"You call yourself a seeker, but this is just mercenary work," Qelimara fussed.
"Freelance! I'm a freelance seeker. That means my clientele is more accommodating," Tarvalen told her.
"Oh, really? Ugh, I should've—"
CHONK. The Shell's hatch sealed itself tight.
Honestly, Tarvalen, you didn't seem all that bad. But threatening Lum immediately puts you on my shitlist, sorry not sorry!
"Now, how does this thing work?" I touched the orb in the center. "Not sure how that coordinate mumbo jumbo goes… it has a home, though, right? Position, home!"
Nothing happened for a moment. Did I screw up? Maybe it has biometrics, and—
*
"Whoa! Crap," I huffed, shaking the stars out of my head. That warping, shifting sensation had to be something I'd get used to eventually, right?
Now, then. What's this home like? I pushed open the hatch.
"Ah! Tarvalen, you've returned," a woman's voice called from down the corridor.
I froze up as the echoing footsteps drew closer. From what I could see, the corridor ended where the ship had landed: a sort of garage or hangar, maybe.
But it curved out of sight a little ways down – I couldn't see who had spoken.
"Tarvalen? You're being awfully quiet. Is something the matter?"
Was she dangerous? She was probably a housekeeper or something, why would she be dangerous? She didn't sound dangerous either, but I still got this feeling…
Before I could come to a decision on what to do, the woman came into view.
Ooh, pretty dress. The shimmering material flowed like water, flaring at the leg area like waves. Or, was it the hem? Mumai knew all the fashion jargon, I'd have to ask him about it later–
Oh. Oh yeah.
"You're not my master," she said, stopping in front of me. "Who are you?"
I prepared to explain myself, but the moment my eyes got to her face, the gears in my brain ground to a halt.
Here I was thinking that when I was at Konjico I'd seen it all, but… what was it, rule number one of interstellar travel? Clearly I was less open-minded than I thought.
Her whole head was a bowl! It looked to be made of some kind of shiny, hard material, with eyes that appeared to be painted on with dark paint. But the way moved and blinked as she looked me over… they were definitely alive.
"Hmm? Are you perhaps shocked?" The woman(??) tapped her chin(??), and that was when I noticed her skin had the same shiny sheen as her bowl-head. "Personally, I'm surprised someone finally managed to filch his most prized possession. You don't seem like a space pirate, though."
"I… am not a pirate, that's true," I said, trying to act casual. "The name's Kendel. My baby dolly here answers to Lum. Not sure what she is, exactly, but she wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Not a space pirate, you say," the bowl woman replied. "It's true you aren't armed, but you could just as easily be a mage. Tell me, Kendel. How did you get your scars?"
"Uh…" Honestly, I did NOT want to relive those horrifying last moments. But if it meant getting on this entity's good side… I took a breath. "Y-you could say I'm a… witch hunt survivor."
"A Witch hunted you?"
"Actually, she saved me while I was getting… b-burned to death. By a Witch hunter. I think."
"Sincerity clouded by confusion. You're a strange one," the bowl woman noted. I finally figured out that her voice was coming from the top of her head(??), resonating along the bowl's rim. "I live here, you should know. You could say I'm Tarvalen's housekeeper."
"Yeah, I, ah, figured as much." Even though she appeared benign, I could sense… something beneath her chipper exterior. I wasn't really sure how I sensed it, but I could. Kind of like how you can tell how sharp a knife is by looking at it. And somehow, I got the feeling this lady was an extremely sharp knife.
"Well, while you're here, we might as well get acquainted. Follow me, please," the bowl woman lilted. "I'm Qsj~~v~~, but since no one of your kind seems able to pronounce it properly, I go by Aria, which is more or less an accurate translation."
"Aria, huh." I looked around the curving corridor. "And this must be Tarvalen's place. So, how'd you end up working for a guy like him? To be frank, he seems shady."
Aria sighed. "Naive, more like. A good boy who constantly ends up in bad crowds. Honestly, I'm surprised he's still in one piece."
I followed her into a kitchen-like room with a smallish table in the center. As I sat down at one of the chairs around it, Lum flopped onto the table itself.
Aria set down two fancy-looking cups. "Care for some potamell?" she asked.
"Some what?"
She gracefully bowed, and a steamy pink liquid flowed out from her bowl head, evenly splitting into separate streams that filled up both cups at once. Brain juice??
"Brain juice," Lum said, picking up a cup.
"Bwah! Lum, don't say that," I hissed. "Ahem! Heh heh, this, er, stuff smells really good."
"Yes, potamell is quite popular where I'm from," Aria nodded. "We loleli don't drink it ourselves, but other peoples love it. My old enchanted grove would get visitors from all over just for this, heh, brain juice we produce. Do tell me how you like it."
"Sure thing…" Now red in the face, I swirled it around a bit. It really did smell nice. Then I took a tiny sip.
It tasted good! Like red fruit and cream and tea.
"Do you perhaps want ice? Potamell doesn't cool very quickly, I'm afraid," Aria offered. "Or, are you reminiscing? I'm sure you've endured many an extraplanetary trouble in your travels."
"Er, no," I sheepishly replied. "I'm not actually a traveler. Extraplanetary or otherwise."
"Oh? Many interstellar seekers would kill to even lay eyes on a Witch, and you found one without even leaving your homeworld?"
"W-well, she found me," I clarified. "Sort of. Like, she was hurt when she landed in my dorm, and I helped her a little."
"Witches can get hurt??" Aria looked truly surprised, for some reason.
"I think so. That is to say, she looked hurt," I replied.
Just what was it about Witches that I was missing? Galis just seemed like a calm, soft-spoken, slightly clueless hermit. Even her clothes didn't really scream 'Witch,' really. Like, didn't they normally wear pointy hats instead of masks?
"How unusual," Aria said, refilling Lum's cup. "If I'm not mistaken, you're a human of the subspecies Demiqon, right?"
"Wow, spot on," I applauded. "You really know your aliens. Er, wait. People."
"And if you're truly not a mage or a space pirate… then you would have lived on Galacti your whole life."
"Yep. Yylinovia born and raised," I nodded.
"Does that mean this is your very first off-world experience?"
"No, actually, there was this electromagnetic world we stopped at earlier," I replied. "Konjico, if I remember correctly. Qelimara really liked it there."
"Hmm? Ah yes, that mercenary girl Tarvalen sometimes works with," Aria nodded. "About that… nascent cosmic being of yours. Your baby dolly, you said? Did you give birth to it?"
"Huh!? N-n-no," I stammered. "I adopted her."
"Oh, pardon my curiosity. It can happen among humans, though very rarely. More potamell?"
"Sure." Huh, when did I finish it? Wait no, Lum finished it! Real brain juice fan, isn't she?
"My people are all capable of conjuring food and drink, despite none of us being able to eat or drink," Aria chatted. Maybe she was chill because she knew I wasn't a threat? "I used to live in the loleli realm's enchanted grove as one of the Three Great Sage Sisters, each of us embodying the energies of love, wisdom, intelligence, creation, and destruction. Specifically, I embody creation."
"Hmm?" I squinted at her. "Wouldn't that make five of you…?"
"I met Tarvalen when a client of his sent him to investigate the area. According to him, he just located our enchanted groves per the contract, but had no idea that his client was planning a conquest," Aria explained. "And the client offered me to him as payment. I've been with him ever since."
"So you're… like, a slave," I concluded. "Sorry, that sounded – um."
"It's true, isn't it?" Aria shook her head. "I imagine I got the best deal compared to my sisters."
"If you're so strong, though, why don't you try escaping?"
Aria held up her hands. At first I had thought they were like magic bangles, but the large glowing rings around her wrists seemed to exude a harsh kind of energy, different from Aria's aura. Or perhaps they were… overpowering her aura? I wasn't sure.
"These are Galacta rings," she stated. "I don't know how Tarvalen's client got a hold of them, but they do their job extremely well."
"You can't just take them off?" I asked.
Aria sighed. "Galacta bonds are bar none the strongest magical shackles in the galaxy, Kendel. If I could just take them off, I'd have escaped ages ago."
"Er, of course. Sorry. Silly me," I sheepishly muttered.
"Oh, it's fine. I can hardly expect a normal girl to understand what it's like."
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling. I mean, if those rings weren't floating, they'd just fall right off her arms. And if it was something like an energy field, then sufficient external force could break it. Right?
"Hey, can you at least let us try?" I offered.
"I… suppose? If you really need that closure," Aria sighed, then reluctantly held out her arms.
"All right! I'll take one; Lum, you get the other," I instructed. "Now, on three. One, two, three—"
SHA-PINGG!
A wave of energy engulfed us in a blinding flash of light. When my vision cleared, I found myself sitting on the floor, the Galacta ring in my hand. Lum held the other one, but she was still standing on the table.
"Hah! Phew." I stood up, trying to play it cool. "See that, Aria? All you need's a bit of elbow grease and determination, as they say. You're welcome."
"You… madwoman." Aria's laugh sounded somewhat maniacal.
"Huh?"
"You actually freed me! You broke the unbreakable!"
As Aria stared at her hands, I suddenly envisioned one of them impaling me in an instant. She could do it, couldn't she? I could feel it – her energy now radiated like a wildfire.
Ahh, shite, did I just make a terrible mistake? Is it too late to try and put these back on before she annihilates this entire building? But wait, she said she's the creation Sage, so maybe not? I really really hope not. Unless she creates a bomb or something–
A noise suddenly rang out from down the hall. Then I heard Tarvalen's voice: "You're a bold one, lady, I'll give you that. Hey, Aria! Is the girl with you? She's with you, right? Bring her over, make sure the variant comes too!"
I tried to say something, but nothing came out.
"Right away, sir," she called, chipper as ever. As she moved into the hall, I saw fake Galacta rings appear around her wrists. "Come along Kendel, Lum."