multiversal-excursions:
“Hm.” Maria’s expression shifted to amusement briefly at Beta’s declaration. She blinked as the faint shadow vanished, raising an eyebrow at it before sousing back on the task at hand.
“Yeah, we didn’t really know anyone else who was there,” Maria remarked. She bounced her one fireball in her hand, then let it hover in the air and start to circle around them. She materialized a second one moments later, and that one started to circle as well. “I mean, getting to know those people could be interesting, but that’s gonna depend on whether or not we feel like approaching each other, you know? Maybe we’ll get to know each other in the future, but for now it looks like we won’t have crossing paths anytime soon.”
Her gaze shifted the undergrowth of bushes that sat under a few trees nearby, but no tell-tale rustling met her gaze, so she left it alone and kept moving. “Yeah, it was certainly something. I don’t think I can say that I’ve seen forms entirely like yours before. Although, Sixer might have a few weirder examples. The two of us have been occasionally almost caught off-guard when extra-dimensional beings peer in on us when we’re taking portals across dimensions, but he tends to pay more attention to that than I do.”
A smirk crossed her face. “When you gain a reputation for being strange or powerful, you tend to get a lot of attention. I’m lucky that I’ve got enough of one that most decide to leave me alone, or spy from afar instead of trying to get up close.”
Beta, who shared their twin’s affinity for pretty lights, was fascinated by Maria’s revolving fireballs. The firelight made their pink markings and single pink eye appear a rosy sort of orange, in the dark.
“Comes with the territory, huh? You jump between universes, the things that live between are gonna see you. And Morph knows because they are one of those things. Or, they used to be.”
Beta had fallen behind Maria a bit. They teleported a few feet forward, back to her side on the trail. “They worry about that, like, constantly, I think. All the time, wondering if me doing this or that is going to blow whatever cover we’ve got. They coach me on ways to lay low whenever I time travel, teleport, and especially come visit you here. I don’t know what they’d do if they thought I was exploring other worlds with my portal gun the same way I do outer space in our own base universe. And I’m not, yet, but I also can’t keep waiting for them to figure out how to handle preparing me for when... when they’re not around anymore. So, I’m going to have to take some risks soon, but not right now. They can sleep sort of easy for a bit longer.” The caterpillar laughed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get into all that. I’m lucky to have the luxury of getting to prepare myself at all, aren’t I? Amos didn’t have that, and it sounds like you and Sixer didn’t really, either.”
“...How do you deal with that? A reputation? When I finally saw what I really look like tonight, it sort of hit me in full that I was going to have one whether I liked it or not, you know? It hit me how much I’m not of the planet Earth. I’m going to get sucked back in to the kind of ‘world’ Mo came from eventually no matter what I do. You’d think after tonight I’d feel, I dunno, more powerful, but honestly I feel the opposite.”
“Sorry, I don’t know if this is just going to sound like me trying to get you to make me feel better about not being as badass as you are, but-- are you really alright, Maria? With your situation? With your reputation?”
