Lost
Nalaea looked around. Wherever she was, it was not a place she recognized. She hadn't merely shifted herself out of phase with the material plane like she usually did, she had been teleported. She was in a room of some kind, that was certain. The walls were smooth and shiny, made out of some kind of metal. She gave a hesitant step, and noticed the floor did not creak underfoot, but was silent. Yet it was nothing like the stone floors of the dwarves either.
"Where am I?" She asked out loud.
She spotted where the light was coming from, from orbs in the ceiling, that glowed without heat, and yet were clearly not magical in origin either. Looking over at the door, there was no handle on it, but there were strange markings on the wall next to it. One was green and the other was red. She pressed the green one, and the door quietly slid open with a soft click. Stepping through the doorway, she found herself in a hallway, and face to face with a woman wearing a white uniform, medals on her chest. She wore a white peaked cap, and also had a cloak.
"I don't recognize you. Who are you?" The woman asked, eyeing her suspiciously. Nalaea looked down, and her hand was on what was clearly a much more advanced gun.
"N-Nalaea Herydark, Ranger Captain of Lady Vordea's Void Rangers." Nalaea said, stammering slightly as she tried to comprehend where she was.
The woman's posture and face relaxed immediately, and she smiled for a brief moment. She stroked her chin thoughtfully for a second, before speaking.
"You are a long way, and a long time from home, Nalaea." She said. "I am Fleet Admiral Mira Frost, and welcome to Demhe Station, the last beacon of light at the end of the universe. There's someone you'll want to meet here. Maybe she can even send you home."
Mira began to walk down the hallway, motioning for Nalaea to follow. With no other choice, Nalaea did. Mira said nothing as they walked for long minutes down hallways, through large open rooms, up and down flights of stairs. She noticed some of the rooms had plants growing, despite being indoors. Eventually, they arrived at a door with two people standing in front of it, holding very large guns.
"We have a visitor. I need to see her." Mira stated to the two people.
The two people saluted Mira, and stepped aside, the door silently opening with a soft click. Mira saluted them, and walked in, Nalaea right behind her. Inside this room was another set of doors, and clear glass windows. Beyond the windows was something Nalaea didn't expect, not even with knowing how she got here. It was clearly Vordea, but much, much younger. If she had to guess, a pre-teen child.
"You look surprised to see her." Mira said, taking off her gloves and hat and placing them on a table.
"It's just... I've never seen her young." Nalaea said, staring at the young girl on the other side of the glass. "She's always been so imposing, mature."
Mira just smiled knowingly, hearing Vordea described as such made her proud. She was now wearing just her uniform, the cloak discarded as well. She went over to the door, and tapped on the glass. The young girl looked up and excitedly waved when she saw who tapped, running over to the door and unlocking it.
"Mira! You came to see me!" She said excitedly, hugging Mira tightly.
"Hi Vordie." Mira said warmly, patting her on the head. "I brought you a friend today. She travelled for a very long time to get here. Say hello to her."
Vordea peaked around Mira and gasped when she saw Nalaea, and ran over to her.
"Wow! A real elf! What's your name how did you get here have you ever met any dwarves can I touch your ears do you really eat leaves?" Vordea asked, practically vibrating with excitement as she kept asking questions to Nalaea.
"Can I tell her? Can I tell any of you?" Nalaea asked Mira, looking a bit unsure.
"You aren't the first visitor we've had, since Vordea was born. You certainly won't be the last. The universe has some time yet left in it. It won't do any harm to tell her of what's to come. It may even help." Mira said with a gentle tone, pouring herself a cup of water, and going to take a seat on the couch inside of Vordea's room.
"Well, my name is Nalaea Herydark and I'm an elf yes." Nalaea said, sitting on the couch as Vordea excitedly climbed onto her lap, and stared excitedly at Nalaea, waiting for her to continue. "I ended up here because of something you did... well, will do?"
Vordea gasped with delight, and giggled. "Oh oh don't tell me! That'll spoil it!"
"Vordea give Nalaea a drink, she must be thirsty." Mira said, taking a long drink from her cup.
Vordea nodded, and a tentacle shot out from under her dress, and carefully poured a cup of water from the sink, before retracting and carefully placing it in Nalaea's hands. Nalaea appraised the cup in her hands. It was a masterwork of smooth metal, she had never seen anything like it. Taking a sip from it, she was amazed at how cold and pure the water was, and drank it all in mere seconds.
"Yes I've met Dwarves." Nalaea said, continuing. "In fact I was just talking to one before I came here." At this point, Nalaea lowered her head a bit. "Go on, you said you wanted to touch them."
As Vordea laughed and giggled, playing with and poking at Nalaea's pointed ears with her hands and tentacles, Mira and Nalaea stared at each other. Nalaea wondered how she was supposed to get home from this impossible place, and Mira wondered just what Vordea meant to Nalaea for her to be so happy to be in her presence, a remarkable change from the usual visitors. Nalaea absent mindedly stroked Vordea's hair, and placed her other hand on Vordea's leg. While neither Vordea nor Mira said anything, Vordea gently pushed her hands away with her tentacles.
"Tell me Nalaea." Mira said, after several minutes. "Does she ever speak of this place?"
"She calls it Carcosa." Nalaea answered. "The corpse of a dead universe."
Mira nodded. "Of course she would. The King in Yellow. Tell me, how exactly did you get here?"
"Her armour." Nalaea said, beginning to answer, but Mira's eyes grew wide.
"She let you?" Mira gasped, shushing Vordea immediately.
"My wonderful, beautiful Goddess did more than let me. She commanded me." Nalaea said, smiling. "But how do I get home from here?"
"Oh that's easy." Vordea said, a large toothy grin on her face, showing off remarkably human teeth. "Watch!"
Vordea leapt up off Nalaea's lap, and ran over to a cupboard. When she opened it, there were hundreds of small jars inside, all filled with liquid.
"What is this?" Nalaea asked.
"What's the name of the place you came from?" Vordea asked.
"Karand." Nalaea answered. "But what is this? What are these?"
"That's a secret!" Vordea said with a laugh as she reached in and pulled out a jar labeled Karand. "Bottoms up!" Vordea opened it and drank the jar in a single gulp. "I'll see you again one day, good-bye for now, Miss Nalaea!"
With those words, Vordea snapped her fingers, and Nalaea immediately vanished from sight, leaving Mira and Vordea alone once more.
"She loved you." Mira said, remaining seated as Vordea closed the cupboard again, and started cleaning up.
"Of course she does. That was the love of a parent, you saw it in her eyes. I love her too. She was a nice change from the usual visitors." Vordea said, her tentacles grabbing a broom and mop. "She sure touched me a lot."
"You could have told her to just stop." Mira said as she stood and put her cap and gloves back on.
"Maybe I wanted her to." Vordea said, turning her head to look at Mira. "Maybe I need a parent and not a creator. Maybe that's why you stay away, afraid of falling in love with the last child."
"That's no way for a young lady to talk." Mira said, as she put her cloak back on. "We'll discuss this later."
"Will we? It's coming soon. I can feel it." Vordea said vaguely.
Mira pressed her, but Vordea would say no more, and only hummed a tuneless song as she cleaned. Vordea couldn't wait to meet Nalaea again, she was so patient with her. Yes, this was a meeting she would savour.