Void Girl [Oh god it's back]

> Turn '... and should I be concerned?' into a running gag

You rotate in place and stare down at Geri.

GENO
"... What did you do with the Soul Vault, and should I be concerned?"

Indignation twists Geri's face into a comical frown.



GERI
"Hey, I didn't do anything! At least nothing I wasn't s'posed to. Part of the test was I had to channel mana from an external source to make a portal happen, and I did."
"Just not very well."

Her voice tapers into silence near the end, there, and Geri gives a helpless shrug. Growing impatient for an explanation, Antlers clears his throat a second time. Geri makes a 'go on' sort of gesture with the stubby remnants of her wand.

> Sassy mode, activate

GENO
"Okay, listen stud. As much as it would seem we're a small thing against you, able to be flipped about, we are way more capable of m--"

GERI
"Geno! Play nice!"

She interrupts you with a fierce little whisper, which you figure Antlers could hear from a hundred meters away.

GERI
"I'm kinda curious what you're all about, too."

She glances up at Antlers and supplies a little exposition of her own.



GERI
"Geno's my familiar. Before I landed us here, I was in the middle of my Level II Warp Mage certification test."
"I was super, super nervous. Probably why I messed up so bad."

ANTLERS
"Mm."

GERI
"My chronospatial magic teacher, Madam Diavla, assigned Geno to me as part of my training. I think it's passed down? I'm not 100% sure."

ANTLERS
"Aha."

GERI
"We're re-ally sorry about the zoomy thing just now, by the way. Geno and I haven't known each other very long, and we're both pretty confused, and..."

ANTLERS
"Fascinating."

That word is so laden with sarcasm that even Geri realizes she's boring him. Turning pink with embarrassment, she clears her throat and nods at you.

GERI
"But um, I'll let Geno tell its own story."
"Go on, Geno. Stage's all yours."

Your parts debate among themselves as to how you'll tell your story. Eventually, you settle on:

> The thing with the wizard, undead slave birds, the bear, and the breaking of major laws in the Fourth Ring of Netherym
> tl;dr WILDLIFE SAURON

SpoilerShow

This noisy jerk wizard named Hawkspace'd curse anyone who dared set foot on his lawn and all the predatory birds that lived nearby into eternal servitude, delivering the mail and terrifying the populace.

After a long while of going farther and farther afield for more eagles, hawks, raptors and the like, the countries in the area decided they'd had enough of getting terrified by birds, and sent their best to take him down.

In response, he stuck all 816 of us together into one sorta lich-thing to defend him. We defeated them, but in the fighting, our master fell. From there, we struck out, terrorizing the populace, delivering our own mail.

SpoilerShow

I recall something about breaking a major law of the Fourth Ring of Netherym, possibly shattering a few universes... honestly the details are kinda fuzzy.

GENO
"... and that's the story."




Antlers is quiet for a long while. Geri shrugs.

GERI
"...Take it or leave it, I guess."

ANTLERS
"I see."

The dark flames that flank Antlers' steps die down, and he moves to examine you closer.

ANTLERS
"The Soul Vault is sturdy indeed, if you cannot use your full power without the girl's assistance."

Antlers looks over his shoulder, in the direction one suspects the real portal is hidden.

ANTLERS
"The only proper exit to this plane is reserved for my personal use. As much as I hate to damage this reality, I may be capable of tearing another one -- provided you don't mind my borrowing some of your mana for the operation."

Geri turns to you with questioning eyes.

GERI
"... It's your power, so... your call?"