You know honestly I can't say I expected this

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet hisses a creative curseword, and slams the door shut, and reaches for her magic. The door to the building she's hiding in becomes to all appearances an ordinary wall. It'll take her pursuers time to find it - none of their arcanists are any good at crystal craft, from what she can tell. It won't buy her enough time, but it'll buy her some, and every second counts.

She starts trying to patch herself up while she looks for an escape route they're not covering. Blood craft's not her best, but she's gotten a lot of practice at it, lately. Enough to stop herself from bleeding out from the wound in her side (because of course it's deep) and keep herself from collapsing from exhaustion. Too slow - one of these days it'll kill her.

But not yet, she thinks, as she spots a window to an alley. Out go her magic senses - no one's alive and breathing in that alley but a cat rummaging through the garbage.

She dumps an illusion over the alley, to appear exactly as it was before she entered it. She can't get the cat right in a rush, but she doesn't need this to hold out for very long. Just long enough to get away. Song disguises the sound of the window opening and her scrambling out of it. She's conscientious enough to close it behind her. Easier than another illusion. Maybe they won't notice the blood.

Which way? Mm. One that way, two to her left, three are - oh look they found the door, she needs to hurry. She takes a right, and runs.

And comes face to face with - a snake? With a mirror for a head? What, how in the -

It's very fast. She was not expecting it. She didn't even sense it, like it appeared from nowhere, she raises her knife but she's not fast enough -

And then there is darkness.

Darkness and pain.

She'd scream, but the air's sucked out of her lungs in a whoosh. She snaps her mouth shut and flails, lashing out with something, anything - but she feels nothing around her. Nothing at all. Not even air. It's like a pressure, on all of her, but instead of pressing in it's pulling out -

Is this how she's going to die? Some Ministry snake monster thing?

Not. Likely.

She isn't the best at blood craft, but she knows enough to keep herself alive. She knows enough to snap her eyes shut and cover her nose and mouth and push magic at herself so her body doesn't shut down. It's hard - there's so much to monitor, she has no air... But she can keep herself alive. If she doesn't move and she focuses near entirely on self preservation. For - for a little while, anyway. Not forever.

Time crunch, then. Well. She was always good at those.

Her lesser crafts won't do her any good here. No way to make sound with song, no air to ignite in fire with heat, no time for aura anything, nothing to move and change with breath. Forget stone and metal, even when she's not in a crisis she's awful with both, not to mention there's nothing around for either.

But she is good at crystal, and crystal deals in light.

If she's not the brightest fucking beacon the world has ever seen, it won't be for lack of trying.

Maybe someone will find her. Or maybe she'll blind the bastards who put her here. Either way, it won't hurt to try.

Comments

[warpfairy]

I don't think I can take you home.

[poll_the_stars]

Not anything you recognize? she wonders.

[warpfairy]

No, I grew up on the planet matching those celestial objects, and it is not known for having elves or magic.

[poll_the_stars]

Oh.





I think I am very far from home.

[warpfairy]

I think so too. I'm sorry.

[poll_the_stars]

It's. It's okay. But I think I need to sit down now, excuse me.

She sits down now.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Unfortunately this has broken the telepathy touch, but sitting down is immensely important.

[warpfairy]

The not-elf, who has forgotten to introduce herself, goes back and sits in her chair, leaving Inavet to process this.

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet takes a minute. It is a long minute.

She has friends. Family. Work that was being done. A - she hesitates to call it a rebellion, a something like that. Group of people that disagreed with how the system worked and wanted it changed. Could they carry on without her? Well, yes, it's not like she was a leader in it. She could have been, but she was too valuable to go recruiting and risking herself and going outside where people could see her and recognize her. Because she could get other people magic. And she did get other people magic. They still have it.

And even without her - they have the basic instructions of the ritual, they have arcanists who could figure out how to make rituals the best for the person doing them, give them the best chance at getting the most magic possible.

(But she was careful, she picked her new arcanists carefully, leader though she wasn't she was a force for communication, for slow change, not a bloody awful rebellion where a lot of people die and new people get put in charge but mostly the system that feeds and clothes and houses people gets horribly broken. What will happen without her there? Will all her nightmares come to life?)

She doesn't know.

But she can't dwell. Not now, she can hash out her feelings on the subject later when she's in private, but right now - no. No dwelling. Dwelling lies possible madness.

"... Okay," she says. She motions to her head. "Telepathy."

[warpfairy]

The air prompts the not-elf, who comes back over to Inavet. Hand, face.

[poll_the_stars]

Right, so - how does this place work, is there a - I don't know what one does with strange members of a species from another... Something. Not world. Dimension? What happens now?

[warpfairy]

The computer can continue learning your language - I can help it with the abstract concepts, since you're comfortable with the telepathy. And then you can get computer translation anywhere in the Federation with modern computing equipment. We've got a very good social safety net, basic necessities are effectively free, you won't be going without food or shelter or anything unless you find the Federation not to your liking and go somewhere else.

[poll_the_stars]

I can learn languages reasonably quickly if you do something similar to this device and put words to concepts. Magic, she volunteers. Is there something in the Federation I would find not to my liking?

[warpfairy]

I like it for the most part, but no things are universally popular and it won't try to keep you if you don't care to stay. I'll set up the device to teach English for you if you like.

[poll_the_stars]

That's a very diplomatic answer, but she doesn't know this person well enough to put it in context. She drops the subject.

That would be great, thank you.

[warpfairy]

The not-elf interacts with the device. It wants your name - oh, I'm Isabella T'Mir, by the way. Whichever's easier to pronounce of those is fine.

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet, she clarifies. Nice to meet you, Isabella.

[warpfairy]

I only wish it didn't come at such an unfortunate cost to you. Isabella tells the device some more things, and then hands it back. The device attempts to teach Inavet all the words it has learned of her own language, in English. It's adaptive; it'll speed up and stop repeating things if you get them consistently right.

[poll_the_stars]

Well, it's better than being dead, she points out. Which is where I would be if I hadn't met you.

Is she an optimist? She might be an optimist.

She starts speaking words in English.

Once told, she gets them right consistently.

[warpfairy]

The program quickly walks her through all the words it can directly translate and then starts gently introducing grammar and new vocabulary and the alphabet.

[poll_the_stars]

The alphabet she can also memorize through somewhat cheaty song magic, and vocabulary is the same, but grammar's what's giving her trouble. Well, she'll cope.

[warpfairy]

It is well within this program's abilities to determine that she is better at some things than others and adjust in response.

I'm here to help if you get stuck, Isabella says, and she goes off to do whatever she does all day.

[poll_the_stars]

"Thanks!" she calls in English, and then: language.

Eventually, though, she needs to sleep. Possibly also tp eat. She goes to solicit Isabella for where to retrieve food for the latter, and where to do the former.

"Food?" she asks. "Bed?"

[warpfairy]

"Yes." Isabella goes and gets them both some food, and then shows Inavet to a neatly made bed that is probably usually Isabella's own. "Sleep well."

[poll_the_stars]

"Thank you."

Food, and then there is sleep. Flop!

She stays awake for a little while, staring at the ceiling and wondering who will notice she's gone first and how they'll react. There are so many options. Will anyone hold a funeral for a woman who's still alive? Well. She wouldn't be the first one. Eventually she runs out of scenarios and falls asleep.

[warpfairy]

Isabella does not wake her.