#mage'

-

Fia materialized into a dark purple room where two others were waiting: Zin, the Knight of Void, hair straightened and tied into a ponytail; and another, whom Fia did not recognize, whose afro looked soft enough to use as a pillow. The three of them were in a tower on Derse that overlooked the city.

"Look who got all dolled up for the occasion," said Zin, casting a glance at Fia from the windowsill she crouched on. "You don't have to get pretty for me, haha!"

Fia blushed a deep red. She tried to bite her lip but the Emperor stretched open her mouth instead, saying, "You are a vain and pathetic creature."

Hands tightening into fists, Zin took a deep breath and turned to Fia. 

Fia covered her mouth with her hands. She shut her eyes and shook her head. 

Zin rolled her eyes, looking back to the window. "None of us want your input, Emperor."

The third person spoke for the first time. "What the hell is going on between you two? Who's the Emperor?"

Zin and Fia both hesitated.

"Fia, you speak French up in Canadia, right? This is Mal," said Zin, gesturing. "She ain't bad, even though her name literally translates to E-VIL." 

Mal laughed. "Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you, Fia." 

Hands still covering her mouth, Fia nodded.

"So, what exactly are you looking for again?" said Mal, walking over to the window to join Zin.

Zin shuffled over to let Mal get a look. "Just a delivery. You caught up on the deal so far?"

Mal shook her head.

"Okay. Basically, we're gonna complete one of the sessions. All we gotta do is kill the Black King and Queen. No idea who thought of it but if we can jack the ring from the Queen, we can prototype ourselves and become strong as hell. Then the fight will be easy as balls. All we gotta do is get into this palace...

"...So what we got now is a big pillow shipment coming in. The Dersites doing the delivery have been "fixed" so they won't even notice us. So yeah, the delivery is headed straight for the royal palace. We should be able to get to the queen's place without a mess..."

While Zin filled in Mal with the situation, Fia closed her eyes and inhaled. She sent out the Emperor's spirit to assess Mal.

"Mal is literally drenched in death," murmured the Emperor. "She seems nice enough, likes watching people in pain, though... if she finds out about me, do not expect her to be as understanding as Zin-- open your eyes, imbecile! You are being addressed!"

Fia opened her eyes and saw Mal staring back.

"Welcome back," said Zin, still scanning outside.

Mal looked concerned. "Fia, are you, um, all there?" 

The Emperor opened Fia's mouth to respond but was interrupted by Zin. "Delivery time," she said. "Fia, those the right carriers?"

Closing her eyes again, Fia inhaled slowly, then exhaled and shook her head.

"Shit. You can make em the right ones though, yeah?"

"Just deal with it, wh--" Fia forced her jaw closed to silence the Emperor and inhaled again, lips pursed. She began to tremble, and sweat formed on her brow. 

With an exhale, Fia opened her eyes and gave a shaky smile. Without a word, Zin winked and dove out the window.

"Shit, could have given us some warning," said Mal, grabbing Fia's wrist, dragging her to the window and throwing the both of them outside.

The plummet sent Fia's heart into her throat. Dark buildings whistled past in a blur, and her fingernails dug into Mal's arm hard enough to draw blood. Mal shouted, "Remember you can fly on Derse! Just control your fall!" though Fia was already blacking out.

       zin smiled at fia, her undone hair splayed out across their bed.        "my heart is a moth," said fia. "it folds up when it feels you, and flutters its wings." Zin reached over and slapped Fia. "Wake up."

Fia's eyes opened with a start. They had landed right inside the moving shipment of pillows unharmed, and none of the Dersites seemed to have taken notice. "Naptime is over," said Zin. "We need you awake for this."

"You would not believe what we just dreamed of." whispered the Emperor despite Fia's clenched teeth.

"What?" asked Mal.

"Dreaming of me?" whispered Zin, winking. "Haha! Anyways, we're approaching the Bridge right now. Let's make sure everything's going right."

Eyes closed, Fia inhaled. "The Dersites at the bridge are new recruits," whispered the Emperor, "meaning they still check every shipment that comes in. Well Mal, time to show us you have some amount of worth."

Mal glared at Fia, then turned away and grit her teeth, rubbing her temples. "Misfortune to advantage. Misfortune to advantage..."

The three of them had just finished arranging themselves under the pillows when their movement slowed to a halt. "We just need to look through this shipment," said the voice of a carapace above them. "make sure nobody's sneaking anything in..."

Mal snapped her fingers as the sound of coughing erupted from somewhere. One of the carapaces was apparently having a hard time. Fia's eyes widened, sensing the heart attack.

The coughing of one carapace was interrupted by a slapping sound, presumably from another carapace. A thump, and a splash. A cracking sound, fading into silence, followed by a rumble. 

Zin raised an eyebrow at Mal.

"Just get the shipment in, hurry!" yelled a carapace outside. They lurched forward, their pace considerably enhanced.

--

The box containing the three of them was dropped in a storage room. "We'll bring it up later," said one of the carapaces. "Still have to get it through inspection." 

Zin, pulled out her spool of wire. Wirekind as a strife specibus was questioned once, but only once. "I'll take care of this one. It'll be about an hour."

"What did you bring us in for, then?" asked Mal. 

"To help us get in and out of here. But now we're here, it's time for me to show you what's up." She etched a symbol '.'.' onto the wall with her wire, then began sneaking up the flight of stairs, turning back to wink at Fia. "Don't miss me too much!"

Fia blushed and turned away, arranging the pillows around her. She got comfortable and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep again. Mal pulled out a DS and started to play. "Whatever, this is less work anyway."

-

Zin turned her ponytail to a bun before opening the door at the top of the stairs. Stray hair would not be a good idea at a time like this.

The palace was entirely purple, like the rest of Derse. Navigating the corridors was difficult when everything looked similar. This was the first time Zin had been alone in hours, and the feeling of solitude created a spark of excitement in her. Prototyping a frog had proven to be an invaluable boon to the session thanks to the Black Queen's vain refusal to wear her ring. It was apparently stored somewhere in her room, but getting there might be difficult.

Footsteps could be heard from a branch in one of the hallways. Two sets of feet. Pressing herself against the wall, Zin performed a quick blood-acceleration drill and prepared some wire.

The first carapace stepped into a loop of wire and fell straight down following the removal of her foot. Wire was excellent for cutting if used correctly.

The second carapace turned his head as soon as he noticed his companion fall, but felt a wire wrap around his neck before he could even draw his weapon. His head landed before his body did.

The first carapace, still alive, had drawn her blade and swung at the Knight of Void, hitting nothing and finding her arm wrapped in wire. 

"Wondering where the Queen's room is," said Zin, smiling at the carapace. "Help a sister out?"

The carapace pointed towards a hallway behind her with her free hand. 

"Haha, thanks!" Zin released the wire and walked down the hall, making a point of opening and closing the door at the end loudly. Crouching in the shadow of a corner, she then waited. 

Moments later, a bulky carapace entered the hall, sprinting over upon seeing blood. "Who did this?"

"I sent her down to the kitchens, but you need to alert the Queen. We'll smoke her out eventually, but the Queen needs to be informed as soon as possible."

The bulky carapace nodded and trod down the other hallway. Zin had expected to be sent in the wrong direction, but as long as the bulky one did not believe he was being followed, he would be trustworthy. Walking back to the footless carapace, who had been trying to sit up, Zin casually lashed her head off with the wire. The quieter this can be, the better.

The Derse palace was a series of complex hallways and walkways. Despite the number of carapaces that patrolled the halls, there were always shadows and blind spots that could be taken advantage of. 

Eventually, the bulky carapace sighed upon turning a corner to a hallway where two guards were stationed at either side of a large door. His usage was at an end, so with a twist of wire he was pulled back and taken care of.

This did not go unnoticed by the two guards, who in a fatal curiosity left their post to see what had just happened. They were also taken care of.

The Queen was likely unaware of the situation. Her ignorance would hopefully lead to her downfall. 

Zin entered and found an extravagant room, filled with various veils and curtains. The Queen's form could be seen sleeping on a large bed. 

Zin's search for the ring was strangely easy; the Queen, with apparently no love for the ring, had discarded it unceremoniously on a table beside a large mirror.

There was no reason to stay. The Queen's vanity would likely mean that she would never admit to her ring being stolen, and she would be unlikely to check for the ring anyway. The bulky carapace's body laying beside two dead guards should tell a believable enough story on its own.

Pulling out a stone from her pocket, Zin engraved .'.'. and waited as it began to glow. As she examined the ring in her hand, the Void reached out and wrapped around her, pulling her away from the physical world.

--

The '.'.' mark left in the shipment room glowed for a brief moment, followed by the materialization of one grinning woman and her golden ring. "Ready to get out of here?" said Zin.

Fia sat up from her slumber, rubbing her eyes with a dreamy smile. Mal held up her index finger. "Just got to save, then I'll get us out."

"You've already got a plan?" asked Zin, setting her hair back into a ponytail.

"Yeah, I found a crack in this room, actually, so it shouldn't be too bad as long as we can find a way to close this box of pillows... Why did they have the top of the box open in the first place when delivering it?"

Zin nodded her head at Fia. "We told them some bullshit about the pillows needing air." 

"Ah." Mal snapped her DS shut. "Get in here and close the lid, and start surrounding yourself with some pillows."

Climbing into the large box, Zin cut off some wire to tie the box closed. "Okay, now what?"

"You'll see." Mal snapped her fingers, the sound being accompanied by a cracking sound beneath them. With a rumble, the floor beneath the three began to tilt and shake before dropping completely.

Nothing could be seen from inside the box, but the jostling and impacts began to bruise the three even with pillows all around them. Fia's eyes were snapped tight, nearly hyperventilating and clenching her jaw. Zin's eyes were wide open, forgetting to breathe completely. Mal was laughing.

The box's movement ended in a quaking splash. "Must be in the moat," said Mal. "Let's get out of here before we get crushed by rubble."

Pushing the lid open, the three of them peer out from the box. The mess created by Mal had drawn everybody's attention. Nobody even noticed when the three of them took flight, circling the moat and escaping the palace.

Context: []

A click resonated through the Hub as the clock reached 22:00 UT. UT stands for "Universal Time", the standard measure of time at its most stable. The Mage of Time sat in the corner of the Hub on a wooden bench. Holding two mugs of tea, the Heir of Hope walked across the clock of the Hub and sat down beside the Mage.

"I got you some tea," said the Heir, raising one mug to the Mage. "I hope I remembered correctly: it's green tea you like, right?"

The Mage took the mug from the Heir and cradled it in his lap. He swallowed, staring into the mug of tea. 

"We're making really good progress in--" The Heir lowered his voice, whispering: "our translations at Base 4."

A small group of people entered the Hub from the other side of the room. They chattered noisily as the Mage watched them take seats at the other side of the clock.

The Heir gazed at the Mage, who was still fixated on the group of people across the room. "I really think we're onto something important. I think it's a clue about why our session is the way it is." Draining his cup of tea, the Heir took a deep breath. Placing his hand over the Mage's: "I know you're in one of those moods, and I'm sorry."

The Mage closed his eyes, knuckles whitening around his mug of untouched tea.

"You should drink the tea though," said the Heir. "Hopefully it helps you feel a little better?"

Between the clicks of one second: Dropping his mug, throwing his arms around the Heir, the Mage screams, "Please don't go, please don't leave me. I don't care anymore. Just stay with me." The Heir embraces the Mage, promising he'll stay right with him, that he will never leave, as a furious Bard, days from now, casts a veil over the timeline, destroys the fabric of the Void, and the session itself.

Between the clicks of one second: The Mage flies from the bench, gliding across the clock, to the group on the other side. The sharp glass on the tip of his staff whistles through the air before impacting the Bard of Void, shards exploding into the Bard's neck and head and shoulder in a thousand cuts, before reforming crystalline on the staff. A glass dagger is promptly pushed into the Mage's gut by the Knight of Rage, and the session goes dark.

A second clicked by. The Mage opened his eyes and smiled at the Heir. "I'll hopefully see you soon?"

Standing up, the Heir of Hope smiled back. "I know we'll see each other soon." He bent down and embraced the sitting Mage before turning away, crossing the clock, and leaving the Hub.