voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post August]

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A New Platform [Intro Post August]

On the Train

"Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Grasshopper. Points have been updated on the system and Voidtrecker Express lunch boxes are now available to buy."

They have indeed and everyone can spend the morning shopping, for lunch boxes or other items. Those who have been on the train a while will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. The sun beats down, a harsh, red glow heating the structure almost to the point of discomfort, although the train remains pleasantly cool. People might want to leave hoodies in their cabins.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Alex Hashimoto, Ardyn, Basilton Pitch, Garrett, Gyro Gearloose, Heart, Higgs, Jack Harkness , Luke Skywalker, Merciless, Sam Bridges, Scintilla Caminus, Sven, Telli, Tokidoki Rikugou, Undyne and Wen Ning

But on the platform itself there are many new faces. Wearing polo shirts in four familiar colours, with an equally familiar array of expressions.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam billowing around them as they come to their senses. The second thing they will notice is the oppressive, cloying heat hazing the air. The paving is sun-warm, and damp with water vapour.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze, but then the steam begins to fade. They aren’t alone.

The platform, all pale paving and cement pillars, is not large and it holds thirteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out into the heat step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same uniform in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would not be a good thing. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Once again it’s not all that long before the whistles blow as if hurrying the passengers along.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information.

The store rooms have been restocked with more carrots, as well as other staples for the month. Those heading to the luggage carriage for their parcels will find some generic boxes labeled All Passengers. Inside they will find extra leather bound journals for those who have gotten to the end of theirs. There are also supplies of extra toiletries for passengers who are running low.

The big changes that passengers will notice is that the Quiet Coach and the Medical Coach now have two stories. The quiet coach has a whole extra five booths upstairs. The medical coach now has four recovery rooms whilst downstairs now holds two treatment rooms as well as a surgery bay.

New passengers will find their tickets allow them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

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Glimmer is a compact ball of sparkles and rage, nothing keeps her down very long. Especially not actual physical injuries.

"Magic is my entire thing," she says succinctly, lowering her hand from her head so she can make a swirling movement like she's pulling something out of the air - and when she opens the fist she's made, a ball of sparkling light, a bit bigger than a softball, swells into existence. The kitchen is well lit but the little ball lights it even more, casting the immediate area in a pale pink glow before Glimmer dismisses it again. "So it takes a lot to stop me. But, it means I can do some things really easily. Like this!"

And she reaches over, taking Gladio's forearm lightly in both hands - and poofs him too, when she teleports again.

It's a very strange sentation - they're suspended in warmth, and blinding pink-white opalescence, and then a second later there's ground beneath their feet and the sparkling lights disappear; stray sparks linger in the air but dissipate quickly, and when Glimmer releases his arm he'll ~~probably~~ be able to see that they're back in the bottom level of the kitchen.

Oh well now, they could have done with her last mission! Those dark tunnels and monsters that could only be killed by light would never have stood a chance. He was about to say as much, before she reached over and grabbed him. Gladio had time to look down at the hands and open his mouth to start to ask 'what'... and then they were gone.

Warmth. Pink... Bright and definitely not where he was a moment ago... And then it's gone. Gladio is let go just in time for him to throw out a hand to rest against the nearest wall and... he laughed. Even as he blinked to get his eyes to focus again, he was laughing.

"... That's nothing like Sam's teleportation spell!" At least this one had some kind of substance to it. Not blink and it's over.

Edited 2020-08-01 22:10 (UTC)

Glimmer props herself on the counter again while Gladio regains his balance, and grins broadly, with genuine excitement, that she lets drown out her worries for now.

"There's another teleporter here? Oh my gosh, I was the only one in my world! All the other princesses had seriously different powers! I mean, Mermista could turn into a mermaid," she says, with a dismissive sort of jazzhands motion, "But this is the first time I've ever even heard of someone else who can do that! Do you know where they are?"

Gladio, once he'd settled down and there weren't spots of light dancing in his vision, was able to straighten himself up and smile back at Glimmer. Even after near knocking herself out she had an overabundance of energy. He had a feeling she was going to be something of a handful, but he didn't think that was a bad thing at all.

"Not like you can. She had these... runes? I think she called them that. A magic circle at least. She could teleport someone, or something, to that spot." And he was pretty sure that Black Squad team could teleport now, within reason, thanks to the Spider. But he didn't want to over load her with information just yet.

"SO, you're a Princess?" He asked then while he walked back to get some hot water boiling for the tea he'd been about to make before Glimmer's escape attempt.

"Oh." A little bit of the energy dies, but just a little. "Is she a sorcerer? Tell me if it looks something like this!"

She holds both hands out in front of her, lifting and spinning them to create a glyph in midair, and with a push of energy it bursts in yet another flash of light to create a floating constellation - a small winged unicorn, that flaps its wings and does a dizzying loop-de-loop in midair before it and the glyph evaporate.

"And technically, I'm a queen," she brags, most humbly, as she folds one leg over the other.

"Wizard, I think was what she called herself and... no. Nothing like that! She drew the shape on the floor." And on the walls, on that space station. But for this tail, his memory of being teleported had happened with a rune on the ground. Though the fancy winged creature was nice to look at and he watched it for a moment until it vanished.

Then he grinned broadly.

"Ah, Queen then. Forgive me, Your Majesty." The words were far from mocking, and left Gladio's lips like one well versed in saying them. Well, maybe not begging forgiveness, but at least addressing royalty.

"I know a King who can... maybe not teleport, but something like it. We call it warping. He can move from one place to another in the blink of an eye. But his sparkles are blue, not pink." And wouldn't Noct be happy about that fact!

That's a much better reaction than she got from Della, she'll take it.

"Just Glimmer is fine," she says warmly. "That sounds amazing, though! The only other person who ever dealt in sparkles like me is my mom." There's a wistful look on her face for a moment, but she powers through it. "What else can your king do?"

Gladio held out his hand away from his body and as he closed his fingers into a fist, the hilt of a sword appeared along with a massive seven foot long great sword amidst a shower of blue and white sparkles of light.

"He gives me the power to do this, for one." He set the sword down, tip to the ground and smiled over at Glimmer. "He can share his power with those he trusts. Access a repository with a cache of weapons. Use elemental magics. Healing magics."

Edited 2020-08-01 23:53 (UTC)

Her gasp of delight is far too enthusiastic, especially with how it turns to gleeful laughter. "Oh my gosh, you get a greatsword? That's so cool! I always wanted to learn how to use a sword but my mom always said it was too dangerous. But, she let me have this!"

She stretches her own hand out, and a long staff with a large ring on the end, not quite as tall as Gladio's blade, sparkles into existence, and she grips it about halfway down with both hands, clinging it close to herself in her excitement. "It used to belong to my dad, it lets me channel my magic better!"

He looked suitably impressed and didn't have to ask if she could use it, somehow he got the feeling she could handle herself very well, in most situations... that didn't include impenetrable ceilings.

"It's served me well." Gladio chuckled and let the sword go back to where it came. "But that's a fancy staff. A relic of your dads, huh? He was a good man?" It seemed a silly question, but from the look in Glimmers eyes he felt there was a story there. And as he turned to finish making tea, he could listen while he made it.

"He is," she corrects, but it's softly done, and she lays her staff across her lap as she talks. "He was one of the leaders of the Rebellion, but for my entire life I thought he was dead - my mother thought he died during an attack she launched. It was understandable, it was... a pretty big loss. A lot of people did die."

Her grip tightens on her staff for a moment. "But it turned out that my father had been trapped on Beast Island - this ancient island full of monsters that the Horde used to dump people on, it was so dangerous that no-one was supposed to survive, but he did, for nearly twenty years. My friends rescued him, and I finally got to see him again just recently."

Then she adds, a bit less wistfully, "He made his own staff on Beast Island, so. I got to keep this one."

"Is." Gladio corrected himself easily. He hadn't meant any offence, and it didn't sound like Glimmer had taken any, so he was relaxed still as he continued preparing tea. By the time he was finished, hers the floral one sweetened with honey, his own just normal green tea. He turned and offered her the cup with a smile. "He sounds like an amazing man. Tough as well. I think I'd have liked him!" Should he have ever met him, of course. Tough guy like that was right up his alley!

And a Beast Island? Now that sounded like a place he'd enjoy exploring.

"Apparently everyone likes my dad," she says happily. "He's one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world - more than my aunt, I think, and she runs the magic school they both attended as kids. He was one of the leaders of the rebellion too, he was always out saving people and making the world better." A little emotion escapes again, and she lifts a hand to toy with the hoop at the end of her staff. "He made my mom so happy when they were together. He's incredible."

"And knows magic?" Gladio... was kind of jealous. He couldn't help it. He would loved to have known what it was like to use magic. But as it stood he was just fascinated watching others using it. And if they needed someone to experiment on, like Sam and her teleportation, he was more than willing to help.

"Really does sound amazing." He truly did, in every sense of the word. And he knew she would miss him, just like he missed his sister, being stuck on this train. "So magic is a bit thing where you come from?" He asked, once she had her tea he reached back to take his own cup.

She disappears her staff again in another spray of glitter and remembers to take her tea then, picking it up in both hands for a quick sip. "Thanks."

"Yes! Princesses use their Runestones - mine's the Moonstone," she adds eagerly, "But there's sorcery too, that anyone can learn if they go to Mystacor, the whole kingdom is the leading magic school and like, a really great spa. Sorcery is all about knowing how to draw the right shapes and channel the power of the moons and the earth. One of my teachers wasn't... a good person" - and she grimaces a little, at the memory of Shadow Weaver - "but my dad was going to teach me more after we got back to Bright Moon, our home."

So many strange and cheerful names to the places Glimmer spoke of. It sounded like an interesting place...

"Is that before you came here?" He asked curiously.

"Right! Bright Moon is the kingdom I was born in. Mystacor is its own kingdom too, there's seven in total. Only six of them have Runestones, though, Mystacor's just for sorcery."

It was fascinating listening to Glimmer talk about a world he would never know. He tried to imagine it, but it was so alien that he honestly couldn't.

"We don't have things like that where I come from. Magic is something only the Royal family can use, and even that's reliant on a massive Crystal. Though... there are some who are more attuned to magic than others. Me? Not a magical bone in my body. But love hearing about it."

"Oh, that's-- pretty much how it works for us, too!" Huh! "Six of the seven kingdoms have Runestones, which are pretty much just... massive crystals! The Moonstone is the biggest," she adds brightly, "It's like, ten times taller than me, at least!"

"Weird... when you said stones I was kinda thinking... little things." Gladio had to admit with a sheepish grin. "Back home though, there's only one crystal. It used to help protect my city..." Till it was stolen and the city destroyed... Gladio pushed that thought aside so he could carry on smiling for Gimmer. "But that sounds way bigger than ours. That's a small mountain, not a crystal!"

"Well, there's one small one, like--" she holds both hands up, and makes a small oval with her index fingers and thumbs. "--this big, maybe, it's part of the Sword of Protection that She-Ra uses. She's the only one where it's that small, though."

'It used to' certainly implies something, but she's not going to push it just yet if he's going to gloss over it. "Bright Moon's is the biggest, I'm pretty sure the Pearl and the Heart-Blossom are only about twice as tall as us."

"She-Ra?" Gladio asked, but then was distracted by more of those lovely names for places he would never see. He couldn't help a grin. It was strangely cute, but he didn't want to say that in case it came off as offensive in some way.

"Twice as tall is still damn impressive." Though that sounded about as big as the Crystal back home. From the stories he'd heard. Gladio had never actually seen it with his own eyes before.

She grins eagerly. 'She-Ra's a giant warrior princess with amazing hair and her sword transforms, and she can heal anything! She's the key to making all the princess's powers work together and be even more powerful!"

"With amazing hair..?" Gladio grinned, that description amusing him somehow. But he had to admit, she sounded interesting. "And a healer as well as a warrior? She sounds incredible."

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A New Platform [Intro Post August]

SORRY AGAIN

No apologies needed! Gladio LOVES this stuff!

Oh good!

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