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 Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 11:54 pm
Heat Sick (9) : The temperature is unbearable. Heatwaves have made it impossible to enjoy some of these otherwise perfect days–and they seem to be having as much of an effect on the City as they are on the people. Strange tears are appearing throughout the city, as though something has clawed right through reality. Sometimes you can’t see them, but you can feel them–and the sweet relief of a cold gust of air billowing through the crack. The rifts mostly appear transparent but if you peek in at just the right angle you might see a terrifyingly dark realm. Sometimes items vanish near these weird tears, and sometimes people do as well. Items might be found thrown across the room or across town, or not at all. Thankfully, nobody seems to disappear for long; they always wake up unconscious somewhere else. Sometimes, they don’t remember anything except for a cold breeze. Sometimes they say they were stuck in a strange, dark realm where they heard monstrous wails and saw strange little imp-like creatures scurrying around them. Thankfully, they are ejected before harm can come to them, but the realm is frigid and frightening. Doctors are saying it’s heat exhaustion and that delusions and wandering are common, so they advise staying indoors and staying hydrated.
As it was, Ekstrom couldn’t quite wrap her head around where she was and what was really happening around her.
Time seemed a lost concept inside the rift. It was cold, dark, and markedly eerie. The page could swear her eyes and ears were playing tricks on her the entire time. There was wailing unlike she’d ever heard before, constantly in the background, almost like a bad attempt at mood music inside a haunted house. And there was scurrying. What was scurrying, she had no idea; from the shadows all she could tell was the creatures were small and obviously strange. There was just something off about the shadows. And whatever it was, it was always too close for comfort when it passed.
The momentum she had on her way in seemed to propel her straight on through, though, and she barely had any time to process any of what she saw or felt before another rift opened. Again.
Right on the path of her trajectory. Again.
“Oh, for the love of–”
And through the rift she went.
Again.
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 11:56 pm
The plan for the evening was simple. Step One: Clock out of work and get changed into something more comfortable than her police uniform. Step Two: Swing by the grocery store and pick up some food for the week since her fridge was looking rather empty. Step Three: Power up for a short while, length of time to be determined. Beyond that Erica had two options to decide between; either go to the hill where she had met the mysterious merchant last year with Beira and see if he still had that table of items for trade, or beat the heat and spend time on her wonder. Honestly, she was kind of leaning more towards the latter but knew she should probably at least see if he were there in case there was an item worth bargaining for that would send her to Rainier anyway as it did for Beira. The first step had been completed while the second was still in process. Her basket was mostly full when she made it to the checkout line. With how late it was, most lanes were closed with reduced staff in the evening hours and unfortunately, she had more than 15 items meaning she couldn’t move to the express line. Stuck waiting patiently behind a mother with her two kids and a cart overflowing with food, Erica picked up one of the magazines and fanned through the pages mostly looking at photos rather than reading the gossip written on the pages. Eventually, it was her turn and the cashier greeted her warmly. They chatted briefly and after she paid for everything, Erica picked up the two paper bags from the end of the register and made her way out into the parking garage.
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 11:58 pm
It was mixed feelings of relief and dread as she saw Destiny City from just beyond the rift that opened. There was nothing in her that wanted to stop, only because she knew that if she missed this rift, who knew when one would open up again and she’d be stuck in this hellish place for an unknown length of time. So the relief was stemming from that–hope for escape.
The dread, though, was a bit delayed, only because the initial glimpse of DC was just that–of DC. Moments later, though, a figure stepped into view, and it was at that point that Ekstrom’s eyes went wide.
There was no stopping the collision that was to come, and from the looks of it, it didn’t seem like the civilian had any idea that she was about to get hit. Granted she was human–essentially, anyway; having some “magical properties” probably didn’t make her an alien, after all–but still. At the speed she was going, this wasn’t going to be pleasant.
It was just as she stepped through the rift and was freshly blasted with the heat that was this year’s hellish summer in the city, that she actually recognized who it was.
And because she knew who it was, the words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them.
”Erica!” she cried just as the rift closed behind her and she felt one final gust of cold air on her back. She was still moving at full speed, and looking extremely apologetic about it. There was just absolutely nothing she could do to stop in time, or really much of anything to lessen the impact–she was right in front of her.
“I’m really, really sorry!”
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 11:59 pm
For one reason or another, even though the keyfob was in her pocket when Erica tried to open the trunk it wouldn’t unlock. For a moment she thought that she might be standing behind the wrong car but a quick glance at the license plate revealed that no, this was definitely her vehicle. “Are you kidding me?” Erica groaned realizing that the battery must have died on her. “I don’t have time for this…”One bag was set on the back of her car as she fished for the set of keys and tried pushing the button. “Oh thank god,” she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the car beep and all doors unlock. However, while she was trying to shove the keys in her back pocket, Erica remained unaware of a rift forming next to her until a cool breeze brushed past her. “What the-” she began to say when the temperature suddenly dropped, almost like she’d been standing in the freezer aisle and opened one of the doors to grab a frozen pizza or pint of ice cream. But what was even more strange, if not alarming, was the sound of someone from the other side of the tear yelling ‘ I’m really, really sorry!’.That was, unfortunately, the only warning she got before a figure appeared wearing a pastel blue outfit with white fur trim; clearly not suitable for this weather. “Oh shi-” Too surprised to move, Erica hadn’t enough time to set her other bag down before the woman stepped through the rift and slammed right into her. The impact felt like getting run over by someone on a bicycle. Erica’s eyes squeezed shut in anticipation of hitting concrete as she felt herself falling backward. However, the sensation of rocks bitting and scrapping her skin never came as a second rift opened beneath them, and the two disappeared from the parking lot leaving only a bag of groceries on the back of an unlocked car and in her panicked mind the only thing she could think of is that someone better not break into it or steal her things.
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:00 am
Not that they were particularly close–they were work friends, so not exactly the same as friends-friends (and in her mind, that made sense)–but given she’d likely just knocked the wind out of her, Ekstrom couldn’t help but try and wrap her arms around Erica pretty much on impact to try and shield her from their crash landing to the concrete…
Which never came.
She felt the by-now familiar cold breeze blow past the two of them as they toppled over and through another rift, and the next round of expletives that tumbled out of her mouth were quickly lost to any DC residents within earshot. The ground they crashed into seemed to be a barren wasteland in pitch black darkness. Familiar to her, new to her friend.
Work friend.
Whatever.
The thud that punctuated their arrival elicited a groan out of her, and despite landing on some kind of cushion her…everything…hurt. She forced herself to roll over, if only to get off of Erica because that must have seriously sucked, and was reeling from her travels apparently through space and time. It was lucky her stomach was empty, else she might have been a lot more nauseated by the trip than she was.
Eventually, though, she glanced over and nudged her friend with her elbow. “Sorry for hitting you, thank you for softening my landing, but then sorry again for landing on you,” she said, counting on her hands to make sure she had it right. It was a long 30-second interaction.
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:01 am
Erica remained where she lay, one arm stretched out to the side while the other still hugged the paper bag of groceries which was torn and wet in a few places from the fresh produce that had gotten smushed between them. What made matters worse was the fresh loaf of bread had tumbled out of the bag beside her head and in her peripheral Erica could see that the middle was completely flat. “It’s fine,” she held a hand up to prevent further debate on the topic. Poor girl had already apologized twice before anything had happened and twice more now that they’d stopped falling. “I’m ok,” she lied a bit. Nothing was broken, but there would definitely be a bruise, or five, come morning. “Do you sense any aura’s here?” Erica asked after hearing some strange wailing sound in the distance, revealing that she knew the woman was powered.
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:02 am
Ekstrom slowly sat up as well, eyes falling to her friend who…didn’t seem to recognize her? It occurred to her a bit late that she wasn’t exactly herself, so that made sense once she realized, and while she turned that thought over in her mind she opened her mouth to protest the very quick way she accepted her apologies. It wasn’t a dismissal, she knew, but she still felt horrible about putting her through all of that…and she wanted to do something to make up for it.
Not that constantly apologizing would change anything, but maybe if she offered to cover her lunch for the next week it would soften the blow of her lost groceries.
Ekstrom eyed the bag she was clutching and fought the urge to apologize yet again.
”I’ve got some ibuprofen and water if you need something to help with any kind of pain right now,” she offered. She kept a first aid kit in her subspace, just in case, for this exact reason. She was about to pull the mentioned items out when her second question came, and it gave her pause. Looking up, she eyed Erica curiously before shaking her head.
”Nope, just me, but let’s back up a second. How do you know about auras?”
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:03 am
At the offer of medicine, Erica nodded. “The reason I know about auras is the same reason I know you’re a Knight of Mercury,” rank was unknown at the moment but if the frying pan was any indication she was willing to hazard a guess that the young woman was still a Page. “If you don’t sense anything then it should be safe enough to show you.” Erica rose to her feet after setting the bag aside and brushed the dirt off her clothes. With no more than a thought, she powered up. Her civilian clothes changed into her powered uniform which had matching symbols and fur-trimmed; black where the Page’s was white but still an indication that they were both knights of the same planet. “My name’s Rainier,” she reached a hand out to the Page to help her to her feet.
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:03 am
Ekstrom blinked, clearly dumbfounded by the information just presented to her. Being a knight alone was something on its own, but combined with the fact that this was a work friend...
She could have been hashing out knight things with someone so close for how long?!
"Ekstrom," the page replied as she took the offered hand with a huge grin. On the way up, though, she dismissed her weapon and was just Mel as soon as she was on her feet. "But Mel when we're at the office." She was beaming by then, excitement, amusement, and curiosity shining in her icy blue eyes. Oh, she had questions, though there wasn't any time for that just yet.
The rift seemed not to tolerate the swap in energies, or maybe it was just sick of them, or maybe whatever diety was running this place thought it was time to make some room for two other poor souls. Whatever the reason, a rift began to open up beneath them just as she was opening her mouth.
Rather than say something, though, she wound up screaming instead, as she fell through the opening first.
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Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:04 am
That makes so much more sense... I thought I heard someone say my name. Rainier shook her head and smirked as she knelt to pick up what grocery items were still salvageable and stow them away in her subspace pocket. Among the items, however, was a star charm which was odd since there was nobody else around. But that didn’t mean someone hadn’t passed through here earlier. Might as well take it too, leave what food was too damaged to eat behind for whatever was making those whaling sounds until they could find a way out of there. “I’m actually not sur-” The sound of Mel suddenly screaming. By the time Rainier looked up, her co-worker was no longer beside her. Where she stood was another tear, similar to the one that spat them out in this strange dark realm. Abandoning the produce, she rushed over and through the rift and saw water below. “At least it’ll be a softer landing,” she commented before taking a deep breath and jumping in, hoping she didn’t land on Mel by mistake since she couldn’t see or hear her.
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