Speaking of listening in, Ilium had his ear to the ground as it were and filled in his charge on the details. With an uneasy feeling in her stomach, Ruby ported in with a puff of smoke in the middle of the gathering.
”Sorry for the tardiness. Had to talk to the boss first.” The group had only just started talking and there was already tension between some of the groups. By and large, most of the wishes she’d granted were considered “good” or whatever, but by her patron she was practically powered by mischief. Mint, Beacon, the Muffin Man, what have you, didn’t really concern her so long as they weren’t trying to capture her. Friends of hers called Penrose home, and the Queen of Hearts getting what she wanted wasn’t good for anyone. Still, she would chip in her two cents.
”I’m going to leave you ladies to figure out your differences, but I like the idea of going on the offensive. You have the home advantage and can get people and stuff moved around if need be.” Somewhere between Beacon and Mariette there were teleportation options. Maybe she could help them find the toy soldier things, but so far it didn’t feel like the right place to use a wish.
Of all the topics brought up, the Nexus one was the most chilling. Not that she really knew a lot about it, but trying to manipulate it in any way was no light matter. Thinking about trying to tap into that kind of power sent alarm bells off in her head. There was only really one person she imagined wouldn’t instantly turn into a corrupted monstrosity.
”I don’t… She bit her lip and looked around at the hodgepodge group. Who did she trust more to keep things together? Really, Ruby wanted to cut her losses and run. That wasn’t what she was tasked to do this time, and what she felt she should do had a finality to it she couldn’t shake.
”Why’d I have to go and piss off a djinn?” She grumbled to herself.
Marching over to Kayli she motioned her closer.
”I think I can help you, but not here. We need… She glanced around. A number of people couldn’t help in this scenario. There were still rules after all.
”Someone you trust.” Ruby probably could make an educated guess on who to ask, but better to leave it to Kayli who would probably be a better barometer.
”Oh?” Kayli wondered what exactly Ruby had in mind. Two names were at the top of the list. One of them was a tad busier at the moment, so it didn’t take much deliberation. She would turn and call out.
”Alicia, would you care to join Ruby and I in a brief meeting?” Alicia’s gaze narrowed as the meeting went on, her fingers digging progressively deeper into the palms of her hands as she listened to the speakers.
”No way. I don’t trust half the people here to mess with the Nexus and not try to use it for something shady at the same time,” she added. The sort of temptations that would arise from even the possibility was too great
She was about to argue more with Chloe when she found herself suddenly addressed from another direction.
”Sure,” she replied, figuring that the others could keep insanity from reigning in the short time that this meeting would need. With that she stepped over to join the duo, to see what it was they wanted to talk about.
For a moment Ruby was worried that Alicia was going to rain on her idea and she turned to look at Kayli. The woman didn't seem concerned, and even pleased at the outburst.
"Okay then. S-step into my office." She would wave her hands as if gesturing them to walk through a doorway. The three of them would vanish in a swirl of smoke.
Ruby, Alicia, and Kayli would appear in a luxurious room filled with lounging pillows. A pleasing incense in the air. Alicia would recognize it as an Interdimensional Home. Letting out a relieved sigh, Ruby would put her hands on her hips.
"Whoo. Not going to lie, that many magical people together in one place makes me nervous." She would clap her hands.
"Alright, now we can speak freely. I totally agree with you on just letting anyone mess with the Nexus. Actually, I'm pretty sure that almost any one of us would be instantly corrupted if it didn't outright kill us." She would pause and let that sink in.
Turning to Kayli, Ruby would hold a hand out as if to present her.
"I think Kayli is our best shot. She's already immune to corruption, but with the right wish I believe she can help defend the Nexus from Wonderland and all the other crazies out there." It was kind of a long shot. It had been a while since Ruby had interacted with Alicia. Ironically the Beacon girl's first wish for the purification potion way back put Janet on this journey here.
Glancing around the Interdimensional Home, Alicia was somewhat sad that there wasn’t really time to indulge this place. But the meeting was going on, regardless of how much time they spent in this place. So she turned her focus back to Ruby and Kayli.
She nodded in agreement with Ruby’s first observation.
”Not that that would stop some of them.” Some were crazy enough to do it anyway, or might see it as a good thing. That just left the question of how to solve the problem, and in this case it seemed the duo before her were prepared to provide.
”The right sort of wish, huh?” She glanced between the two of them.
”Can your powers affect something on that kind of scale?” Ruby shrugged a bit.
"Ilium, my patron, controls that more than me. I met with him just before coming to the meeting and insinuated that my fate is wrapped up with this somehow. He's been preparing for something big. He'll tell me if I can't." She smiled reassuringly.
”Fair enough,” Alicia conceded in the face of Ruby’s assurance. If they were confident then she had no reason to doubt it.
”Now I just have to figure out what the best wish to address our problem is.” A task easier said than done. She didn’t want to accidentally make things worse for them.
Kayli would speak up. This was rather important as it potentially effected everyone and herself directly as the subject for this wish. It was a daunting task given what little they did know.
”If the goal is to thwart nefarious actors, then perhaps something like ‘equipped to defend the Nexus.’ Or maybe, ‘equipped to prevent abuse of the Nexus.’ The second may be better, as it should also apply to myself as well. I would not want to somehow slip into a delusion in the future and become a tyrant in my own right.” Corruption or no, power had a way of twisting an individual. She gave it a little more thought.
”The second example also leaves it open for proper uses of the Nexus as a natural font of magic. We don’t want it to be too restrictive that we cause more harm than good.” Alicia nodded, appreciative of Kayli’s advice in this matter. It helped to guide her thoughts, reaching a wish that would best. She gave it a bit more thought before finally speaking once again.
”I wish that Kayli had the power to prevent the Penrose Nexus from being manipulated.” Waiting somewhat impatiently, the chance to grant a wish always made it hard to wait, Ruby nodded and rubbed her hands together.
”Alright then. Let’s see if this even works.” Stepping up, Ruby would call on her magic. As both Alicia and Kayli had witnessed the djinn girl in action previously, it was unusual when the magic that had begun to swirl around suddenly collapsed to a point and a marble sized object dropped to the floor with a light thump. Alicia’s Third Eye could see, but not quite identify the nature of what had just occurred. Ruby herself looked drained, as if she’d just spent most of her magic.
”Uh, maybe I underestimated how hard this would be.” Kneeling down, she would pick up the marble. It was void black with the tiniest pinprick of light in the center. Holding it closer and looking within, Ruby’s motions slowed as plumes of crimson clouds formed and began to wind around the girl.
Ruby blinked as images flittered in her vision like a reel of film. Each oddly familiar as if she’d seen them before. Spears of light impaling someone against a stone statue, a figure atop the roof of a building being struck by lightning, a warship charging through the streets and passing into a portal, and a girl escaping through what looked like a window just before the room burst into crimson beams and flames. Were these visions or… memories? They didn’t fit with her own experience. A final picture flashed before she came to. It was hazy. It looked like… Kayli in the middle of a great storm striking down Lily. The marble vanishes with the scene.
None of this had the chance to be communicated, as the smoke had whipped itself into a whirlwind that lifted Ruby into the air.
”W-wait, Ilum!” Rings of flame encircled her wrists. T-this wasn’t Ilum’s magic. This was coming from… Looking down, her legs had lost their form and was the source of the smoke.
”No no, stop! This can’t… I can’t, aaaAAH!” Engulfed in the smoke, her magic surged and blew back Alicia and Kayli into a pile of pillows. Objects and furniture were tossed and overturned, but shortly after the tempest died out and the smoke cleared.
The room was warmer, hot even, as any of the lanterns that had previously lit up the space were made pointless by flames that leapt up around the edges of the room.
”Oh my.” A snap of fingers is heard and everything that had been displaced jumped and slid back into place. The two guests would see a young woman,
clearly Ruby, looking at the manacles on her wrists with a pout.
”That was too close.” She would let out a heavy sigh. Her head was swimming with thoughts and impulses that she was struggling to suppress. They would be so easy to mess with. And Kayli, what was it that she had seen? The future perhaps. Should she warn them? A sly smile would appear, and she would saunter over to the others and offer each a hand to help them up.
"I would love for you to stay and chat, but we don't have a lot of time." Magic flowed from the hand lifting Kayli. Outwardly there was not much to show for the wish. There was a feeling, something unavoidable had been set in motion. Within it was like a power was drawing Kayli. What else was a sense of peace as the nervousness of the situation faded. She had to follow through, she was meant to defend the Nexus.
Things moved rapidly in ways that Alicia was not prepared for. It was clear that events transpired which the djinn was not prepared for, and though Alicia felt like she should intervene she was not sure what she could even do. As it was she did get knocked off her feet, but at least there was a bunch of pillows to cushion the impact from that.
Helped back to her feet once everything had resolved itself, she nodded to the other two girls. Clearly something had happened, she just hoped that she had made the right decision in the end.
”Agreed.” Hopefully the meeting hadn’t gone too far off the rails while they were busy.
There was a pause, then Alicia added to what she had said.
”Oh, and let’s keep this wish between us for now.” It would be a useful ace in the hole should it come down to it.
Kayli would nod in agreement.
"Of course master." She would bow before righting herself with a slightly perturbed expression.
"Sadly I will not be joining you for the rest of the meeting. I can’t really leave anymore. You’ve seen Aladdin right? Doesn’t work that way." She would hold up an arm and tap on one of the manacles.
"Good luck out there." With a wave, she would send Alicia and Kayli back to the others.
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