might have beens

[her_imperial_radiance]

At the bar, there sits a girl with a long copper-colored braid, slight and beautifully-complected and wearing khakis and an oversized pullover. Next to her is an enormous man, darker and looking at her (worshipfully) and the rest of their surroundings (suspiciously), wearing a brown uniform that is held on entirely via the cunning application of magnets. She has a glass of something fizzy and gold and he's got a Coke in its can.

Comments

[prodigal_miser]

Adarin's somewhere between restless and anxious. He's tempted to bug Isabella by mirror again, but he did that an hour ago and she's probably busy. Just because he's not doesn't mean that he should bother her. Three to four days should not take this long, but - after his time on Earth, where he wasn't anyone of particular importance to anyone but Isabella, every minute spent on New Kystle is like a slow, agonizing torment.

So when he opens the door and does not find his study, he practically jumps at the chance to not be stuck, in this plane, with these people. After he scries the hell out of the bar, that is, just to be certain nothing is going to kill him and it is definitely another plane, and not an illusion or the result of a very persistent mage that was particularly offended by his study. Nope, it is - definitely a bar. That is attached to a very bizarrely shaped plane.

He steps inside, looks around, and then walks carefully to the bar, obviously confused. Curious, but confused.

[her_imperial_radiance]

The girl at the bar looks over her shoulder when he opens the door the first time and waves.

[prodigal_miser]

Adarin waves back.

"Excuse me," he asks, in English (because his people have never heard of this place, he'd have noticed.) "do you speak English?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I do, among other things."

There is a distinctly interesting quality to her statement.

It's very... true.

[prodigal_miser]

Huh. Okay, so - probably from Earth. Or some sort of ultra-powerful being, considering the - truth inherent to her statements. That's a bit worrying.

"And - are you from Earth?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I'm from an Earth."

[prodigal_miser]

"... There are multiple?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"This bar is an interdimensional hub. There's plenty of Earths. Mine has vampires and it's currently the year 2029. What's yours like?"

[prodigal_miser]

Blink, blink.

"I - don't remember the year, I'm not from it, but - er, witches that fly on cloudpines, have ritual magic - does it have the same quirk with daemons?"

At home, Vernaia has stirred from her pining over the mirror to tap the door. Don't forget the magic talking bird, the magic talking bird is wondering why you are confused and also why you're not in the study.

"- Speaking of, hold on..." He turns around, opens the door, and in wanders Vernaia.

".... Um?"

"Interdimensional hub. There are multiple Earths," he explains.

"Oh." The kagu looks around at all of the people, a little nervously. Adarin scoops her up, deposits her on his lap, and sits at the bar, daemon peeking out over the table. "Hi," she says.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"My world doesn't have those," says Elspeth. "Hello to you too."

[prodigal_miser]

"I'm Vernaia, it's nice to meet you. I'm his magic talking bird soul. I'm kind of new to existing, but that's okay, I'm coping."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I'm Elspeth," says Elspeth. "And this is Jake."

Jake coughs.

"And if you care, I'm a princess."

[prodigal_miser]

"I'm Adarin," clarifies Adarin. "Princess of - what, exactly?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"The Golden Empire. My Earth has a vampire shadow government that my mother is Empress of."

[prodigal_miser]

"That's - sort of alarming. 'Vampire shadow government,'" says Adarin.

"New Kystle's probably more alarming, considering. Especially when you factor in your mom," says Vern.

"... Fair," he admits. "Is it a nice vampire shadow government?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"It is since she usurped it!"

[prodigal_miser]

"Oh, well. Then, good for her."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"So what do you do, Adarin?"

[prodigal_miser]

"I'm a mage," he says. "And I met a witch when I went on a visit to another plane, and now we are planning to take over the economy together."

Vern snickers.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Sounds like fun. What're you going to do with it?"

[prodigal_miser]

"She is going to research and then implement immortality, I am going to take cues from Earth technology and use it to help equalize non-mages and get mages to be less - completely terrible to them."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Cool. My mama's working on slowly turning the entire human population into vampires for immortality. I handle that department myself, actually."

[prodigal_miser]

"... Isabella will probably want to know that. Immediately. Are there pros and cons to being a vampire? Besides immortality and - my translation's saying something about drinking blood? That sounds messy."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Huh, Isabella's my mama's name, too... There are lots of pros and cons. It's all consensual and vampires aren't allowed to eat humans anymore. There's pamphlets. Do you want to see them?"

[prodigal_miser]

"I would love to see pamphlets," says Adarin.

"... Long brown hair, brown eyes, fair skin?" muses Vernaia.