In the end Laura ended up drinking ten of the fourteen vials she had left. She wanted to cry. If she wished the wolf woman could make a deal and fix her current situation, but she didn't want to do that. Thankfully treating her to a meal after they return to Zenesha's home doesn't count. Since it was more of a thank you gift.
While lamenting her loss Laura had returned to the fox, who was visibly excited as she busied herself with the control board. Well, her face was passive, but her tail was swinging back and forth with her ears perked up.
"Well look at you Princess, so excited." Laura teased.
Zenesha frowned, turning her head to the wolf. "I've always hated that nickname, let's not call me that here please?"
"You don't like the Ice Princess name?" Laura asked, tilting her head. "I always thought it was cool, in a cute kind of way."
"It's embarrassing. I'm the Queen now and my title is Princess?"
"Heh."
"Don't laugh!"
Zenesha turned around in a huff, but Laura noticed that her tail never stopped moving excitedly. The wolf woman just smiled as she watched the Ice Princess work. Eventually they managed to connect with her people.
"This is Zenesha Heart, code 15199919840317-1." Zenesha said over the radio. "I'm currently stranded inside one of the red zones in an old town called Veshra somewhere near the southwest border, my last known coordinates were-"
Zenesha continued to give the person on the other side as much information as she could. Stopping occasionally to make sure they were getting everything.
"Copy that ma'am, we'll send someone to pick you up. Hang tight for a few hours." The soldier on the other side spoke. "We're happy to hear from you, my Queen."
"Good. We have limited power so I'm going to shut off the power." Zenesha responded. "Shoot up a flair when you're close so I know it's you."
"Copy that ma'am."
With that the fox turned off the consol. "Can you go to the circuit breaker and turn off the power again?"
"Sure."
Walking to the breaker in the corner of the room, Laura flipped everything off. There wasn't any point in wasting power. Even if they kept it on it'll run out far before any help could arrive. They had enough to get the power on for about an hour give or take, not enough to be reliable.
When Laura turned around, she found Zenesha staring intently at her before opening her mouth to ask, "How did you get the generator to run?"
"... Someone drained the generator like we thought, but luckily there was extra fuel inside for me to use."
"Uh huh. So, others took the time and effort to siphon fuel from the generator but left a perfectly fine canister of fuel behind?"
"... Yes."
"You really expect me to believe that?" Zenesha sighed. "Well whatever, you don't need to tell me."
"Thanks for not asking further questions."
"I won't ask about the fuel, but are you even an Arves?"
"... What makes you think that?"
"Not sure, just… a feeling." Zenesha said furring her brows. "I still can't figure out why you're helping me. Other than my identity that is."
"Like I said, I helped you because of your identity but probably not in the way you would believe."
"Yes, you did say that. Well, it doesn't really matter. I'll treat you to a meal later as a thank you." The fox paused. "Unless there's something you actually want instead?"
"I- nothing, I don't need anything." Laura answered.
If she truly asked for something like essence, then it'll probably turn into a real deal at that point. She would be left without a choice but to twist everything in an unpleasant way. She hated that. She hated the way it got in her head and compelled her to do things.
"It's in my nature to be helpful so don't worry about it." Laura continued, not wanting to think about her situation any longer.
"Your nature huh?" She said, repeating the wolf woman's words. "Lucky me then."
"Yeah, it is lucky for you." Laura boasts. "I'm fairly powerful."
"Yet you still struggled against the muscle lion." Teased the fox.
"Today was different. Since I neglected ta- never mind. Point being, I wasn't in top form."
"Whatever you say, you vagabond."
"You say that with mockery, but I hold that title with pride." Laura puffed out her chest and flexed one of her arms. "This place is so interesting after all."
"You speak as if you aren't from here."
"... I'm not. I'm from real far. Really far."
"Really where from? Which continent and country?"
"... You know that doesn't really matter, what about you? You don't look like you're fully an Arves." The wolf asked, changing the subject.
"I'm not, my father was human." Zenesha answered with a shrug.
"Figured, you're missing the animal limbs after all." Laura responded, presenting her own arms as an example. "Shame because I think they're cool, but you look cute just the way you are princess."
"I'll freeze off your tongue if you keep calling me that." Zenesha threatened the laughing Laura.
=======
The two of them continued to talk for a couple hours when Laura felt something off, like a constant pressure in the back of her mind. She then realized she couldn't feel her tail and looked behind her, seeing it partially gone. She quickly stood up, hiding her tail behind her back as she addressed Zenesha.
"I, uh, need the bathroom." She said backing away from the fox, the pressure in her head becoming more prominent.
"You, okay? You look a little pale."
"I'm fine! Just stay there!" She yelled before running off.
She ran down the hall, turned left and slammed through the back door, before turning right, running into the small side building and stopping in front of the generator. She set down her bag and grabbed a siphon and stuck it into the fuel slot and started siphoning the refined essence from the machine and into her plastic container.
Soon it was full and just as she was about to reach out to pick it up, her left leg vanished completely causing her to lose balance and fall on her face. Groaning, she pushed herself up from the ground, black blood running from her nose. Her head felt like it was pounding as the pressure grew.
As its presence grew.
Now in a sitting position she reached for the refined essence, grimaced at it before closing her eyes and holding her breath. With effort, she started drinking the entire thing. It was like drinking acid, each gulp burned her throat, making it feel raw.
It was thick and hard to swallow, clinging to her insides, making it feel as if she was both choking and drowning at the same time. Tears pooled and fell down her face as the bitter liquid emptied into her stomach. Soon enough she finished and collapsed onto the ground breathing hard, her body drenched in sweat.
The pressure in the back of her mind was gone though. It was gone.
She laid there on the ground for a few seconds feeling sick before looking up again, sensing a presence. Now that she had a sufficient amount of essence, she was far more connected to the physical realm than before. Meaning she was far more sensitive to anything around her. That includes….
"Zenesha…." She said, giving the woman looking down on her in shock a weak grin. "It's kinda embarrassing you caught me in such a state."
=-=-=-=
Zenesha Heart was the leader of the Zari Legion. She took over from her mother who was killed by White Ashes Syndicate three years ago. The faction was named after her mother and she planned to keep it that way, and to honor her name she's studied greatly so she can live up to the expectations placed on her.
At fifteen she had already joined their military division and was placed high in the charts, far above her peers. She studied combat, strategy, and economics all while in basic training. She was the golden child.
A few years later, when she had just turned nineteen, her mother was killed, and she took over as the new leader. In her grief Zenesha had tried to find a way to bring her mother back and during that time she learned something. About the creatures from a realm separate from reality.
A realm with many names, but her country liked to call it the Void. Voidlings, Forsaken, Hollowed ones. They were like demons, their sole purpose seemingly to mess with mortals. Offering knowledge and treasure for anyone if they're willing to pay the price.
Zenesha thought about summoning one during this time, but logic prevailed, and she chose not to go through with this action. She couldn't trust they would bring her mother back properly, for there's always, always a twist whenever one makes a deal with these creatures.
They seem to have an innate need to provide help and a service. Some offer it for free, which usually ends well for the person. Tempting them into a deal, which either ends with them getting what they want with a twist, or the thing the Void creature asked for was something that either harmed the recipient or was much greater than they could pay.
Not honoring the deal was a grave mistake people usually only made once. Which is why Zenesha was so suspicious of Laura. She was too helpful, and her studies have given her a healthy dose of suspicion against free help. She had no evidence or even a reason to believe the wolf woman was not from this world however, so she was unable to come to a conclusion.
Yet something always felt off. After witnessing her chug something so poisonous and dangerous that a normal person would've died, along with her disappearing and reappearing limbs, she no longer questioned it. With her eyes drawn to the black blood, unique to creatures from that realm, she stepped forward.
"Hey, are you going to say something?" Laura asked nervously, wiping the blood from her nose, leaving behind a black stain.
Zenesha said nothing as she continued to approach. She stopped in front of the wolf… no, the creature, and looked down at her. She watched as it pushed itself off the ground and into a sitting position. Laura stared up at her with not fear, but confusion and interest. Despite being discovered and seemingly weakened, she wasn't all that worried.
"You're from the void aren't you." She spoke, her tone cold and even. Her words were phrased as a question but were undoubtedly a statement.
"That I am." Laura confirmed, her voice still shaky. "What now? Kill me, lock me away? Or just leave and come back with your people to hunt me down?" Laura questioned, looking into her light blue eyes.
"Perhaps you even want to make a deal for knowledge, power, or wealth?" The void creature continued.
Zenesha didn't say anything but instead crouched down to eye level. "Just a question. What did you plan to do after helping me?"
Laura smirked. "As I said before. You mortals are so suspicious of free help. Just staying true to my desires and helping someone I found."
"Now I don't like making deals, "She continued, "So I was planning to just leave after returning you home. You're the one that insisted on giving me a reward. A simple meal from you as a thanks keeps me from making a proper deal."
"You had no intention of tricking me? You were planning to just leave?" Zenesha asked, narrowing her eyes. She didn't want to believe it, but she also got the feeling Laura wasn't lying.
"Yep. I also figured helping you would make things interesting. I like this place and the more interesting it is the better." She answered. "Plus, you're cute." She added.
Zenesha's ear twitched at the last statement but her face didn't move. She stared into the brown eyes of the creature in front of her. She heard they can take on any appearance they wanted, never showing their true forms. She wondered for a moment what Laura really looked like before shaking her head.
"So, I was what? A convenient distraction? Something to play with till you're bored?" Asked the fox feeling annoyed.
"No, no." Laura responded, hurriedly shaking her head. "You're not the first person I've helped randomly. But you are the first significant person of interest I helped. I really did just want to offer a service. You just happened to be more interesting to me than most."
"One last question." Zenesha said after digesting Laura's words. "You said you weren't in top form, meaning you're weak right now. Why is that?"
"Two reasons. One: Most of my abilities are sealed by yours truly. It Lets me experience this place on a more fundamental level."
She paused.
"The second reason was because I didn't consume any essence since taking care of you. I would've been going through twice as much as I would normally. I just gave you what I would've taken instead, so my rate of use stayed the same."
"Unfortunately, that meant I was ill prepared when a real threat showed itself and my hold on reality was unstable." Laura continued. "I used my powers again when refueling this generator. Changing the state of something is not an easy thing to do."
Zenesha finally let out a sigh as she stood up and reached out her arm. Laura, seeing this, looked at it for a few seconds before grabbing it and being pulled to her feet by the fox. She blinked at Zenesha in surprise for a few seconds.
"Your uh, trusting me?" Laura asked, shocked and confused.
"For now, yes. You did help me, and most free help from your species ends well." She answered before turning to leave. "Let's get back inside and wait for my people to rescue me."