Maka had meant to look at the black empty void. She really had. But everywhere else was so lovely and purple, and full of so many people in such funny clothes, and as soon as she went out of the palace there was just so much to see that she forgot. And floating was so much like swimming, and all the people were so strange because they weren't swimming with her but walking, like crabs or something on the riverbed, only the sand was purple and not sand at all.
It took Maka a second to realize someone was dropping way too fast. It was okay when crabs fell. They just slid gracefully through the water and landed in a puff of sand, but there wasn't any sand or water and the person was just falling like falling and-
She dove, getting her teeth and claws around the alien but they were still too fast and she smashed into the smooth stone, skidding and bouncing and the other person spinning away. She stumbled to her feet again.
The others had gathered around the one she'd tried to grab, who was prone, bleeding where the shell on their leg had cracked.
"Is anybody a doctor?" Maka asked them. "Don't just stand around, get a doctor! They're hurt!"
The people stared at her, looking confused. "What's a doctor?" one asked.
The world distorted out of focus. "They can't die," Maka said. She wasn't sure who she was talking to now.
One patted her on the side. "Don't worry, Princess. It's okay. Even if many people died we'd still beat Prospit." Everything was flickering in and out.
"Please don't die. Please don't let them die." Maka tried to focus, watching the injured one. Another one was trying to help them to their feet.
"He won't die," another one told Maka. They were all clustered around her now, like she was the one to be concerned about. "Don't cry, Princess."
"I'm sure he'll be back at work very soon," someone said.
"And they'd send someone else from the Veil if he couldn't."
"It's okay."
"We'll win."
"Maka um Maka um Maka!"
Maka barely had time to jolt awake before something scrambled atop her, pushing her under the water. "Maka hey um," Yani continued as Maka swam ashore and crawled onto the rocks. "Um um Maka Maka you like creepy gross animals right?"
"Off," Maka said.
"All animals right um Maka um you're super brave right Maka and you think scary gross things are cool so-"
Maka reared up. "You're not a baby!" Yani slid off only to claw her way up Maka's back again. "What? Calm down already."
"Let's um let's trade planets okay um please? I'll take super good care of your amphibian snakes."
"What? No! Why?"
"But mine are horrible!" Yani wailed in Maka's ear. "They keep screaming and screaming nonsense and it's so gross and I can't even tell them to stop it because it's how they know where stuff is in the fog and they'd crash into something and fall a million mile and die!"
"Eurgh. You mean they talk like dolphins?"
"Like flying dolphins so you can't even just get away from them and it's the most disgusting thing ever! They won't leave me alone Maka they're all following me around saying I'm their hero and am I hungry and they want me to go back to their villages and there's terrible things cracking the world apart and killing their babies and everything is soooo high and they keep saying they're not going to fall but they're going to run into stuff and fall I just know it and there's always disgusting screaming and even when it's not nonsense there's these things, echoes, and they make words into nonsense and they think it's funny and it's so creepy Maka!"
That sounded like the most disturbing place imaginable. Luckily - "I don't think we can swap places. They seem to know about each of us and there's different prophesies. I'm in charge of this place and you're in charge of whatever place your planet is."
"It's the Land of Paths and Fog," Yani said. "They told me. They said all sorts of stuff between the horrible screaming. All of us have different powers, although probably none of the powers do anything about them. I mean, I didn't ask but probably not."
"Oh, I heard about that from one of the lying aliens! He said I didn't get light, which I guess is a really good one. But maybe you or Rensi will?"
Yani shook her head, making shadows flicker as she blocked the light for a second above Maka's eyes. "No, we've got Heart, Rage, and Breath, whatever those do. They had this song about the three heroes. I didn't really want to ask questions because then they screech more while they answer."
"Well," Maka said as calmly and authoratatively as she could, because it was easier to be mature when you're sure it won't be your problem, "remember that echolocation isn't really nonsense, it just sounds like nonsense but it's not actually supposed words at all. Maybe you, you can..." All the solutions were kind of creepy too, but there was only so much that could be done. "You can make headphones to block the high sounds."
"Ugh!"
"It's not like you're making it so you can't hear somebody talking," Maka said. "In fact it'd help you hear them when they are talking. It's no different than turning off a computer to stop talking to somebody, really. And I'm sure the flying whatevers won't mind because if it's ecolocation they're only making the noise for themselves and not you to hear in the first place. Did you know a lot of animals can't even hear the sounds?"
Yani whined softly.
"Also, get off me already."
"Are you sure we can't switch?" Yani said, finally stepping off her back.
"Yeah. You can hang out here a while to calm down, but I think each of us is supposed to fix our own planet. I mean, they said you were their hero and not me, right?"
"I was hoping they just said that to anybody."
"I don't think so. Apparently I'm the Knight so I'm the one in the stories about fixing this place. You have your own title and job, and maybe your planet's taken over by different lying aliens. Mine's by the black ones and there's white ones around, and maybe some others we haven't seen yet. We're probably supposed to trick them somehow so they'll leave our planets alone."
"You're probably right..." Yani said. "I should probably just go back and get it over with. I, um, don't actually know how to get back. I think there's a portal or something at your house, and there should be a portal back around here somewhere."
"A portal back?"
"Yeah, you haven't used them? There's a bunch of portals to get back to your house when you need a break or something. They're all one-way."
"Weird." She really didn't need anything back at her house, though, and also it was still up above the clouds and could fall over any second. It seemed like a good idea not to remind Yani of that. "Well, you can go look for that, I'm going to look for more of my consorts and see if they need me to do something. They're really nervous." She headed back into the water. "Watch out for the really big apes, they hit hard and the tentacle ones can reach super far."
"Don't worry, I've seen them."
"You."
"Hi...Jack..." Maka said. "Uh... This village, it, uh, it seems to be on fire."
"It is on fire!"
"Yes, uh..." She hesitated. "So, you seem - uh, you're angry..."
"Ever heard the phrase, 'If you're not with me, you're against me'?"
"No."
He glared at her like that was the wrong answer.
"Sorry," she squeaked. "Uh...so, do you mean people can only be friends or enemies? Because I think-" He produced a knife and she edged backward.
"So with that in mind," he said, voice low, "have you considered my proposal?"
"Um," said Maka. "Um. Um." Then, "You said you lived on another planet, right? Can I go there and see things? Is that what I'm supposed to do, go there next?"
"You're already there," Jack said.
Maka glanced around. "I thought this place was my-"
"Your other you, the asleep one! The dreamself!" Jack snapped. At her expression, he said, "This isn't hard to understand!"
"So...I'm already there?" Maka repeated.
"Both of you," Jack grumbled, at which point Maka gave up any hope of understanding this. "Not supposed to just gut you in your sleep, though. Not how it's done. Do you see what I have to put up with? Just leave you alone and unperforated."
"I'd rather not be stabbed, though," Maka pointed out.
"Huh? Oh, right. Well, I'm not going to stab you, am I?" Maka stared at the still drawn knife. "What with us being allies and all. You're going to have to kill the both of them anyway."
"I'm what?"
"Or be killed. One or the other. But that kind of future stuff is for the WISE AND JUST LEADER to concern herself with. What matters to you is that we're on the same side." He gave her a friendly grin. There was the faint hissing as a piece of burning wood fell into the water. "So there's no need for me to be stabbing you, right? Nothing to worry about from me." He leaned casually against a timber.
It gave way.
"You haven't learned to swim?" Maka asked curiously.
He glowered up at her, holding tight to the piece of wood. "What."
"Swimming," Maka said. "You know, moving your body, but not like all over the place the way you were doing it. I mean, I don't know if you can but you seemed like you had an okay range of movement. And you weren't that heavy-"
He snarled and tried to claw at her, only to sink with a confused burble.
Maka quickly reached down, plunging into the smokey water to grab one flailing arm.
It was surprisingly hard to pull him out. For some reason after she gripped him he panicked and started thrashing around worse, his other hand clawing at her face. Drowning must be really scary, Maka thought, wrenching backward to pull him onto the wood. She could taste blood in her mouth.
"You shouldn't struggle so much when someone's trying to pull you out!" she chided.
"You bit me! What did you think I'd do? Hold still?"
Maka cringed. "You - you thought I'd-" She went silent.
Sometimes, things thought she might hurt them because she was bigger than they were, or faster, or because some cousin species had eaten one of their actual cousins. Other times it wasn't like that at all.
She thought about what he'd said. He wouldn't stab her because they were allies. But he also said...
"You said that you weren't allowed to stab me. Us," Maka said. "Why not?"
"Because you're princesses," he spat.
That was...she'd heard that before.
"I'm not."
"There's something wrong with you, kid. You just had a chat with her imperial MAJESTY. Made a commotion flying all over Derse..."
"That was just a dream!"
"Right," Jack said with exaggerated patience. "Your dreamself."
Select Character _
Be Maka
Maka is occupied with CURLING IN A BALL and CRYING FOR HER MOMMY.
You should probably just be someone else for a while.
No
"Kid - kid -" Jack kicked her. "What's wrong with you now? Of all the luck to get the most useless heroes-"
She was supposed to be a...?
"It's all real. Everything I heard? Is all of that really real? And the person - it's - you're really at war?"
"Yeah. With Prospit." He eyed her speculatively. "Upset?"
"Yes, you have to make them stop it!"
"Hey, I'm not go-"
"You have to you have to!" Maka howled, prompting him to take a step backward.
He was silent for a beat. "Let me finish. Like I was saying, I'm not the one you wanna talk to get that done. It's the MONARCHS that run stuff, you know? It's like, hey, like in that dumb story of yours! You gotta kill them to end the war."
"How do I do that?"
"For starters, you're going to have to stop lazing around splashing in puddles and get stro-"
"No! How do I get there?"
He shrugged. "Go to sleep."
"I can't just decide to go to sleep! How can I go there right now?"
"If that's what you want...Hold still."
Maka: Hold still
It may reassure you somewhat that this is not the stupidest thing you will ever do in your life.