Episode 25- So even a zerg fight between themself huh?
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"So even- wait, it was said already, hmmm… Oh I got it, a masterless zerg? Smells like opportunity." Turning his head towards Kerrigan, he continued "You will deal with it by yourself without a problem right?"
"Of course! But why-"
"Great! Got to acquire some minions, bye!" The carriage suddenly jerked forward, the zerglings already knowing the command before it was thought.
Kerrigan just watched the carriage speeding away, quickly disappearing among the uneven terrain. She turned back to her minions, which stared blankly at her. "At last there will be some peace and quiet for some time." She went about doing her orders, which were the eradication of a rampaging swarm of Zash, who was permanently killed by some dark templar named Zeratul.
"I have a room arranged for you already. You are one of us."
"But I am an adult, the whole orphanage business is only for minors."
"Don't worry, everyone here is an orphan, maybe excluding our helpers. Besides, we have half of the building empty, so giving you a room for some time isn't a problem." She finally let the younger girl free from her embrace.
"My name is Mina, I can already guess yours is Matylda. I am here just for Stetmann, nothing more."
"But what will you eat? Maybe lying in the grass is pleasant, but you can't actually digest it." Saying this she put her hand on her sides, somewhat looming over the girl.
"Okay, okay, I can stay for a while. Just, let me meet with this stetmann already."
With a face visibly brightening, she put one of her arms behind Mina's shoulders and started leading her way. "Don't worry, we are very well funded by the whole colony, so our accommodations, even if simple, are still solid and clean. And every room has its own bathroom. We aren't big fans of communal things, because really, it's just plainly uncomfortable." She was rambling about different things as they walked to their destination. The hallways were somewhat spacious, both in width and height, but not big enough to be uncomfortable. The doors to the rooms were just made from wood, the only special thing were the pieces of paper proclaiming the current locator's name. Usually there were two names per room, sometimes up to six, she even saw some rare single names. They were walking up the stairs now, which had an extra layer to make slips as painless and safe as possible. The lights were hidden by yet another layer, this being a bonus ceiling, with glowing squares every now and then.
Mina returned to here and now as they stopped before a door, with 'Stetmann' written on them. Even if the bigger and older woman was still keeping her hand against Mina's shoulder, it didn't feel unpleasant. Even slightly comforting.
The matron of the whole big thing knocked on the door in question, not too quietly. A muffled voice said "You can come in" from behind the obstruction.
To Mina's eyes opened a small room, with some space reserved for a computer running on a desk. The Man of the hour was sitting on a swivel chair, the light of the morning reflecting off of his glasses. He looked up at them when he heard more than one pair of footsteps.
"Hello dear, this girl has a business with you, so I will let you two talk in peace." With that, she swiftly left the room, closing the doors behind her.
"Err… Hell, I am Mina, you are Stetmann right?"
"Yes, Egon Stetmann to be exact, what brings you to me?"
"A certain young and small pink haired girl named Pixie."
"Oho, this is sirius. What happened, exactly."
Mina started to elaborate, without too much personal details of course.
"WOLOLO!" A single zergling runned over and sat before him. All the other zerg milling around some distance from him ignored him completely. Dobromir was close to one of the Wild zerg lairs, and was trying to coerce them to his side. On the plus side, if he didn't make any aggressive moves, he was part of the pack. On the negative side, only zerglings and drones switched their sides. All the others ignored him completely, from hydralisks through overlords to a single ultralisk lurking around.
"It's somewhat disappointing, but building everything from the ground up sounds really enticing. The only problem would be modifications, but there should be some zerg responsible for evolution right?"
"Skirrr…" His recipient responded. It was one of his six carriage pullers, which somehow remained the same from the start. Even if they were transported separately to the char, this six was still first to answer his call time and time again.
"I think so too, buddy. Kerrigan can do it for me. Now if only it worked on more than one per calling. Oh well, if I can't go to the mountain I will make the mountain come to me, even if it's one pebble after another."
"Wololo!" "Wololo!" "Wololo!"
Slowly his forces grew. Every zergling that would arrive would quickly follow the rest, which was lazing around, doing nothing. Seems being a packleader was Dobomir's main attribute.
"You are lucky first, it seems."
"What do you mean?" Mina was sitting on the bed, with Stettman opposite to her, occupying a swivel chair. The sun was going down, still shining brilliantly in their room.
"A little explanation is in order. When the old Hags die, it's an honorary title and not an insult by the way, on the same day new triplets are born. They have affinity for one of the many, many ways, and are average at the rest. They also can understand how magic works, its secrets and so on. Problem is, all the other magic users firstly, have one affinity and can't use any other. Secondly, only Hags understand magic, the rest of people only feel it, in their own field of expertise. So the problem is, the new Hags have no real teacher, and don't know how to teach others. So, for the last ten years, only a scarce few has awakened their magic."
"So why am I the lucky first? There surely were many people before me."
"Yes and no. People from this planet or adopted by this planet have their affinities told, and the rest is self work. The refugees all declined, but there weren't many of them with potential to begin with. You are the exception, so someone probably have plans with you in it."
"Plans? This doesn't sound good."
"Don't worry, you probably will be doing what you do best: piloting."
"Hmm…" She put her hand to her chin, thinking. "So why awaken my magic then?"
"Mostly to increase your efficiency and skills, magic based around the stars will be very useful don't you think?'
"I… really don't know what I can do, totally zero idea."
"Then let's give you one." Standing up and going to the door he said "Come, we will figure it out".
"I can't believe he's standing there and shouting it again and again. They should have attacked him long ago. And why are his zerg so docile?"
This and many other things Karrigan kept muttering to herself, watching through Overlord's eyes the weird spectacle. Without Dobromir around her, she found herself weirdly agitated, the same as every other zerg around her. But around him? Total peace, some zerg were even sleeping! Zerg! They didn't need to sleep! And why was she so angry now?!
After a few quick breaths to calm herself down, a sudden realization hit her. Dobromir has a calming aura! He always was more weird than the others, but here his weirdness shined brightly like the Char itself.
Especially all the zerg without a leader, which should have attacked Dobromir on sight, strangely treated him as their own. Kerrigan just couldn't tear her gaze away from the figure of infected terran shouting "Wololo!" and converting one zergling after another.
"Let's begin with basics, what stars bring to your mind?" They walked a small distance away from the orphanage, which was close to the outskirts already. The shade cast by many trees was perfect for their training.
"Light, cosmos, constellations and eee… burning gas?"
"Good enough. Now, magic is certainly many times more flashy than regular psionic brute force, mostly because it's visible. Now, imagine a small star in your hand."
She certainly tried, but her imagination was conflicted between how it usually looks, and how it looks in reality. Then composition barged in and her face marred a frown of uncertainty.
"Conflicted I see." He was calmly standing with hands behind back, waiting calmly. Even if he was younger by a few years, he still gave off the impression of the teacher.
"I don't know if the shape should be like from the cartoons, or maybe just a burning sphere or…"
"You think too much. It's not science, you don't need to be paying attention to reality too much. Look here." Saying that, he moved one of his hands, with outstretched palm facing upwards. Firstly an electric current surged between his fingers, like five metal poles. Then the electricity gathered in his palm as a small ball. At the end it changed into a flat five pointed star with dancing lines, before fading completely.
"Magic has its own set of rules and logic, usually defying psychics. Now, try doing a star like mine."
A moment later, a star, smaller than Stetmanns appeared in her hand, with a filled center. It shined rather brilliantly in the shadows, and a few wild colors also mixed themself in.
"As you can see, magic always retains a few wild traits, like the different colors you see, my electricity dancing wildly, and many many others. Now, just practice with changing shape, main color, and what else comes to your mind.