A take of the Anziek war from the perspective of an Intergalactic Grand Admiral.
Sophia "Archon" Craft, Grand Admiral of a federation of three war-torn races, Hierarch of the enigmatic and psionic Firstborn also known as the Protoss, Overqueen of the Zerg Swarm, and Empress of the faction of humanity that their homeworld exiled long ago, was exploring one of the many versions of Equus when the world was beset upon by a mysterious reptile-like race in great numbers. Sophia underestimated their numbers and the world paid the price for that mistake. The Grand Admiral must now find powerful warriors like herself in order to effectively counter the Anziek threat.
This story is part of a collaboration between redsopine, Arceaion and other writers like myself.
“Ah, the simple pleasures in life,” said a woman as she sat in a chair that she warped in from her command starship.
On the surface of a world inhabited by colorful talking ponies and other creatures that originally only existed in human imagination, a blue-furred rabbit girl sat in a chair and drank raspberry mint tea. While she could drink just about anything without consequence, including poison or acid, she had a particular fondness for sweet drinks.
The woman wore a blue military jacket with long sleeves and went down to her midriff. Underneath the jacket was a black form-sitting skinsuit that covered everything except her head, hands and feet. A pair of white gloves fit over her hands. Her blue skirt covered her thighs and her black boots were reinforced with experimental living metal, painted to fit the boots' design.
Sophia, Grand Admiral of the Starcraft Intergalactic Federation, Hierarch of one of the first races to achieve sentience in the cosmos, known as the Protoss, and Overqueen of the innumerable Swarm, the macro species known as the Zerg, witnessed the battle unfold between her forces and a race of mysterious reptile-like creatures.
While she felt like she could handle the creatures herself, what gave her pause was a powerful psionic signature that would give her no end of trouble.
Knowing the presence of the being, she decided to learn more about the creatures who accompanied him instead of rushing in. To that end, she summoned her Zerg from an underground colony to do battle with them.
While the lizards appeared able to handle a decent number of Zerg at a time, the small squads that they travelled in were soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of Zerglings.
“They appear quite strong on an individual level, but even they have a limit to how many they can take on at a time,” Sophia thought.
“My Queen, some of the lizard men appear to be breaking off from the main group. They appear intent on raiding the nearby villages,” said Zagara, Prime Broodmother of the Swarm, through the hivemind.
“Annoying little gnats,” Sophia mumbled. “Send the Nydus Worms after them, no one gets a free pass off the battlefield,” she commanded through the hivemind.
“As you command.”
She prepared to activate the communicator to get in touch with her stealth force that had just reported back.
However, her senses picked up on a weak psionic signature from behind her. She frowned, “Rude...”
Extending a finger and pointing in the direction of the signature, her finger became hard and chitinous before it extended a long distance in a matter of seconds. A feeling of resistance told her that she hit her target.
Turning around, she saw one of the lizard men impaled on her extended finger. Her frown disappeared and she gave the dying lizard man a sultry look.
“What have we here? Have you come to volunteer your essence to the Swarm?”
The creature used the remainder of its energy to point its weapon at Sophia. She wasn’t having that so she instantly appeared behind the creature and jabbed it in the back of the head with two fingers, releasing a small wave of psionic energy into the creature’s medulla which caused it to drop its weapon and grab its neck in a desperate attempt to breathe, but it was all in vain as the creature suffocated to death.
“Naughty, naughty…” Sophia admonished the dead lizard.
Sophia poured herself another cup of tea while she got her appetite ready. With ravenous fervor, she tore the flesh from and devoured the lizard while her body began to examine the creature’s DNA for anything useful.
Once her body had finished analyzing the lizard, she learned of some interesting things. For one, the creatures were capable of magic but that trait was rare as it was an atrophied trait most of the time. Sophia also learned how the creatures reproduced and there was a trait for increased physical maturity rates and one for extremely durable skin. Those could prove useful. There was also a genetic trait that overwrote the contributing factors of one genetic donor with that of the lizard’s.
She would have to experiment at some point on the effectiveness of the Zerg Virus against their genetics. They could prove to be valuable test subjects to help her learn where to improve her virus.
In the meantime, she returned to the communication crystal. The image of a tall female alien who had no facial features whatsoever and her head was around one and a half feet long.
“Vorazun, what is your report?” Sophia requested.
“It is difficult to make out what technology they are capable of. We could not discern the level of craftsmanship as their technology was of many different styles.”
“I see, so either their designers cannot agree on one design or they have a habit of pilfering from other cultures. Anything else to report?”
“While my brethren were able to infiltrate their ranks, some were discovered when one of their higher ranked officers was able to detect their presence. They fought to the bitter end.”
Sophia solemnly nodded, not needing to say anymore as the two shared a moment of silence for their fallen comrades.
“Do you have the reports from Tosh and Nova?”
“Yes, and it’s not good. The creatures are numerous and the standing forces from your hive will not be enough to repel them from this world.”
“Damn, these things are turning into a real nuisance,” Sophia grumbled to herself. “Have the denizens been evacuated to the flagship?”
“Only the ones who have not chosen to stay back and fight.”
“Are they informed of the situation?”
“Yes Hierarch, they are prepared to fall with this world.”
“I see, I shall not deny them their final requests. How are the enemy numbers?”
“From the report, there were hundreds of millions of them. Those numbers have likely increased since then.”
“Thank you, Matriarch Vorazun.”
“Do you have a plan, Hierarch?”
Sophia closed her eyes for a moment as she considered her options. With the enemy numbers showing no signs of plateauing anytime soon, the situation was turning into a repeat of the Nerazim homeworld of Shakuras. The tribe of Dark Templar still mourn the loss of their home after they had to destroy it to deal a significant blow to the feral Zerg controlled by the fallen Xel’naga, Amon.
She may have no choice but to repeat the same tragedy for this world as well.
"I hate to order this, but we are likely going to repeat the Shakuras incident."
Vorazun said nothing for a moment as her mind attempted to regain the composure it lost from her Hierarch's suggestion. Once she regained control of her emotions, she simply nodded, "Understood." The transmission ended.
“I have obtained all of the data that I could from this battle,” said a deep, masculine and cultured voice from behind the Admiral. Sophia already knew he was there as it was nearly impossible to conceal one’s mental signature without being completely brain dead. “I will analyze the data once we are off this doomed slab of a planet.”
Sophia turned around to acknowledge the voice behind her. The voice belonged to a male anthropomorphic rabbit who was fond of wearing a Victorian Era suit with a monocle. Her nephew, Ingram, while a cultured person and one of the most brilliant inventors around, had a mind that worked like a supercomputer. He had enhanced his mental processing power greatly using a controlled version of lycanthropy which had also improved his speed in combat to rival her own. One of his most prized inventions was a cluster of nanomachines that could transmute matter from any form.
“Head back to the flagship Ingram, my forces will be retreating shortly.”
Ingram nodded before he used his personal teleporter pinned to his jacket to head back.
Sophia sighed in resignation before she gave the order to her forces through her psionic link. “All units, this is your Admiral. We are now in full retreat. Collect everything not bolted down and burn the rest. Set the pylons to overload. Leave nothing to salvage.”
Sophia was leaving nothing to chance. She wasn’t going to risk the possibility that these lizards were capable of deep space salvage operations. Only useless scrap and depleted crystals would remain.
While her forces were retreating to the flagship, she would give the lizard people one last present before she left.
Once the non-expendable forces had fled the area, leaving the Zerg fodder to hold off the invaders before her, she unslung her personal customized rifle and activated its targeting mode. The enhancements on her rifle allowed her to target numerous areas at once.
Sophia pointed her rifle at the battlefield and painted the entire field in red light. Her alert systems let her know that numerous nuclear missiles had just been launched.
The skies above the battlefield were bathed in a blue light as a salvo of missiles emerged from the portals above. The lizard people had little time to realize what was about to happen before the area was showered in nuclear explosions that decimated the battlefield.
In the aftermath of the explosions, Sophia could sense few of the creatures remained in the area bathed in nuclear explosions. The one powerful signature remained unscathed though but Sophia expected that. She was going to need some more quality fighters like herself beside her before she could take on such a creature.
Also as expected, the explosions had also angered the powerful creature in the distance. Sophia had decided that she had worn out her welcome and teleported back to her ship.
Sophia appeared in between her ship and the doomed planet Equus in the void of space. Her personal shields and Zerg adaptations allowed her to survive in the void. She gave one last sad look at the fallen world that would soon be overrun with the lizards.
Holding her hands out with her palms facing upward, Sophia concentrated a massive amount of psionic power into her palms before the energy coalesced into a pair of blue stars, each with an energy output of an actual star. She then willed the stars to orbit each other as the two stars began to build up a massive surge of energy between them. The stars merged, the two sources of psionic energy built up to cosmic proportions and the energy output now equivalent to a supernova.
With the attack ready, Sophia focused the energy toward the planet’s surface and bathed the planet in massive amounts of psionic energy that the world began to break apart and become incinerated. The blast continued until the entire planet was charred and fragmented rocks in space.
Her grim task done, Sophia teleported to the bridge of her flagship.
On the bridge, Sophia addressed her science officer. “Do we have any information on those lizard creatures?”
“Yes ma’am, their information matches a race called the Anziek, a race of militaristic reptile-like beings with a complex that leads them to believe that they must wipe out all life in the multiverse. They are known to plunder technology from their conquered foes while using their large numbers and magical abilities to destroy entire realities.”
“I see, this multiverse cluster is in bad shape.” Sophia then thought to herself, “Good thing the damage is only limited to this multiverse. If the infestation of these Anziek reached other multiverses, ol’ Voidaren wouldn’t take kindly to that and start reaping them left and right to end their existence, giving his sister, Constellas, no end of headaches as she worked to recreate the multiverses he erased.”
Sophia was also glad that the omniverse siblings placed protections around her home multiverse to ensure that no outside influence could invade and endanger her family.
“Ma’am? Our sensors are picking up a convergence of energies from multiple universes. They seem to be meeting at one universe,” the science officer informed.
“Any info on the universe?” Sophia asked.
“It appears to be another MLP type world. There are multiple power signatures coming from it; strong ones. They don’t appear to be Anziek though.”
Sophia smirked, “This might be something interesting to look into. It’s always nice to make some friends. Ensign, set course for the convergence point.”
While Sophia’s flagship, the Aquaelie II, was on route to investigate a multiverse nexus, there were tasks that needed to be done before they arrived.
First, the evacuees needed to be cared for and relocated to another world, preferably one that was rich in the energies that the denizens were used to. Thankfully, the ship had a refugee section that housed a pocket dimension where the many species of the fallen Equus world could be stored thanks to the Protoss dimensional technology.
However, Sophia knew that even if the refugees were relocated to another planet, if the Anziek were roaming the multiverse in vast numbers, nowhere would be safe.
Hopefully her subordinates will be able to help ease the ponies and avoid a panic. Sophia did not need to deal with a bunch of panicked ponies right now.
Speaking of subordinates, two of Sophia’s best covert ops agents deactivated their stealth suits in front of her. Gabriel Tosh, a former pirate, was the leader of the Spectre class covert agents who specialized in sabotage and psionic assassinations. He appeared in his zebra form. Nova Terra, a former agent of the Dominion, was the leader of the Ghost class covert agents who specialized in intelligence gathering and sniping. She appeared in the form of a midnight blue pegasus mare with a blonde mane.
Using her nephew’s technological innovation and her mastery of genetics, Sophia and Ingram were able to create devices that were programmed with genetic templates. The devices were designed to function exclusively for the first person to touch them with their skin, automatically programming the original sequences into the device. Tosh’s device was programmed with the genetic sequences for a zebra and its anthropomorphic counterpart while Nova’s was of a pegasus and its anthropomorphic counterpart. Other sequences could be programmed into the devices should they become necessary. The devices were primarily used for the purpose of interacting with potentially xenophobic species.
...And as a fashion statement for the furry community aboard her colony ship.
For now, she needed to receive the reports from her subordinates, though she had a feeling that the headache she was anticipating had already happened.
“Report,” Sophia ordered.
Nova, being the dutiful of the two, was the first to report. “Ma’am, the refugees have been accounted for. Though some issues did occur while we were tallying the survivors.”
“Here we go…” Sophia thought as she rolled her eyes.
Tosh continued, “Some of the ponies were either really curious about de ship or nervous dat they panicked. Some even ran through a few corridors before we caught them. A certain infamous trio of troublemaking fillies didn’t make our job easy. There were also a few buzzing little black bugs who tried to sneak into restricted areas but dey could not mask themselves from our psychics, let alone the Protoss.”
Sophia pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing who that trio likely was. “Anything that requires my intervention?”
“No ma’am,” Nova answered, to Sophia’s relief. “All refugees have been rounded up and herded into the refugee room until we can find a new world for them.”
Sophia breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, I have a meeting with the family soon and I didn’t want to have to deal with that headache.” She paused for a moment, “Anything else?”
Nova shook her head, “Nothing that requires your attention, ma’am. Everything else has been sent to Ambassador Valerian for review.”
Sophia was glad to be able to delegate the day to day operations to her three ambassadors, one representing each race in the Starcraft Federation. Ever since she united the Terran Dominion, the Protoss factions and the Zerg Swarm under one banner, she had created a powerful intergalactic empire. However, running such an empire would have been tedious and boring for her in the long run, so she put the general running of the Federation in the hands of three former leaders who had the patience to sit behind a desk.
Valerian Mengsk represented the former humans who had become so put off by the United Earth Directorate after they sent a second invasion force for the sake of reclaiming what they believed to be their colonies in the name of humanity, despite the fact that the colonies were composed of the descendants of humans that Earth had discarded centuries ago, that they fought what amounted to a space reenactment of the American Revolution.
That time, however, Earth was more than ready to meet the Dominion’s forces and would have subjugated the Dominion if Sophia hadn’t intervened and personally annihilated the invasion fleets. However, this had the effect of indebting themselves to Sophia who used the invasion as an opportunity to bring the Dominion into her forming empire.
When it came to integrating the Zerg, it was a simple matter of forcing Zagara into submission. It didn’t take much effort to find Alexei Stukov. Sophia negotiated with the infested human and agreed to be her ambassador for the Zerg in exchange for her sponsoring him as he wrote and published his series of sci-fi horror stories.
The Protoss were more complicated to integrate because of their various cultures and values. The Tal’darim were the easiest as Sophia’s superior skills and psionic prowess as well as her terrifying presence whenever she was in a sadistic mood made that faction fall in line. The Daelaam took some convincing since they had no reason to join her empire. In the end, Sophia had to challenge their leaders and many of their best warriors to a duel against her with her servitude to the Daelaam if she lost. The Protoss were overconfident with their odds and greatly underestimated Sophia’s skills. The Daelaam and their leaders, badly beaten, upheld their end of the bargain and joined the Starcraft Federation.
Sophia stopped reminiscing about the formation of her intergalactic empire and entered her flagship’s family conference room. Ingram was already in his seat waiting impatiently for the meeting to begin because he wanted it to be over as soon as possible so he could return to his workshop and resume designing new inventions.
Fifteen minutes passed as Sophia monitored a panel that indicated that the other family members who would be attending were ready to begin the conference call. Ingram sat with his head on his right hand while he was drumming the desk with his left. He quickly sat at attention when the family head registered on the panel, indicating that the meeting was about to begin.
Four holographic transmission devices around the table activated to announce the other four members of the Craft family who will be attending the meeting. Four holographic representations of the family members appeared from the devices.
Kyubis, the head of the family, was a blue anthropomorphic fox with ten luxurious tails and wore a Shinto priestess outfit with blue baggy pants and carried a metal staff with the top being a large golden ring that had a figure of a fox in the center. The ring was adorned with five smaller golden rings on either side of the figure. She was also Sophia’s daughter.
Across from Kyubis was a figure that appeared as a human female with pale skin and snow white hair. The armor she wore was ebony colored while the gauntlets, boots, and her belt had a skull design on them. Other places depicted faces in agony. On her back was her rune-etched sword that had numerous sharp branches along the edges. The hilt had the design of a head impaled by swords, spears and a large dagger that also served as the blade’s handle. Thanatas appeared to be in the middle of stitching together one of her fleshy abominations while appearing to have time for the meeting.
To Thanatas’ left was a male blue anthropomorphic rabbit who appeared to be sitting behind his own desk in a business suit while displaying a posture that would make one believe that he was conducting a job interview with someone. While Sophia’s brother, Sigmund, was a successful business entrepreneur with influence in markets throughout the omniverse, his passions lie with his skills as a bounty hunter with an impressive record in capturing dangerous individuals as well as marksmanship skills that surpass his sister. He was also Ingram’s father.
Finally, across from Thanatas was her own daughter who had a slender build and was covered in a black exoskeleton that was not unlike that of a crustacean. She had crawler legs growing from her shoulders and her hair was made of purple tentacles. Periodically, slitted eyes of various colors or fanged maws would open and close all over her body either to blink or to yawn. Many members of the family found Violetta’s mentality questionable while they also questioned whether or not she was manipulating their minds or not. The eldritch horror always loved to feast on the minds of people who had completely lost themselves to madness and while she said that she would never feast on a family member’s mind, some still do not trust her to this day.
The ones attending the meeting were those who trusted Violetta to keep herself in check. Even the eldritch horror would never do anything to get her sent to the family disciplinarian. Nobody wanted to endure a session from her.
Kyubis took a deep breath before she began, “We will now begin this meeting to discuss recent events. I am glad to see that all of you could attend this meeting. It is unfortunate that many of us were unable to attend, but our duties take precedence. Sophia, you may begin your presentation.”
Sophia rose from her seat and wandered around the room to present her findings. “I was in the middle of scouting the Equestrian worlds throughout this multiverse while seeking a world that we could use as a headquarters for us while we were here. I had come across a promising candidate, one where we would need Kyubis’ diplomatic skills to establish our foothold for our exploration of the many Equestrian realities.
“Unfortunately, any plans we may have had for this world were cast to the astral winds when numerous dimensional rifts opened. Emerging from these rifts were a race of reptilian-like creatures who seemed intent on mindless destruction given their behavior. They are referred to as the Anziek. My analysis revealed that they are intelligent but seemed intent on multiversal destruction for some reason.”
Kyubis closed her eyes in thought, “Hmm, this is ill news indeed. Your use of the word ‘multiversal’ means that they may be capable of freely traveling the multiverse like we can. If that is the case, then this will not be the last time we see these creatures. What is your genetic analysis?”
“After I consumed one of them--”
“How did they taste?” Thanatas asked.
“Like chicken,” Sophia deadpanned. “Anyway...after I consumed one of them, I discovered a number of interesting traits. Their reproductive capabilities show that they are compatible with most intelligent species as well as a genetic override ability that replaces one parent’s traits with the Anziek’s traits. Effectively creating a clone of the Anziek parent. The Anziek also have a rapid maturity period, something that I plan to use for my Swarm. I could significantly reduce Ultralisk incubation periods with this trait. I also plan to make use of their armored hide traits to make my Zerg more durable.
“I also discovered that they are capable of using magic, but the trait is recessive. If my analysis of one of their lesser specimens is accurate, then while the trait exists in all of them, it is rare for the trait to be active and even more rare for one to be active and powerful. For those categorized as the latter, they could pose a challenge even for us.”
Kyubis nodded, “Thank you for the report. Ingram, what have you learned about their technology? I heard reports that they have such.”
“If you can even call it that,” Ingram snapped. “Those savages have been using technology that originated from cultures that most definitely did not come from them. I can only conclude that they had been plundering realities that they razed once they wiped out the population. A bunch of savage locusts is what they are. Sophia’s Observers revealed that they at least know their way around a forge but that’s about it. Technology plunderers are the worst kind of people I can imagine.”
Sigmund sighed in disappointment, “If these Anziek are as Ingram described, then they may be nomadic and will have no civilization of their own to speak of, which means no economy, no market, no profits to be made off of them.” He shrugged, “Oh well, if anyone posts a bounty on them on a per head basis, I wouldn’t mind getting involved in the hunt if the pay is good.” He sighed again, “Sadly, if they are as numerous as claimed, then few, if any, realities would be able to afford that kind of a bounty, unless it were the rare ones.”
Kyubis let out a sigh, “Thank you for that, Ingram and Sigmund.” She knew that the inventor’s passion for innovation was such that most of his respect went to his fellow inventors. He always viewed thieves of inventions as the worst kind of scum and of those he encountered ended up a bloodied mess somewhere. Sigmund is often motivated by money but at least when he gets paid for his bounties, the money goes to some charity since he likes to keep his business profits separate from his bounty rewards. “I would like to find a way to keep the Anziek from recovering their numbers so quickly after losing so many because if what Sophia said about their reproduction methods is true, then we need to slow their population growth as soon as we can. Any suggestions Sophia? Thanatas?”
Thanatas thought for a moment and looked at Sophia who was looking at her with a smirk, telling her that she had the same idea. “I might be able to work with Sophia in order to create a virus that could do something about their reproductive abilities or inoculate their future victims with a vaccine to prevent more Anziek from being born, but we need more samples of Anziek tissue in order to begin working on a strain that will effectively counteract this ability.”
“Very well, I will leave you two to that project. Our time for this meeting grows short and we still need to address the issue about the rare Anziek who Sophia believes may prove an issue for us. In this case, it may be prudent to seek out powerful individuals outside of our family who may provide assistance with the coming conflict. I would like for Violetta to peer into the void and search for any individuals or organizations who might be able to provide assistance.”
“Hooray! I get to be useful!” Violetta cheered. “The eyes will see all throughout the multiverse and gaze upon all, short and tall. I might even find my next meal in the process.”
Kyubis chuckled, “Just try not to eat them if they prove useful to our cause. Of course, we also count on you to protect our minds in case we run into people who try to invade our minds.”
Several of Violetta’s mouths smiled, “Of course, I always spice up my next meal by showing their frail mortal moral minds a small glimpse of what lies beyond the veil.”
“Then it’s settled, Violetta will seek out individuals while she guides Sophia towards them. If the situation calls for the assistance of one of the family then do not hesitate to call on us. Sophia will be in charge of the campaign against the Anziek so be sure to follow her orders. Is that clear?” Everyone nodded. “I will relay this to the other members. For now, continue your course and inform me of any significant changes to the situation. This meeting is adjourned.”
The holographic devices deactivated which left the room to its two remaining occupants.
Ingram rose from his chair and left the conference room to head back to his workshop. Sophia exited the room after him and stood outside the door awaiting who was coming.
She didn’t wait long as a pool of inky black liquid separated from her shadow and gathered into a circular shape. From the pool rose what appeared to be a female human with long purple hair and wearing one of her officer’s uniforms with a blue jacket and a long, blue skirt that partially concealed her boots which looked like they were writhing.
Violetta wasn’t an idiot, she knew how terrifying her true form was and was a master of illusions and plenty of ways to tamper with one’s mentality. She needed to assume a human form to get around the ship without freaking out Sophia’s troops and by association, angering the admiral.
“Alright Sophie, lead me to a place where I can get nice and comfortable so I can peer into the void, preferably a room where many of your troops visit.”
Sophia deadpanned, “You know my answer to that.”
Violetta shrugged, “Worth a shot, lead me to your darkest and most isolated room as you wish.”
“Hope you like the brig,” Sophia joked.
“My favorite place on any ship?! You really know how to spoil me,” Violetta quipped.
While Sophia joked about sending Violetta to the brig before, her companion insisted on using it anyway. The dark, empty cell of isolation had a gloomy appearance with the walls and floors lined with dark metal. It was also the best place to create a lightless environment and had a history of addling the minds of some of the prisoners who were sent there. The psychic residue of the past mentally disturbed prisoners’ despair really tied the room together. It didn’t quite feel like her home to her but it was close enough. Violetta felt like the brig could have used some bloody writing on the walls and floor but no place was perfect.
Sophia left Violetta in the cell and cut off all light sources so the eldritch horror could do her work. She didn’t wander too far from the cells since she had no way of knowing how long it would take for her companion to find anyone in the multiverse who might be a promising ally.
Thankfully, her ship’s food court was nearby and she was feeling peckish after using one of her Supernova Driver attacks to blow up one of the Equestrian worlds. She designed the food court to be near the brig because she was sometimes tempted to torment her prisoners or punish insubordinate troops with the scent of delicious food.
At the food court, Sophia made sure to load up on a lot of meaty dishes to maintain an ideal amount of biomass for her body and some potent energy drinks that would give any normal person diabetes from one sip. She needed the extra calories because she also burnt through that extra energy really fast when she was in combat.
She quickly devoured the meal that was enough for ten people and guzzled down the drinks before she returned to waiting for Violetta to finish peering into the void for anyone who might be useful in the battle against the Anziek.
It was half an hour later that Sophia was still waiting for her companion when one of her officers approached her with a look of urgency on his face. He walked up to the admiral and gave a salute to his superior.
“At ease, ensign,” Sophia ordered. The ensign relaxed his stance somewhat as his arms returned to his sides. “What do you have to report?”
“Ma’am,” the ensign began. “We just received a strange message from an unknown source and we were unable to trace the source of the message.”
Sophia raised an eyebrow. While strange messages were no surprise for her given the strange things she and her family have seen over the eons they have been around, she was curious about what the message was about and hoped that it would keep her entertained for a while if it led to something interesting.
The ensign led Sophia to the nearby communications room where the message was received. The staff was still hard at work trying to decrypt the message but when they finished the process, they believed that they had decrypted the message incorrectly so they tried again. Each time the message was the same so without any other leads, the staff put the message on display on the large screen in the back of the room. Sophia observed the staff then turned her attention to the screen once it lit up, displaying the message.
Sophia raised an eyebrow when she saw the message. Based on the wording and the context, it seemed like whoever sent the message was inviting someone to a game. Everyone stared at the screen and, with the exception of Sophia, scratched their heads from the strange message.
CoreVerse Omni-verse System [Version 1̶̫͛̓͗͘0̵̤̝̥͉̦̤̿͠.̶̧̳̭̞̂̎͂̒͂ͅ0̷̞̙͂̎̃̐.̵̹̼̰̻̅̇͌͝1̶͔̥̹̱͕͌̃9̵̝̠̗͕̱̤̈̏̀̎̎͛0̷̛̺̭̖̄̈́4̶̢̞̺̱̼̺͂̊͂̅̇̈̒1̷͇̳͉̀͂͐͒̊͌.̴̳͚̰̌̄̊̓̌͐9̴̘̃8̷̡̠̭̲͍͒̾5̷̜͆̍] (c) Umbrella CoreVerse Corporation. All rights reserved. NOTIFICATION ============ The Omni-verse System Administrator has granted you System Authorization Level 8 for the duration of the Anziek War Event._> Perks of Authorization Level 8 are listed bellow.
One free resurrection in the Event of Death during the Anziek War Event.
Authorization to use the services of the Information Broker (Please note that access to the Information Broker does not exempt you from payment for the information you request. All participants will still be require to pay his price.)
One Time Access to the Omni-verse Shop & 1000 COINS for the Omni-verse Shop
Please note that the System Administrator is watching all participant and depending on Participants Performance these privilege's may be extended or lengthened.
“This is the best we could make of the message, ma’am,” One of the staff said. “Can you discern any meaning behind this?”
Sophia took a moment to think about what she was looking at. It was clearly an invitation to some game. The mention of the Anziek did pique her interest though. Whoever composed the message had some interest in the lizard men as well. She also couldn’t rule out the possibility that the writer might have created the Anziek as well so she wasn’t about to place any significant degree of trust that the composer was legitimate. The use of glitch text over the version number was something that Violetta often used whenever she typed something except everything she typed was so glitched out that nobody could read it.
Sophia also noted the grammar mistakes in the message. She might have thought they were the mistakes of her staff but they assured her that they went through the message thoroughly. Sophia could only conclude that the writer wasn’t paying attention to what he or she was writing or they simply didn’t care or they did it on purpose to show how crazy they were.
“Ooh, someone wants to invite someone to a game? Can I join in?” came the familiar voice of crazy behind her.
Sophia sighed, “I get the feeling that whoever sent this only intended for one of us to make use of the services provided. This matter seems to involve the Anziek so this falls within the scope of the mission. I will decide if or when we decide to make use of the services mentioned in the invitation.”
Violetta pouted for a moment, then shrugged. “Anyway, I came to tell you that I found something interesting while I was peering through the void.”
Sophia waited a moment for Violetta to continue before motioning for her to continue. When her companion remained silent, Sophia groaned. “She’s doing this on purpose, isn’t she?” she thought.
The moment Sophia opened her mouth to vocalize her permission to continue, Violetta continued, “As I was peering into the void, I found a realm in between reality and noticed a few decent lifeforms with more power than most of the mooks we come across in our travels. We might even get a halfway decent fight out of them if we provoke them a little.”
Sophia shook her head, “We’re not going to provoke anyone. Our objective is to find people who might be able to help with the Anziek and hope they are cooperative.”
“Yeah, yeah. Back to the message,” she said, abruptly changing the subject, “It looks like they attempted to use a bit of crazy text when they tried to conceal the version number, like I really care, and are practically trying to tell everyone that they are at least a bit more warped in the head than the average person. So the question is, can I eat their mind?”
Sophia rolled her eyes, “Only if they don’t prove useful. For now, I believe that we should gather some info on these people you found. Did your Eyes notice anything interesting about them?”
“Since my Eyes are not ears, I didn’t catch any audio of what was going on in there. From what I saw, it looked like a bunch of animals as well as two dragons who were brimming with anger and hatred -- Yum! -- and an anthro pegasus who appeared to be the victim of the dragons’ abuse. I could sense demonic energies coming from two of the animals as well as the dragons. The rest of them appear to share a similar energy wavelength to the realm itself.”
Sophia put her hand to her chin in thought. “I can guess that the latter group are denizens of that place while the rest are guests. Demons don’t normally live in the Aether, I wonder what they are doing there.” She looked at Violetta, “What about the pegasus?”
“Kinda boring, I can sense a bit of arrogance from him but nothing to write home about. Most notable would be the link he has with the demons.”
“Probably a vessel then.” Sophia shook her head in pity and remained silent for a moment. “Guess we should get in there and introduce ourselves. We need to see if they will be useful or not.”
“One maw portal coming up.” Violetta declared as she manifested a fanged mouth in midair.
As the portal opened, Sophia gave her companion some ground rules. “Before we head in there, let me make myself clear. No open hostilities unless in self-defense, that includes psychological attacks. Mind games are considered a psychological attack since it’s you. Also, don’t give them any of that spiel about the void; there’s already enough trouble as it is from that cult who worships you.”
“Hey, they chose to follow me. Not my fault some army of heroes offed their precious gods,” Violetta defended.
“Except you were there for each one in order to assimilate their essence so now they see you as some mega-goddess of the void,” Sophia countered.
“Tch, whatever, let’s just get this meeting over with. I’m already feeling sleepy in anticipation of how boring this meeting will be.”
With that, Violetta placed her hands in front of her and began channeling void energies into the maw portal to open the way into the Aether realm.
“You do know it is rude to open the portal into someone’s dimension without asking permission.” A large metallic form covered in yellow cat-like eyes said, “Oh, more people. Sorry about that, just paranoid you know, Anzeik and all that.” The being then shifted into a woman in an ornamental simple black dress with a highly ornamental crown, a large key ring, oily black hair, bright yellow cat’s eyes and smile with a mouthful of needle-like metallic fangs. The being appeared to be in a constant state of decay,and regeneration.
“My apologies for the intrusion sir, madam or thing, we happened upon your abode while my associate here was scrying the void and we were uncertain if you had any means for us to contact you,” Sophia explained diplomatically.
“Look, to be honest I have no clue why you were here but just...tell me your names please.” The being, who psychically placed a thought into Sophia’s mind to introduce themselves as Dodge, said with a hint of exasperation before he turned his attention to the nearby pegasus. “Red, how do you find these people?”
“Hey, don’t look at me. I’ve only met 2 people able to make portals and I’m pretty sure one of them is a nutcase and the other is searching for her brother and dealing with a zombie outbreak,” the pegasus defended, annoyed at his associate’s assumption..
“I’m a nutcase!” Violetta cheerfully proclaimed.
“Not helping,” Red mutters.
“Can I get your names please?” Dodge said
“Please forgive my addled cousin sirs. My name is Sophia ‘Archon’ Craft and this is my cousin Violetta ‘Love’ Craft,” Sophia introduced.
“Any relation to HP Lovecraft?” Dodge asked
“None at all, our names are simply a sort of identification for our abilities,” Sophia explained. “We have known the works though and Violetta is named like that because she has four terrors from the Void imprisoned in her head.”
“Oh, so you have good old squid face in there?” Dodge asked
“More like a mass of flesh and eyes with a giant eyeball on top, a mass with many mouths, a beast with seven heads representing seven gateways to madness and a squid-like being who is good at reshaping flesh,” Violetta explained.
“So you have Yaldy, Frank, Fred, and Squid Face in there?” Dodge asked. “I’ve wondered where they went off to. Oh, how I miss the good days.”
“Oh, so that’s what happened to those crazy guys.” Umbra said as Gelu growled loudly. “They just vanished from hell sometime ago. It was kind of boring without them but at least we were less likely to be torn apart and remade a different species or gender as a joke though.”
“If it’s the same squid head that turned me into a girl, I have one thing to say,” Gelu paused before she giggled. “Thanks, that made it so much easier to come out with how I felt to my brother.”
Violetta looks at the others with curiosity, “I dunno if they are the same as my prisoners, these four are really cranky in their prison and keep talking about reviving their little empire on some world I abducted them from. They never really talk about their past. Nowadays they go by C’thun, Yogg-Saron, Y'shaarj, and N’Zoth”
“Oh, well I can let them out.” Dodge offered. “It’s probably stuffy up there anyway, just imagine the door and I’ll open it.”
“I’d rather she didn’t,” Sophia warned. “The place is already crowded enough with the rowdy dragons here. Last thing we need are the mortal-minded being subjected to feelings of doubt, despair, anger, hatred, fear, violence for the sake of violence and absolute arrogance all at once.”
“Rowdy is an understatement,” Red mumbled. “Less than five minutes here they broke a wall, shattered windows and admitted without shame that they would set me alight given a chance to and...huh, are they related to you Iggy? Sounds like you on a good day.”
“No they’re not and I’d rather not be lumped in with that bunch with my brother,” Gelu snapped before faceclawing as Ignis has a look in his eyes akin to a child in a candy store after Sophia listed the effects.
“It’s not really crowded,” Dodge offered, ignoring Red’s and Gelu’s interruption. “I have the population of at least three different Equestrias here. Also, I could probably make a lot more space if needed. Also, I’d rather they didn’t use their powers here. I’ll have to beat them up until they learn to respect my rules here.” Dodge said with a needle toothed smile.
“I can let them out if I want,” Violetta explained. “I just have to make sure they are on their best behavior if they want me to let them out for our brief visit. I am their jailor after all.”
“Aww, I was looking forward to beating their skulls in.” Dodge grunted as thousands of hammers, guns, screaming souls, normal souls, swords, flaming swords, and various other items fell down into a heap behind Dodge.
“This is your house Dodge, I would rather not behave so untoward to you or our fellow guests,” Sophia assured. “I also make sure those who accompany me act with the same courtesy since they know what happens if I report them to her aunt.”
Violetta shuddered.
“Just to clarify, Umbra and Gelu were joking about knowing them.” Terra says before grabbing Reds by his cloak hood. And you're not even going near those weapons. I know how you think and you were eyeing that foam hammer.”
“I wouldn’t touch those weapons, especially not the hammers if you don’t want to die Red.” Dodge warned.
“Aww, I was hoping I could break my record for sending Umbra flying with a foam hammer.” Red pouted along with Umbra.
“Same, last time we did that I landed inside a roof in cloudsdale,” Umbra explained.
“No,” Dodge stated with finality.
“Sophia can kick someone out of orbit,” Violetta bragged.
“Not the time to be comparing feats of strength, Vio.” Sophia admonished.
“I don’t see why not. I’ve ripped in half entire universes just for fun before.” Dodge bragged.
“Kicking out of orbit which would kill someone violates the game rules of no killing and Dodge, see a therapist. That’s not something to brag about let alone for fun.” Red said.
“I did once, he tried to eat me.” Dodge said
“Get a better non-murdering therapist or ask the crazy one for hers.”
“Oh you said therapist, not therapeutic, and no I will never do that.” Dodge said.
“I’ve done therapy before as a therapist,” Violetta said. “Of course, whether I fix them or spice their brains up with madness is up to my whims.”
“Can you try being less creepy?” Sophia admonished her companion.
“You’re the one being weird Sophie, I know you are trying to butter them up so they can help us but do you have to be such a stick in the mud about it?” Sophia rolled her eyes to Violetta’s comment.
“It would be no fun if we didn’t have someone who was at least semi-sane to see all the insanity.” Dodge said as eyes spread across all the surrounding area.
Sophia shrugged, “I’ve seen worse. One time Vio drove an entire universe into killing each other. This wasn’t simply war, it was every lifeform against each other as she turned everyone into violent sociopaths.”
“Oh, that’s nothing. I can at least get one multiverse to kill itself and I mean that it quite literally, started stabbing a gigantic knife into itself.” Dodge bragged.
“Oh, we so have to go on a multiversal murder spree sometime,” Violetta cheered.
“That sounds like fun.” Dodge said
“Ok we’re getting off topic here and people think I’m crazy,” Red said before looking at Sophia. “You mentioned you came here because of the Anziek right?”
Sophia politely cleared her throat, “Before that, I must ask if our host is providing refreshments before I begin.”
“Oh, sorry, do you like blood or tea?” Dodge said
Sophia placed a hand to her chin in thought, “Are you able to add meat flavorings to a tea mixed in blood?”
“Yes I believe this is possible, is that what you want?” Dodge said
“That sounds lovely, I’ll even make sure Violetta, when she requests blood, drinks hers instead of her using it to write on the walls.”
“Spoilsport,” Violetta pouted.
“Now, what type of blood do you want? I have: dragon, snake, cat, dog, my own, jabberwocky, fish, windigo, siren, bat, ghost, vampire, and goblin.” Dodge offered.
“Any will do, I have devoured many species in my long life for their essence so whatever you serve will be fine.”
Jabberwock it is then, here you go.” Dodge said as a saucer holding a teacup containing a strange brew within it manifested before handing it to Sophia.
“Please tell me you got the Jabberwock blood from the universe where Alice is a complete asylum case?” Violetta pleaded.
“No, I just got it from the neighboring dimension next to this one.” Dodge said. Violetta pouted in response.
“Any blood high in protein is good for me especially if I can keep it in vials for use later. It helps with my healing abilities to have it on me even if I can’t stand the taste,” Red says casually surprising Dodge. Sophia had a feeling he would have unusual tastes since he was a vessel to a bunch of demons.
“Snakes are pretty high in protein.” Dodge offered.
“Thanks I will keep that in mind when hunting, so anything to eat?”
“I only have whispering iron, but you probably don’t want that.” Dodge said, holding up a squirming mass of what looked like red hot iron.
“Interesting I’m gonna pass on that but the crazy girl might want it.”
“Which one are you talking about?” Sophia smirked.
“The one currently poking a fire demon in the eye for fun.” Red deadpanned as Violetta poked Ignis, who tried to bite her hand off, only to fail to bite down as his own mind couldn’t process the command to bite.
“I wanted to see if I could feel what he feels,” Violetta defended.
“Just don’t feed him anger. Last time it took me kicking his ass with the help of an immortal who had access to every known weapon to subdue him and even then it took me two weeks to put him in his place myself and he’s still pissed about it.”
“Or I could have done so by making him think he’s a puppy,” Violetta stated cheerfully.
“Well, best not to do anything to Reds demons, especially Umbra,The spirit of deception itself taught him when he was here last time.” Dodge said
Both Red and Umbra blink as Terra, Ignis, and Gelu look at them both.
Sophia quietly sipped her tea while Red complained about time shenanigans and Violetta had a chat with Dodge’s serpentine companion about deception.
“Anyway miss Sophia, I still want to know what you know about the Anziek seeing as both me and Dodge have had them show up on us as well and, well, I’m lucky some of my people are scattered and that I’m alive but they’re no joke. Even with all the power of my magic and my roommates we lost hard.” Red says getting impatient and a headache
Sophia noticed the frustration growing on the Pegasus’ face and grinned, “Information from me must be exchanged for information of equal value. It’s only fair after all.”
“Well I don’t know much just that they’re capable of killing god type beings and seem to attack indiscriminately seeing as they hit not just my home but Terra’s, Ignis’, Gelu’s and Umbra’s multiple times, barely repelled. Seems killing entire realities has the side effect of sending the damned into different hells. That’s all I’m saying as we’re not allowed to say any more aside that the one that leads them is called the Lord and I’ve never seen the coward, but maybe Dodge has?”
“After decimating half the army that he sent for my dimension, yeah. I’ve met him, a real piece of work, that guy and a pain in the butt to fight.” Dodge said
“Hmm,” Sophia pondered. “It supports my theory that they are travelling the multiverse and I did encounter someone who was extremely powerful that kept me from just moving in and slaughtering the army myself. I ended up evacuating those who wished to do so before I fragged the planet. I also gained knowledge of their biology after eating one of them.”
“Extreme, but useful and sadly one of the only ways to slow them down I fear so the question is what do we do now? It’s only a matter of time before he finds this place and I still have to find my people and a new home while trying not to die in the process.” Red says before lowering his voice as it takes on a somber tone. “And I won’t ever forget that kid’s face when I died for the second time. I tried to save them only for some sick joke of them being the one that dies so I can come back.” Red says, his voice betraying his calm expression as his eyes show regret.
Sophia looked at Red with eyes of sympathy, “So you ended up sacrificing a child’s life so that you may continue? I won’t say anything cruel about that but you know that you must now carry that burden for the remainder of your existence.” Her expression became somber. “Innocent lives are lost in the fires of war throughout the multiverse and it will never discriminate between who lives and who dies.”
“It’s a cruel twist of fate, a life for a life. I died trying to save the kid only for them to take my place. I knew the risks of taking the deal, I just didn’t expect it to happen in front of me.”
“I’m a creature who lives off of suffering and pain so I really have no clue what you are talking about because I really don’t care. I mean I love killing things but I do it in such a way that it’s fun for me at least.” Dodge said.
“Imagine someone you care about and how you would die for them only to be brought back and watch them die as you had in pain and suffering; the fear as they can’t understand what’s happening to them.”
“Oh, oh, oh, that’s one of my favorite things to do. I rip someone’s soul out and put it into an object and destroy the earth and continue until I am no more of that specific object. Then I continue doing it with all sides of others and yes, I know it’s creepy.” Dodge said.
“Forget it Redsopine,” Sophia said. “You can’t teach an eldritch horror to empathize with mortal lives like you can’t teach your demons how to act like good pets.”
Sophia suddenly sensed aggressive thoughts coming from the pegasus. She sensed that he was intending on attacking her in the left shoulder so she quickly deadened the nerves in that area of her body.
“Pets you say?” Red asked, his tone becoming cold with an edge to it as something sharp suddenly digs into Sophia’s shoulder from behind revealing a deformed claw before pulling out as Red brings his bloodied claw out from behind himself. “You best choose your words carefully when talking about my friends.”
Sophia looked at the wound and back at Red unfazed while her tone took on her own edge, “Don’t start something here, boy. We are guests here and I would prefer not to turn this into a test to see how many times you can revive yourself as I rip you apart, limb by limb, organ by organ. I am controlling myself here while you show your immaturity by rising to my jabs.” The wound quickly regenerates and within seconds, it appeared as if the wound was never there.
She made a mental note to pay him back if he should ever find himself on her ship.
“You sure you want to take the risk of the life being chosen yours?” Red asked before calmly dipping the tips of his claws into a couple of vials, storing the blood in them before wiping the rest on his cloak. “Though you’re right that I’m a guest and unlike most of the people here we’re not uncaring monsters.”
Noticing what the pegasus was doing, Sophia was glad that the properties of her family’s blood became permanently inert upon leaving the body or there might have been a problem at some point down the line.
As the exchange was going on, Ignis whispers to his sister. “Did he almost get killed defending us or am I seeing things dear sister?”
“No, I saw it too and we always thought he just saw us as tools or pets. Yet even with the connection muted I think he meant it.”
“Do you please share with the rest of the class?” Dodge said as it walked up behind the draconic demons.
“Nothing, just a family matter. But I think my brother’s temper might have rubbed off on Red.”
“Oh, so you consider Red to be family now.” Dodge said
“No!” Gelu quickly stated. “We were just discussing ideas on how best to ditch him for a better host is all. As we said, it was a family matter.”
Sophia smirked without anyone noticing as she knew what was said between the two dragons.
“Ooh please don’t lie to me. I can hear everything in this dimension. It is mine after all.” Dodge said.
“Want me to repeat what was said?” Violetta asked.
“Yes, please, go ahead.” Dodge said
With a wicked grin, a fanged mouth opened on Violetta’s left forearm.
“Don’t!” Red shouts, interrupting them. “It’s not important, and unlike you two I respect their privacy. We don’t get much from each other so we respect what we can. It's only fair and we’re bound so we need to have trust in each other and despite our arguments, I trust them with my life and me with theirs. That’s all I need.”
The mouth on Violetta’s forearm closed and she pouted while muttering, “Killjoy…”
Sophia sighed, “Entertainment aside, we need to consider our next move if we want to find a way to halt this invasion.”
“There’s only one way. It’s the same reason I bear the burden of immortality: we eradicate them completely so they cannot come back.” Red says grimly. “The question is how do we do it?”
“Well, I mean I have a freaking armory filled with immortal-killing weapons. Oh, did I mention that I have the heads of other immortals that I’ve killed over the millennia?” Dodge mentioned proudly.
“I have considered constructing a virus that would disrupt their reproductive capabilities so they will be more hard-pressed to renew their numbers when they suffer heavy casualties,” Sophia offered. “Sort of like that one from the Mass Effect section of the multiverse but leaving them no chance of reproduction.”
“That sounds like that would be a decent idea but they need to be something more, we need to find the original dimension of the Anzeik and destroy it. That way there is absolutely no chance they are coming back.” Dodge said.
Sophia shook her head. “I stole a few secrets that the Anziek attackers had in their minds. They destroyed their own home long ago. These creatures are nomads; like locusts, they swarm upon worlds and plunder the resources before obliterating it.”
“So that’s out, any other ideas?” Red asked. “I would suggest you train. It's very hard to be able to use a god-killing weapon without training. It took me thousands of years to learn how to use my dear Saber Cutting Void. So get training, unless you have a better idea.” Dodge ordered as a giant appeared behind them and open revealing thousands of weapons of all kinds, from flamethrowers to ghost-throwers, from daggers to claymores, from pistols to gatling guns, from ghosts to poltergeists, from normal grenades to null grenades.
“I know some swordsmanship but it was only a week of intense training, otherwise I improvise so I wouldn’t know where to begin. On another note, if anyone picks up any information about my people can you let me know so I can find them.”
“I would suggest you improve yourself before you worry about others, kid.” Sophia said. “I might know someone who can be your instructor with the sword, but she will also be helping me develop the plague.”
“While that sounds nice we have Red’s training in various skills well in hand,” said Umbra, smiling before his lips slowly lowered. “Oh right, that was meant to be a surprise. Well, surprise, we’re gonna teach you.”
“Also, since you know in all likelihood there will be a time where Red will have to fight without you guys, give him your powers. I’m going to need to train Red separately from you guys. Same with you, Violetta, the more powerful you are the bigger of a target you are so we’re going to need you to let your eldritch demons out.” Dodge said.
Violetta simply ignored everyone as she inspected the decor.
“Do any of you know of our abilities both open and hidden or the knowledge and experience we all own? Red might be a brawler and a dirty fighter but that was not us who taught him that. He’s been able to use our magic, how could you teach him things that are a part of us and him without us?” Terra asks.
Sophia shrugged, “Everyone’s capable of learning something new every day, even you demons. It’s when you think yourself perfect that you doom yourself to stagnation.”
Red fiddled with the key Dodge gave him and asked, “Dodge, you said this key could go to anyplace I have been before. Is it that one place exactly or one close to it if that place has been destroyed?”
“Correct,” Dodge said
“You're not gonna say which one, are you?” Red deadpans before sighing and standing up. “I’m heading to bed, Dodge, could you make a door for me please?”
“Here you go,” Dodge said as a door appeared in front of Red.
“Thanks, you coming?” Red asked his demons as they nodded, even Ignis, albeit reluctantly, as they walked over next to him and they walked through the doorway which seemed to vanish as they did so before the door closed.
“Well, I’m gonna go to sleep in my bedroom.” Dodge said as a small well house appeared in the distance and began walking toward it.
Sophia and Violetta were left alone as they finished off their refreshments.
“Do you think they will be of any assistance?” Violetta asked.
Sophia took a moment to finish her tea before responding, “Maybe, maybe not. The child has much to learn about fighting and he needs to improve his relationship with his demons if he wishes to avoid death, whether by enemy or the embarrassment of his own demons being his end. The eldritch being has a point though, your little mental prison may make you a liability in the future which is why I would prefer to have you use your abilities carefully from now on. Unlike with mister Dash’s demons, you have a jailor and prisoner relationship with yours and I don’t see that improving anytime soon. Meanwhile, I need to work with Thanatas on the plague and get Ingram to devise a means to distribute it throughout the omniverse. Perhaps in time, our gracious host and their guest might prove helpful to us, but we may have to leave them to their own devices until we have need of them or they come to us.”
Violetta pondered on what Sophia said for a moment then shrugged. “So what now?”
“Back to the ship, of course.”
“You got it.” With that, Violetta opened a maw portal back to Sophia’s ship.
“Well, if you’re going to leave, take these with you.” A voice boomed as a key appeared in each of their hands.
Sophia and Violetta were curious about their new gifts for a moment but shrugged as they decided that they had stayed their welcome long enough and walked through the fanged portal.