Letting the Cat out of the Bag - New World (P3)
The world was strange. It reminded Khaalida of the Astral Realm in a way, how it wasn’t quite the world she was used to.
The sudden appearance of another deity had her head spinning (or was that just the air here?), and she couldn’t quite figure out how to feel about all of this. Her family, her daughters, her land… All in another realm, and she didn’t quite know how to get out of this one.
“Dammit!”
Khaalida startled, and turned to look to see Shaakir pacing around a bit. It was the most emotion she had seen from him, if she was being honest.
“You okay?” Yuri asked, seeming a bit befuddled by the situation as well.
“No! What if we can’t get out? What about Coyote?” Shaakir demanded with a huff, pausing his pacing for mere seconds. “What if she gets in trouble? What if something happens? I would never hear the end of it if I didn't come back!”
“Well…. You would never have to hear it if you don’t come back,” Yuri pointed out, but that seemed to go in one ear and out the other.
“I need to get back! Wait, Yuri, don’t you have Magic Swapping Rum?” Shaakir said, turning on Yuri.
“I… do,” Yuri replied, seeming a bit confused.
“And you have teleportation and wormhole magic?” Shaakir asked, turning to Khaalida, who nodded.
“You want to try and teleport out? Maybe if we looked around we would find a way for you to get out?” Khaalida suggested.
“We can drink while we look!” Yuri said, pulling out the rum.
It was a strange place, for sure. As they traveled the world seemed to shift around them (or was that the alcohol?). Where at one point they were walking on solid land, suddenly they got hit with vertigo, and were upside down. Not even the familiar’s were immune, sticking close to their Quirlicorns and trying their best to not get lost in the chaos.
“What is this place?” Yuri murmured, as a tree suddenly came into existence on their path.
“It seems to be an ever shifting realm,” Khaalida replied, looking around. “I had heard rumors of lands like these, from Quirlicorns who were once something else. The Reborn Ones told tales of realms without reason like this one.”
“Well it better have an exit,” Shaakir mumbled.
“We will find a way,” Khaalida replied reassuringly.
Deciding to stop for a break, the three sighed. “It’s kind of beautiful,” Khaalida admitted, looking around. Something about the place did feel a bit right, that bit of chaos in the midst of it all. It called to that wild thing inside of her that had convinced her to leave her land behind and journey off when the deities had called. The part of her that relished in the disorder, the touch of chaos and madness, the break from the daily routine that had become her life.
“Can you try portaling out again?” Shaakir asked, taking a deep swig of the bottle.
Khaalida shrugged, and tried once more. “Oh,” she said, as she stuck her head through the portal and it appeared about a foot away. “Guess not yet.”
A few hours later had Yuri and Khaalida singing, and Shaakir sobbing quite dramatically, sitting on a piece of land that had broken off and was floating upside down above their heads.
“But what if I never see her again?!” Shaakir wailed, and Khaalida laughed.
“Don’t worry one bit, Kir! We will find her, she will love this!” Khaalida said, with a bit of a hiccup.
“Course!” Yuri agreed. “This place is grand! Oh look, that tree is flying sideways!”
Khaalida and Yuri fell into a heap, laughing hysterically, while Shaakir sobbed above them.
All things considered, Khaalida couldn’t help but grin. Despite the strange set of events, and an entire new region, and all the unanswered questions, she was happy. After so long of just handling paperwork, looking after her lands… she had found fun again. She had found adventure, and something even more.
She had found some new friends, a new region, and been part of something bigger than her, and her prophecies.
“This was a lot of fun,” Khaalida said, looking up at the purple and rose gold sky, watching it fade to hues of turquoise and periwinkle. She smiled to herself, and took another swig of rum.