftermath. The place was in shambles, many were wounded, and the clinic barely had enough staff to keep up with things. Rogers organized the cleanup crew to rebuild the place while a few others tended to the wounded at the clinic. The place was a bit of a mess, but we all banded together to patch things up somewhat. It was certainly the worst shape I'd seen it here though."

She pulled a case out from under the bed, fetching a small vial crimson vial from it before scooting the case back. Downing the vial, she put it aside before continuing.

"It was more disheartening than scary, or at least from what I saw. Had I been there for the invasion itself perhaps things would have fared better."

"If you know Caspar, he was the one who told me about it. Adia's husband. They're both still around, though I haven't seen them in a while. I need to get out more often, really."

Kinner nods grimly. He's seen the Nexus turn on the people living there before. He wonders how much of it was Reynard and how much was the Nexus itself. Kinner doesn't trust the Nexus the way he used to.

"We bounced back from the winter pretty quickly. The pirates had the run of the place, hit the library pretty hard, but we replaced what they stole. On the other hand, they killed people, and it's harder for me to forgive that. We learned a bit about them after. They aren't nice people, but they have their own issues."

He remembers what he was told about Thanos and what happened in that universe, how good friends came back devastated while others were missing outright.

"We lost a few more folks later. There's a monster named Thanos who wiped out half of all living things in the universe he lived in. Captain Rogers - the one from the PSA - died fighting Thanos in his world, I think. Thanos is gone and the damage he did was undone, but he took a lot of good people with him."

Her face drooped a little at the mention of Captain Rogers.

"He...was a good man. I've seen stranger things than this place bringing people back from the dead, so I certainly hope that applied to Rogers as well."

She let out a sigh, shaking her head.

"Or perhaps some alternate version of him... though at least the Nexus has been relatively unharmed since I was here last."

Kinner liked Captain Rogers, from what he saw of him.

"I've heard of people coming back, but only a couple cases. Blaze and Nike were killed when we were fighting the pirates, but they came back to life later. I honestly didn't know people died here."

No, Kinner doesn't really know how it works, either.

"Yeah. It's been pretty quiet lately. New people came in, though I haven't met too many of the new folks. You might get lucky and bump into some of 'em. Lots of angels. And I mean a lot of angels."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Returning From the Ether

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

Re: 2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject