Chapter 1: Prolog: The Call
Notes:
I'll be posting designs and doodles on my ~tumblr~ of the designs of both my drifter and operator so you can see them better because believe me these weirdos are hard to describe- At least for me. Will be posted later today after this fic with my tumblr as rando-lesbo210, so check it out if you want! no pressure! Anywho! Please enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Every story starts somewhere. Technically, hers definitely didn’t start here, but that all is history at this point. This was the mark of a new chapter, even if she didn’t know about it.
Maybe Chapter was an inaccurate name for this. See, chapters aren’t usually that long, but this might as well have been the next book in the series. And she was getting fairly tired of these story/book metaphors but that was just unfortunately the best way to describe her life.
“Hey! Come on!”
An annoying and familiar voice had to pipe up, interrupting her totally important and not mundane activity of exploring news of the last thousand years.
“What do you want, ‘Tasi? I’m busy-” The older woman didn’t look up, still staring at the screen until getting a plushie thrown at her face of a yellow Pobber- Tiny little rodent with glass eyes that hurt.
“ Busy my ass- Mom called and she wanted us both there.”
Mom.
Still was weird the younger girl called that woman mom still, even after everything. But what did she know? She was just a drifter. Wasn’t her universe. She sat up and adjusted her jacket, stretching her neck.
“Yeah, yeah- Did the Lotus say anything else? Danger or something?” Hope she wasn’t hungry again.
“If it was dangerous and you were taking this long, I’d personally beat you up.” Funny words from a tiny ass teenager that was a whole foot shorter than her. Still weird to think that they were the same person- Were . Only sign of it now was their looks. Matching short sea blue hair, glowing blue eyes with white pupils, gap tooth on the top row of their teeth, and lastly, freckles. That was where the similarities ended, even being physically nine years different in age. Most jarring thing was looking at the kid and seeing ‘void’ scarring around her right eye, mostly just along the bone and most of the right side of her face. And the fact she always had her eyes big and staring at things. She motioned for the older one to follow her already. “I’ll drag you with-”
“ Okay, okay- Damn, I’m coming. Where are we going?” The drifter got up and moved from the personal quarters she had taken over, not knowing it’d be the last time she’d be in the floof stuffed room for a very long time.
“Deimos, where human-Loid is.”
“So, are we taking two ‘frames or something?” Warframes. Can’t say she was the biggest fan, they were kinda creepy to think about, but Atasi, her younger self here, adored them. Like. Really really adored them. Creepy kinda to like a bunch of dead soldiers turned puppets, but mentioning that never went well so the drifter just held her tongue and sort of respected the other girl’s decisions. She used them from time to time, but it was hard to get used to.
“Psh, no. We’re gonna double up. I’m being in lead though, you just tag in, I’ll let ya fit.”
What?
“Atasi, the hell do you mean double up ??” But of course, the other just ignored her as she moved towards their Arsenal, her favorite frame there already of course. Frost Prime. Standing there in wait. Somehow, you can get different looks for them, and she chose this ‘Hisame’ style, giving the warframe horns and an overall different look, about all of it colored blue and white. The same theme for the entire Orbiter, weapon, and about everything else they owned. Even their clothes, but the older girl was Also at fault because she really liked the look of it herself too.
“I mean transfer in, and I will Also be transferred in. We can’t deploy two Warframes at once, if there’s an extraction or a risk, we can't leave as quickly- It’ll work, trust me. Two consciousnesses can exist within a warframe, as long as there isn’t any fighting.” Who knew this information would become vital and good to know in only a few hours time.
“Why do you get to pilot..” She muttered as she watched Atasi disappear, life brought into the warframe as it stood up straighter and stretched.
‘ Cauuuusseee, I’m stronger than you with transference. Now come on, Azura, or I’m just gonna drag you like this. ’
Forever wear to hear the echoing tone of Atasi, knowing it came from the warframe in front of her. Azura was taller than it, but it was fucking Wide and Built. And warframes were just unnaturally strong for some damn reason. With another grumble, the drifter gave in and took a second to transfer within. Transference felt.. Weird to say. Like you were pulling on a thick rubber suit, your senses muted but honed.
In a way, she understood why someone so small like ‘Tasi would like warframes. They did make you feel powerful, but it was awkward as hell at first. Now imagine being in the rubber suit and feeling extra squished and shoved to the side. That’s how it felt to have two trying to fit into one body. At first, it was wonky, and Frost stumbled, but when Atasi moved, it felt like she was also moving Azura’s body. This was certainly awful. She hoped she’d never have to do this again but hey. Apparently the universe loves to make things ironic for her.
She kinda zoned out for the trip to the Sanctum, not exactly fond or enjoying the way she was being transported there. It was kinda a blur past the Cavia and their blabber as Atasi chose to simply rush past and run across the black tile floor to find her mother dearest. (Azura really didn’t mind the Lotus, but she certainly preferred to keep an arms distance. Wasn’t her fault, truly, but y’know. It was a wild time.) The younger girl ignored just about everything upon noticing a figure standing off near the edge in the sand, a loud beeping- almost ringing -like tone from their direction. With the headpiece, it was quite easy to identify them, and as expected, the other headed right over. Azura thought she was about to be the first person who got motion sick from doing a double transference.
At a certain distance, they both were basically spit out of the warframe, Atasi to her right a couple feet away. The Lotus was much further and had her back turned to them, staring at something in her hands that emitted the noise. Azura got herself to stand after the nauseating experience, although told there wasn’t danger, she felt on edge, but not from the other woman. No idea what was throwing her off, unable to see any of the Murmur or any danger. Behind them, Frost was kneeling, like a puppet with cut strings. As easy on the eyes as the Lotus was, Azura wasn’t sure she was happy with this silence and weird beeping.
“Hm? Oh, it’s you-” The drifter hesitated as the Lotus spoke, turning to face them.
“Are you okay?” Atasi asked right after, tilting her head.
“Wait, d’you mind explaining what exactly you mean with ‘ it’s you ’?” Her younger self looked over and narrowed her eyes at Azura, but she just rolled her eyes. The Lotus turned towards Atasi first, her eyes hidden, but there was a loving tone.
“You, my child. The Great Indifference wants to take.. I want to let it.. I feel… Only the call.” She hesitated, turning to look at Azura next, nodding towards her. “You, my champion. Please. Drown out that noise that beckons. If any other answers the call… No. It has to be you. Our paradox. Do you hear it? The calls of angels, devils, life itself? It’s grown so loud. It tries to follow in his footsteps through time.. You must find him first.”
What.
As flattering as it was to be referred to as her ‘champion’, Azura wasn’t sure she was liking what the Lotus was saying- Whatever she was saying- Atasi looked back and forth in confusion.
“W-What?? What are you talking about?? Wh-What do you mean Azura has to answer??” Atasi asked, looking back and forth.
“I apologize, my child, but it must be her. You are needed here and now, this is your place. Azura is not bound here by such. It must be her to answer.” The Lotus insisted to the younger girl, but it still felt off.
“What do you mean in general ?? Like, what kind of call am I answering??” It felt very.. Weird for it to be so particular. Sure, usually she liked to do the more dangerous things just in case to keep Atasi safe most of the time but- This was.. Weird. And felt awfully final.
“A call for help. To the past. I need you to take it, my champion. It must be answered. To stop the Indifference.” Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
“How….H-How long will it take?” She didn’t expect Atasi to cut in, looking worriedly at the drifter. “Is she coming back…?”
“Soon, but I do not know how long it will take… I have faith she will complete this task, but time is not tangible in this case.”
Shit… She sighed heavily, glancing between the device in the Lotus’ hands and to Atasi.
“I’ll be fine, ‘Tasi.. I’ll- Answer this call, I guess… She muttered, rubbing the back of her neck, walking towards the Lotus. She could feel Atasi staring holes into her, as she took the beeping thing, looking where assumably the other woman’s eyes were, lowering her voice. “You make sure to watch the kid, okay? She’s bad with eating and taking breaks.” There was a gentle smile and nod from the Lotus.
“Of course. Thank you.” Azura nodded, looking down before over to see Atasi holding her hands to herself.
“Be careful… Please..?”
What a difficult task that’d prove to be.
“Don’t worry ‘bout me, I got it. You be careful, ‘kay?”
Notes:
we get silly folks- Anyways, so kinda short hope thats okay, next one will be a little short too just to get this started and then it's gonna be longer and more dialog and interactions. Please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoy as it helps motivate my adhd ass to write! i'ma shut up now but don't forget if you wanna see what these fools look like, it is on my tumblr @rando-lesbo210
Chapter Text
Piloting- Being in a person- it. It was a lot different than a warframe. Lines felt blurred. For once, she reaallyyy felt like an intruder- She was Actually invading someone's mind.
And she was hiding.
Staying quiet.
Trying to not be heard. To be noticed. Like a child sneaking up past their bedtime. She had to be careful to not even think too hard, to not react- There was no visible place, but she could feel him searching for her. He knew something was off. But thankfully, he couldn't guess there was a second person in his head. She could feel his thoughts. His emotions. But she couldn't dig into his memories. At least, she wasn't trying to.
For most of it, she was awestruck anyways and trying to take in the differences. The smells. The sights. The sounds. Everything was so different. Everyone was so different. She wasn't very familiar with warframes but these- the people around this guy- Arthur, was it? They all… Looked like fusions of people and frame. And they had the abilities. But also had their sanity and control of themselves.
She was going to have to ask Atasi about this all- It didn't make sense to her. She should've paid higher attention to her younger self when she babbled about-
The man turned suddenly to look over his shoulder, tensing and growing guarded as nothing was there.
Whoops. Thinking too loud…
Azura thought she was doing great. She was taking as many mental notes as she could, she was trying to adapt like she did when she first left Duviri- The drifter was trying her fucking best. She was so glad it was her over Atasi.. Maybe the Lotus knew there'd be people. The younger girl wasn't… accustomed to people. She’d freak out.
These trains of thoughts, these blurred times and moments as she watched Arthur, as she looked through his eyes, breathed as him- She kept forgetting to turn her own mind off.
Everything fell apart almost literally once the tower of screens in front of them broke and shattered to the floor, once she- he- they watched Helminth emerge. They watched in horror as it spat out what looked to be a copy of Arthur.
Until Azura realized who it was. What it was.
An Excalibur.
A warframe.
What Arthur looked like.
What he was. (Ish. She’s still working that out to be honest-)
In what may have been the coolest moment of each drawing their swords and charging, you argue her disguise fell apart in a way as the warframe pulled at her.
Pleaded for someone to hold the strings. Offering her a grounding to transfer to.
And somehow.
Somehow that triggered Arthur to realize he wasn't alone. As the warframe collapsed, so did the barriers she had made to not be found. As soon as he mentally grabbed her, it made a link. And that meant unfortunately overwhelming him with her own shit. Something something transference connection- She had no fucking clue.
It was painful as hell for the two of them though. He was overwhelmed, she was getting dragged through. It was a second before she realized he was literally managing to drag her somehow inside- and to her surprise- getting thrown out on the ground in front of him on her stomach.
In a rightful panic, the drifter tried to get her gun and fire, managing to point it before being met with the very painful experience of a blade going through her hand and pinning it to the ground. Ouch.
She's dealt with worse, but it still hurts, even if she didn't scream. She got to see the guy from the outside properly now. Face scarred to hell with one eye blind, black and white hair hanging slightly to his eyes but brushed back. There was stubble across his jaw, but it was met with the skin of the Excalibur warframe. He had straps and bags though, a weird mishmash of soldier, human, and warframe. Arthur's face was covered in sweat, kneeling down and glaring at Azura with exhaustion evident.
“Now that… was very rude..” She couldn’t place the accent of course, but it wasn't usual. (To her, anyways-) The drifter debated moving, but it's not exactly a fun feeling to have metal going through your skin and bone especially on something with so many muscles. She bit back a more colorful response, trying to think her words out more carefully. She needs them to trust her, but this wasn't the greatest way of doing that. And she was also not in the best of situations to bark when she had no bite. So for now, she will be calm and cool, clearing her throat and gritting her teeth. Boy. This sure hurt.
“Okay… You could say I see your point here..” The man narrowed his eyes at her, not moving the sword whatsoever and leaving it as it was. Thankfully, or more or less un-thankfully, the other five she saw before had caught up now and were staring at them. Whoops.. Also unfortunately, the adrenaline and shock was wearing off, her senses taking in and being overwhelmed with the familiar and ever so disgusting scent of the infestation. She wasn’t bothered by the cold at least, more or less focused with the painful and aching feeling of a blade in her right hand. Mega ouchies.
“Who in the hell-” Uhh, she thinks his name was Quincy? Either way, he and the others were very surprised at the new addition. She did a half assed wave with her left hand in greeting, baffling them more.
“Wish I bloody knew- She’s been in my fuckin’ head-” Arthur spat, managing to stand after a few seconds of struggle.
“Alright, I know this is uh- a weird thing right now, but let's continue the whole show and tell somewhere where there isn't the infestation screaming at the doorstep?” The way these guys kept staring at her made her think they didn't have jokes or something back in 1999, like jeez. Gods forbid a woman try to be funny. The man above her grumbled something, sighing heavily. He wouldn’t acknowledge that she was right, instead ignoring more or less what she said.
“Let's get back to base.. Aoi, make some cuffs or something to restrain her. Quincy and Amir, make sure we have a clear path.” Arthur muttered tiredly, hand on the handle of his sword and looking down at Azura. She had the urge to say that cuffs or restraints aren't really useful on her but maybe she should keep that to herself. And let them feel like they have some control here. The two other guys turned around, Quincy grumbling something himself, as one of the ladies kept staring at her- She had hair similar to Arthur, but extremely long and back in a ponytail, black eyes and purple irises. Pupils thin like a kavat. It was like she was trying to pick her apart from just looking at her. Eh. She ignored it for now, getting more or less of a headache from the pain in her hand.
“On it!” Ah fuck, she forgot the warframe for this one. Sick as hell though watching her pull all the nearby metal to herself and form it into a ball before making what Azura had to assume were to be this time’s primitive-looking handcuffs. Not wanting to cause more problems, the drifter moved her free left hand towards the stabbed right one as, presumably Aoi, walked over and crouched down to ‘restrain’ Azura. No use in fighting anyways.
Even in the face of execution, she'd make jokes, so she saw no reason to stop now, even if it seemed like they lacked humor. To be fair, it didn't help that the jailer here was pretty cute, Azura tending to babble anyways when nervous like her younger self. She had no idea what the name was or how to describe Aoi’s haircut, it was so different from what she's seen and y'know what? It was very pretty. She also had some awfully sharp claws on her hand, so the drifter definitely wanted to make sure to play nice with being so close as the woman moved the metal cuffs around her wrists.
“Do I get goodie points for not resisting and being a good prisoner?” Azura didn't expect to get a response, maybe an irritated eye roll, but surprisingly enough when she looked up, she could tell that Aoi was trying hard to hold back a laugh. So they did have a sense of humor. Good news for her.
“Maybe.. but it depends if you're here to kill us all or not.” Leeway. She'll take it. However, Arthur seemed upset with their banter, yanking his sword up and out of Azura's hand. Ow.
“Aoi, don't encourage her. Now let's get going already-”
“I think you should continue to encourage me, it’d be really funny-” Azura added, trying to stand up on her own without using her injured hand. Yeeeouucchh. She was beginning to get on Arthur’s nerves clearly, but hey- The other was liking her jokes and still trying to not laugh. The last two girls, the one with purple irises and then one in red and looking like medic- Purple seemed humored, red? Not so much. There was the sound of gunfire of course, the different but familiar screaming of infested in the background following with. Arthur grabbed her arm a bit harshly, dragging her towards the exit with the others and towards the red one specifically.
“Genial, otra tonta- Let’s get out of here already before we’re up to our necks with techrot. Give me your hand, I’ll properly patch it when we get there.” She had a tired tone, another odd accent but whatever. However, she was a bit rough grabbing the drifter’s hand as she pulled out a roll of gauze, quickly wrapping it. The drifter was noticing the height with all the hex, she seemed so far as the tallest- Arthur next with who's presumably his sister.
“Did you guys all ride here on those bikes? Am I gonna just get one or should I just go back in-”
“You're riding on the back of one of ours.”
“Can I ride with the nice one?” Azura meant Aoi of course because at least someone here didn’t seem upset at her existence. They were getting short on time though, having to hurry and exit the way they came.
“Absolutely not.”
“Well, I'm certainly not going to be able to fit with you-”
“Then you'll ride with Lettie.” Ah, that must've been the short one in red because she said some words the drifter didn't understand in a very angry tone before scowling.
“If your hands wander, I'm kicking you off into the street.”
This will certainly be a very fun ride to wherever the hell they're planning to take her.
Notes:
Pointed out some of the things may be wrong or off my apologies, uhmmm my head hurts I was gonna say more but can't think of it
Chapter 3: Marty McFlea
Notes:
if you notice loopholes, no you didnt... (they're minor but haunt me.)
ALSO THANK YOU TO FEW PALS TAE AND SERAPH FOR HELPING ME WITH QUINCY
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was rough getting back to this base they had- A mall they said, but it was still very odd to see and experience. They were on a time limit, she had to keep that in mind as they dragged her around really.
She could imagine this place must've been a lot nicer and cooler in its prime, but now it was worn down like the Zariman. Ough. That wasn't a connection she wanted to make. The drifter physically shook her head to try and clear it from her mind, focusing on what to say to these people and what might get them to listen as Lettie and the others took her to a back office through one of the destroyed stores, a chair in the middle. Ah. Interrogation room. But first her hand.
“Hopefully the techrot didn't get in your wound. If you get infected-” The woman began as she moved up Azura's sleeve to take off her gloves.
“Is that what you guys call the infestation here?” The drifter cringed as the fabric was peeled away from the wound, the blood having dried and stuck itself to her skin.
“If you mean those mutant things with the tvs, then yes. That's what we call techrot.” Arthur had his arms crossed, leaning against the back wall with the other two men.
“Not my first run in with it then, so I'll be fine. That's not why I'm here though.” She didn't even think about her own void scarring on her hand from the whole thing with the Lotus and trying to channel this void shit now- The medic paused at first, pulling her hand closer to look at it. “If you couldn't guess, I'm not from here. Obviously. I know it's gonna be hard to trust me, but we have like- Nineteen hours until this place goes boom. And I mean nuclear boom.” Reasonably, none of them were exactly believing her here, squinting and scowling. It was almost a good thing then her hand was freaky and got stabbed as Lettie looked back to the others.
“I've seen shit in my time, but I've never seen anything like this. Qué demonios, what is this??” The woman muttered, moving to show the others.
It did look freaky, a bit of black scarring at her palm and darkened veins halfway down her forearm with hints of that void green to it.
“Wouldn't make sense even if I told you- I'll elaborate on it later, it's just scarring- That's besides the point for right now.” She did her best to give a rundown of the situation, trying to make it understandable but also not sound completely insane. It was quiet for a moment before one of the guys with the big circle glasses looked at the other, whisper shouting at him.
“Woaaaah- Like Marty McFlea!” Azura looked at the other guy, she thinks his name was Quincy- He looked at Arthur, gesturing to the drifter as Lettie finished stitching her hand.
“You takin’ the piss?” Takin' the What? Weird slang… She's gonna have to get used to that. Either way, Arthur sighed heavily, looking the drifter up and down.
“If it's bullshit, I'll feed Marty here to the techrot myself. But the clocks runnin’ out.” The one with glasses spoke again, looking more down.
“The nuke kinda makes sense, actually…” He muttered more quietly, adjusting his glasses as Azura shrugged, taking a sarcastic tone.
“Happy New Year.”
“Well, you're on point, Marty. But you try any of those head games again, and there won't be much for Lettie to stitch back up. You read me?”
“Looooud and clear. Are we all on the same page now?” The drifter asked, looking at everyone. There was. Still a lot of doubt. She didn't like her odds right now…
‘If it helps, I can verify her story myself.’
Azura jumped a bit, surprised at the sudden addition of a voice in her head. It was the one with purple irises that was staring at her earlier. The others seemed to have noticed it came from her, looking over. Cool, the drifter wasn't just crazy herself. That's comforting? Ish?
It was slower but it struck her a minute later why the other could speak in her head. She was Nyx. Or.. based on Nyx? Supposed to be? Ehhh, the drifter was still trying to figure that whole thing out…
Nyx, Nyx, Nyx, why would Nyx be able to verify her story..? Nyx could do psychic things, but what exactly? Ugh, she wished her brain worked more like her younger self’s and could remember this stuff near instantly- Literally nearly everyone had to be some warframe she didn’t know very well. She managed to scrape together that Aoi was Mag, and then the one with glasses was definitely Volt.
“Oh yeah, she can, can't she? Shit, we coulda done that first-” Quincy motioned between the other woman and Azura. Arthur seemed uncomfortable at first, shifting in place. Stuck in a hard position of leading vs caring it seems.
“I don't want to become too reliant on it. Besides, I didn't know if it'd cause any problems for Marty here and fuck us over.” Azura was practically wracking at her brain to figure out what the hell she was about to get into. She needed to keep calm and not freak out.
‘Only gets risky if they fight back.’
OH RIGGHHHHTTTT-
It was uhhhh-
It was mind control! The warframe could take control of enemies’ minds and then make them fight on her side- Ah. Huh. Hm. How would that work here…? Gonna be messing with her brain.. So trying to fight that, it’ll probably royally fuck her up. Okay. She can work with that. Because being brain dead would totally ruin everything. Guess somehow with mind control she could only guess it let her read minds or something for her to be able to ‘verify’ Azura.
“Not looking to get my brains scrambled soooo don't worry about that. I got nothin’ to hide.” The drifter paused briefly, thinking it over a little more. “Well, you might want to be a bit careful if you're gonna peep at my mind- Lot of weird shit in here that won't make sense. We can focus on the important stuff, right?” The other woman tilted her head, crossing her arms.
‘How did you know what I was going to do?’
Oh right, that was a solo mental journey of connecting the dots.
“Uhhhhhhh- Future things? I mean- Do you want me to pretend I'm surprised instead?” Ah, she was completing her favorite pastime of getting on nerves that's for certain. Guess it did but didn’t help her case to have guessed it apparently..
“Make it quick. We're low on time.” The man grumbled, gesturing towards the drifter. Right, okay. She should focus on what's going on- The man in the wall, Entrati-
‘Hold still, won't you? And, as before, don't fight back. This is going to be equally uncomfortable.’
Ah, fun, that's what you want to hear before someone pokes in your brain. Sure, alright. Azura nodded as the other woman approached, placing her hand on the side of the drifter's temple. At first it wasn't too bad, but she realized the error of trying to focus on what she wanted the other to see just means it seems like she's hiding more.
She didn't feel anything at first until it was like fingers digging through her mind, flipping through things like screens.
It didn't seem very controlled for either of them, flashes of Duviri, of the Orbiter, Lotus talking to her and Atasi. It was at the view of the man in the wall again she tried to focus it, focus what he's done, the altering within the void. The danger. Entrati.
The void almost linked to the Zariman but the drifter pulled full stops there.
No one else should have to witness what happened on that ship.
No one.
Trust me.
Nearly right after she pulled the reins away from the hell-ship, the other woman backed up from her, pulling her hand away and staring in a mixture of shock, wonder, and reasonably, slight fear. But certainly curiosity. Couldn't have been more for a few seconds for everyone else, but far too long for Azura. Ough. That did not feel comfortable…
“Well, Eleanor? Is Marty here telling the truth?” Arthur questioned, tilting his head. Ah. Eleanor. Funny she didn't know her name and here the other was digging in her brain. Eleanor sighed, exhaling through her nose and not her mouth. (She sure did avoid opening her mouth, very curious about that. Who knows though. Azura certainly didn’t.)
‘Yes. She's telling the truth. We need to get moving.’
NOW everyone seemed to be taking her more seriously! Only took a little parooz in her poor brain…
“Now, if you could maaaaayybbeee get rid of these…?” Azura motioned to the metal cuffs around her wrists as she looked at the one who formed them. Aoi looked at Arthur, seeming to check before somehow finding a response in his unchanging expression and the handcuffs popped off without even a move of her finger. The drifter massaged her wrists, stretching her neck as she got up. “Three things now. One, did you grab the thing the big ol’ mouth had spat out earlier?” Arthur hesitated, making a sort of grumble.
“The thing that looked like me? Yeah.” Technically it was sorta the other way around but she wasn’t going to get into that.
“Cool! I’ma need that if you don’t want me hitchhiking again- Now that’s a part of number two for me to explain in a quick manner.” Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to dumb down the process of transference because that’s how she remembered it really herself- “Very, very, very quick explanation, I can only do it to you guys and those things cause a complicated process I’ll share after tonight- The one you saw was more or less made specifically to be controlled.” Of course, that wasn’t a comforting answer for any of them. She tried to elaborate a little more, hopefully not lying to their faces, but making a sort of blind guess. “Not the same for you guys though! Those ones are uhhhh- think of them like toys based on someone- You guys are lightyears different. I’m surprised I even managed to be in Arthur’s head, but as he did, you can basically evict me so.. Don't worry about me like- crashing in and not leaving or something- Does it kinda make sense..?” She definitely didn’t make sense from their expressions. Great. Fun. Then again, it sounded insane to her at first too…
‘Warframes… that’s what they’re called in your time, yes?’
“Yup.” Now the drifter was curious what all Eleanor actually managed to gleam from that fucked up slide show of her memories- Maybe it was clearer for her… Fuck if Azura knows. Maybe she'll ask later if she even remembers to. Arthur interrupted her thoughts, adding in from the other.
“And we’re called ‘protoframes’. So we’re the goddamn guinea pigs… Bloody great.” It was tempting to tell him no, but she wasn’t sure. There was most certainly a link, but just what sort of context ‘proto’ could mean for a man like Mr Entrati was unknown. Certainly not prototype warframes, right? They already happened and were much different. She'll have to check with these guys, but the actual warframe strain made em lose their voice in like a month, she thought. Auuugghhh, if only she had a way to ask Atasi….
Maybe she was wrong, but she believed they were their own whole new genre. They didn’t feel the same as regular warframes. Or even Umbra. However. A topic for another day as they were wasting too much time.
“Well, I think being a protoframe is so far a lot better than a warframe, but we can get into that later- Now, all that out of the way, and to the meat and bones of number three and why I ask about the warframe.” The air felt still as Azura took a deep breath. “I know where Entrati is-” There were several reactions at once, the words all roughly the same of: ‘You say this now?!’ The drifter held up her hands, trying to calm the situation. “If I STARTED with it, none of you would listen! And, I needed to burn a bit of time- Makes it easier for us all. But I know where his holding cell is, the Scaldra already got him-” She pulled out the kinepage the Lotus had given her, opening it to check the time. “Eighteen hours and forty-six minutes until the worst New Years-” Middle of talking, the kinepage was suddenly swiped from her hand by Arthur, the man pausing and inspecting it.
“Wait a minute.. This is my kinepage.” His tone was a mix of baffled and furious. “I’ve been lookin’ all over for this fuckin-” The drifter raised her hands in mild defense.
“Hey, don’t blame the messenger here- That’s what alerted me in the first place. I dunno how it got to the future, but I promise it was not my doin’.” Arthur hesitated with his usual scowl across his face, shaking his head. (Does this guy ever smile??)
“Whatever. Not important. What do you need, Marty, to get us to Entrati?” He did not return the kinepage. Fine. Whatever. But he was right about it not being important.
“Right. To business. Just need that warframe and some equipment- Here’s what we gotta do.”
As everyone went their separate ways to prepare, Mr No-Smiles Arthur showed her where they had put the discarded warframe. The tension in the air felt nearly palpable, his discomfort so heavy and evident with what could be argued as his copy. They put it near-ish the storage room they had interrogated her, (probably assuming she wouldn’t have been able to transfer to it-) the frame being slumped over itself.
“Y’know, Marty, you have some bloody weird things.. So do you just-” As he was about to continue his sentence, she so kindly disappeared midway through transference, taking hold of the empty shell in front of her.
Alright. C’mon- Let’s get this done.
Atasi gave her the damn habit of speaking to the warframes, still finding it pointless as there was nothing there. It was such a stark difference to go back to a normal warframe vs when she was within Arthur. She could feel what he felt. Breathe when he breathes. A second presence sorta like when she was crammed into Frost with Atasi, but different. He belonged in his body, she was an add on. The other two were two pieces trying to fit into one spot when they split Frost, becoming awkward and cramped. But a normal warframe? It was like entering an empty room. Sliding on a bodysuit. Things felt duller, more muted in a way, but it was also like an exoskeleton.
It was just her, alone in an empty husk.
Or well. Not just her technically in the room. She almost forgot about the protoframe as the man backed up for a moment in surprise at the sudden movement. Felt.. Weird. And annoying to be shorter than how tall she normally was (Somehow, most warframes did not surpass or even reach 6’4), and just yet again. Like she was wearing some weird suit. Reasonably, the man was unsettled and sighed, shrugging it off.
“Go meet up with Quincy. He’ll get you geared up. After that, go to Aoi. She’ll get you a ride and show you where to go from there.” Oho, Aoi? Well, don’t mind if she do- The drifter couldn’t even make a face or show any expression, but Arthur still narrowed his eyes at her, as if he had a guess of her thoughts. “We have a mission and a time limit, do not slow us down.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah- I’m not gonna slow you down. No need to sweat it. See ya with Entrati.” That’s how confident she was in this working, she was convinced it’ll blow over smooth and she’ll get to breeze through it. She REALLY ought to know by now that nothing wanted to let her have an easy time. But either way, back to the now.
Her voice kinda emitted from the warframe, not at a specific spot, but more outside of it as it couldn’t speak itself. Oh yeah, Arthur didn’t like that. He just stared before motioning for the drifter to get moving, vaguely waving in the direction where Quincy was.
The sights were still so.. Baffling. Weird to see. It felt familiar, but uncanny in its own way. Being in this Excalibur didn’t help, now her senses were thrown off and it made it ten times as weird. The overgrown fauna, the broken floors and tile. So empty. So dark and shadowed.
Again. Like the fucking Zari-
A couple shots caught her attention, turning her head to see the man, Quincy, aiming and shooting a bunch of… posters of Entrati? She should do that with Ballas. Nice to have a change of focus. The drifter made her way over, his eyes darting over at the lightest sound of her footsteps before huffing. The man looked at her, face unreadable but certainly wasn’t a fan of her or being in the warframe. He briefly set down his rifle, shaking his head and grabbing some weapons that were sitting on boxes at his side. Quincy chuckled, but there was no actual joy or humor to it.
“Check me out. Givin’ kit to Entrati’s Cybercop..” He muttered in irritation as Azura took the gear: A sword, some gun and a sidearm she wasn't familiar with. It’ll make do. As she was fixing her sword to her back, he spoke again. “Naw. More like V-1000. Sent to smoke us all, amiright?”
“To be fair, if I was here to ‘smoke’ you, I’d try to be a bit more sneakier and insist for the rest of you to go instead of myself. Or not warn you about the whole nuke thing-” Quincy shook his head, rolling his eyes as he picked up his rifle again.
“Yeah, nah don't start. Just get the job done, yeah?” Alright, learning some behaviors already. The drifter tended to test boundaries in the start just to see what she was dealing with, the type of people. With that, she ends up always having some gruff introductions, but starting on the wrong foot only means she can do better. (She doesn't tend to try to do it because some people you just Know they aren't gonna take your shit, and so if she has to be nice, she plays nice. Here though? Testing the waters honestly.)
She could hear some monitor being loud with a broadcast in the background, turning to see what she could only imagine as maybe some news guy??? No clue to be honest- Either way, he was babbling something that only partly made sense to her future brain as she walked by.
“Brrr! We got a blizzard coming in! Well, the On-lyne boys had better get their lip balm ready before the big show, or it’s gonna be a chappy New Year!”
There might be a lot more on the line than some chapped lips this New Year. But then again, not if they can help it. Which leads now to getting a ride. And talking to the one who found her funny. Hell yeah.
Time was ticking, so she picked up the pace as she made way to the garage, skipping the steps and keeping her speed as she landed. One nice thing about warframes is the practically endless stamina and not needing to catch her breath after jogging a good few hundred feet. The huge garage was kinda dark and echo-y, most lights dim besides the one above Aoi. There was a big ol corkboard and computer on either side of her, the woman making a slight face as the drifter approached. It was honestly expected. Warframes are weird. And she was the warframe of her friend. Yeah. Reasonably awkward.
“Sooo.. You just… puppet this thing? Whole lot of metal in there…” The protoframe muttered, crossing her arms as she looked over the Excalibur.
“You wouldn’t believe the shit it takes to make these- It’s.. Weird. Feels weird. But unfortunately it’s hella effective and easier to fix than I am when I’m hurt.” Azura walked over to the bike brought out. Rusty and seems old, but she wasn’t about to expect top of the line here as a stranger. Starting from nothing wasn't new for her. The other woman tilted her head.
“Well, Arthur’s taking a chance on you. And even though you’re a little funny, just know if you hurt him, I’ll twist you inside out.”
They always say beware the cute ones… She got herself seated on the bike, giving a thumbs up to the other.
“Noted. Didn’t uh.. plan on doin’ it, but consider me very warned, ma’am.” She preferred personally to keep her insides in her body and untwisted, so she will certainly be careful.
“Good. Don’t scratch the paint!”
Notes:
Sorry if this is a HOT mess, I've been fuzzy brained and struggling last few days. I hope this made sense in the slightest <3 next is going to be. Much fighting. Chapter lengths will probably vary as I'm trying to cut up the quest because Jesus Christ. Anyways hope yall enjoyed!
also sorry i have to write out azura figuring things out but she's a himbo lesbian and has no idea what the fuck is going on
Chapter 4: And Now the Author Tries to Write Fighting Scenes
Chapter Text
“Lettie, you buying this shit?”
“No, Aoi, I am not.”
Quite frankly, Azura had no idea what was being denied sale or being sold in the first place as she was currently trying to figure out how an atomicycle functioned while going over 100 MPH as it was on said atomicycle. Y’know, normal things. If she was in her own body she’d be more concerned about the prospect of becoming a drifter-pancake from the speed and lack of knowing, but a body made more of metal than flesh eased some of that worry. Driving two wheels on snow and ice packed cobblestone roads wasn’t the most ideal form of transport, but she’d be damned if she’d let a little ice beat her.
It was like the opposite issue of her horse in Duviri, Kaithe, as the bike responded to small movements, its size and lightweight being a benefit and yet downside. Kaithe was, as much as she loved the horse, an asshole at times and was more keen to do what she wanted to at times vs her rider. Despite all of this, Azura managed to keep herself from crashing into the street.
“Cut the chatter. Little over eighteen hours til we’re popping corks, or vaporized. We get Entrati and put a stop to this.” Arthur certainly knew how to set a cheerful mood and not drizzle in extra stress. Thankfully, the drifter was fairly familiar with such situations and not bothered with reminders. She didn’t respond though, because of the whole trying-to-not-crash-in-a-foreign-city-on-a-weird-bike-with-ice-everywhere , but no worries.
Admittedly, this place, Hollvania, was fairly pretty, even with the destruction. The snow, the lights- It was just unfortunate about also all the rubble, infestation, and military control going on. Oh and the nuke- No matter, that’s why she’s here anyways. She drifted through the streets, mainly working to get a feel of the situation as she followed the instructions and marker towards the main objective. Azura skirted by armored vehicles, swerving as they began to shoot at her. Good. Just as she wanted. She’ll round these fools up like tamms and cut them down like overgrown weeds. She knew already from what she’s heard and then also what she’s seen from Arthur to know the Scaldra were the bad guys, but as in case, they made sure to hammer in their point as she jumped a short staircase. (Might have to ask Aoi for some forgiveness with the bike’s condition, but then again, is rust counted as paint anyways?) A feminine voice crackled through the speakers on every street.
“ Hollvania. The eve of a new millennium brings with it great change. The war criminal Albrecht Entrati, father of the Techrot plague, has at last been captured. His co-conspirators, the terrorist cell known as 'Hex', will soon be brought to justice. Tonight, we will fill the great... Void of suffering. A New Year... A new era! Hollvania will be great once again! ”
Void.
Of all words.
The great void of suffering.
Although she hasn’t been here long, she was quite certain the void wasn’t a very common word to just say like that in this time. Maybe she was overlooking it. Maybe she was too late. The drifter shook off that thought, jumping off the borrowed atomicycle and looking around at the enemies surrounding her. Orange suits, gas masks; sickly bright, green tubes and packs worn like normal accessories.
The great void of suffering…
Azura was shaken out of her thoughts, surprised by one of the Hex themselves piping up in response.
“Right. We’re the terrorists. Love what you’ve done with the place, lady.” Aoi practically spoke through gritted teeth, but didn’t seem thrown off by what this other ‘lady’ had said. Maybe Azura was overthinking. She really should’ve known though there’s rarely such a thing of coincidence from good ol’ Wally. Either way. It got the drifter to focus again, pulling out Excalibur’s Exalted blade.
Okay. Bear with me here, because I don’t know what I’m doing.
Again. She really should’ve paid attention more to Atasi’s rambles, but y’know fate likes to fuck with her like a cat to a mouse. She doesn’t know a thing about Excalibur, but she was certainly about to learn a thing or two. Azura hadn’t noticed until now that the soldiers had apparently stopped shooting at her, the drifter surrounded but the enemies hesitant. Oh right. City’s first warframe. Because Excali here looked like Arthur but yet so very clearly not. Hehe.
Now, what the hell could she do again?
Time to figure that out!
It sort of blurred when it came to fighting. There was no separation now between her and the warframe. They had to be one to fight, and that’s what they were. Although, it felt like she was fighting left handed, and she WAS fighting with an unfamiliar weapon, being in an unfamiliar body- it didn’t mean she was any less deadly. Also, the other guys had absolutely no idea of any of that, so.
What an unlucky day to be a part of a corrupt military group trying to keep hold of a random city against things your level of science couldn’t even begin to faintly comprehend. Even worse to have hesitated, because Azura sure didn’t. Took a moment to figure out how to dash forward, the next part being ever so easy as they had all kindly grouped together for her to cut them down. Same shit, different era in time. Back and forth, back and forth her blade swung. It cut through the armored plating like a hot knife through butter, tearing apart cars and trucks like toys. Felt like for everyone she sliced, another five appeared. More trucks, more guns, more bullets.
“Lotta heat here in the opp-block, Arthur- You sure Marty’s lead isn't just a setup? You holdin’ somethin back, heroboy?” Quincy cut in through the comms, partly scaring the drifter. (Luckily they couldn’t see that.) He wasn’t wrong about the heat, it felt utterly endless. If it wasn’t for being in a warframe, all this running and moving would have her soaked in sweat at this point. Dodging melee hits, trying to duck away when her shield would grow low. She was too zoned in to take her focus off for a response, surprised before becoming grateful as another came (sorta?) to her defense.
‘ You wouldn’t believe it anyway. ’
She thinks that was a good comment- Maybe. Could’ve been more for Arthur. Whatever. There were other things to worry about. She preferred her gifted swords, Sun and Moon, or the reaper scythe herself, but this blade wasn't half bad. Azura trying to keep up with so much thrown at once, switching to just the normal sword and her sidearm, trying to get into the flow like Duviri. Just needed to keep a distraction and thin out the hold.
Times like this.. She understood why people call them demons. Besides just possessing actual bodies, it was actually insane to witness what havoc she could do within a warframe. Unlike Atasi, she’s fought and does fight commonly outside of them. Her lone self wouldn't be able to toss a truck. She couldn’t get run over and simply pick herself back up like it was nothing. She’d be shot to a million pieces outside of this Excalibur, but within? She could take several lines of fire and still be fine. The double jumps, the bullet jumps- Has to be scary from the Hex, but they were still visibly people and talked.
She was just in a blank suit and not a sound made. No reactions to pain, nothing.
Probably comes off fairly demonic indeed, it wasn’t a natural thing, it wasn’t normal.
And the craziest part?
Azura wasn’t bothered by it.
Her younger self would get worried and panic if she's doing the right thing. The drifter was pretty sure Atasi has convinced herself warframes are more than what they are so that she’d feel less bad piloting a dead body.
While weird , it was considered… meh to her. Death lost its meaning in Duviri. While she gets its importance and seriousness, she couldn’t get herself worked up about it. She was more relieved that things stayed dead here. So, she cut down each soldier, tanked each hit without falter. Part of her was trying to be a more understanding person, to stop the apathy she felt when she watched the light leave someone’s eyes. At the very least, it’s good she wasn’t happy or whatever when killing.
So.
Yeah.
Azura could see why people thought of the Tenno as demons. A part of her was now curious on how the Hex will see her when she returns. Would it even matter? Who knows. That’s then. This is now.
“Amir, you said the nuke story made sense. This Y2K shit real?” Lettie cut in through the comms, taking Azura’s mind away from the spot it wandered. Like an owner moving their kavat away from the counter top.
“Of course it’s real! Some glitch in the old control software. Probably written in COBOL.” Ah, the energetic one responsible for giving her the nickname ‘Marty’. Could be worse.
"¡Ah chingado!” Azura has deduced Lettie was most likely speaking another language at this point and might need to edit her universal translator in the future- For some reason, she was surprised at the thought that old Earth had different languages. She certainly wasn’t aware of that nor the slang and accents when her translator was updated. Hell, Human-Loid probably didn’t know either. (On a funny note, Human-Loid hates he is called Human-Loid since he technically came first, but they met him second so. Human-Loid it was.)
With her mind wandering once more, she wasn’t all that attentive and got a hard, solid hit in the chest, falling down on her back. Ough. Didn’t totally hurt, but boy the impact was not fun. She looked up at the perpetrator being an awfully stocky and big Scaldra fighter. Buddy was not ready for the kick to their shins, bone going in for the unlucky bastard as it stood no chance against a warframe’s body. Though, now it was a mix of try-to-kick/kill-Azura-while-she’s-down and people being terrified from the action and not liking how tough Excalibur’s skin was. Not going to lie, it started to get painful as she lost her shields, now starting to vaguely feel the shots and attempted attacks.
“ No- ” The drifter internally gritted her teeth (don’t ask how it works, it just. Is the vague feeling of it, she couldn’t describe it if she tried), sweeping her borrowed sword across as she forced herself up. “ -autographs! Get back, you dumbfucks! ” At least they got spooked from her voice and the hesitance gave her plenty of room to thin the crowd out. Whew. She’d yell at them to let her through cause of the damn nuke, but they’d think she’s even crazier and probably wouldn’t listen to a disembodied voice coming from this random thing that slaughtered their platoon. Or maybe they would because that’s freaky as hell. Who knows with people anymore.
“Holding cells ahead. Big moment for you, Marty.” It was hard to tell if Arthur was truly a bit hopeful she was right or still doubted her with his response. Ugh.
“ He’ll be there. ” The drifter huffed, changing focus from fighting at this point to making her way to the cells, jumping past enemies and dodging gunfire. It was a bit of a bitch to get through to those cells, having to cut down people in the way as she hurried into the building. Azura nearly fell from how quickly she transferred out of Excalibur, grabbing her handy dandy gun (that she got back at a point that the writer forgot to add earlier), Sirocco, and slowing down as she walked to the open door at the end of the hall, stepping over rubble.
Admittedly. Things felt wrong. Felt too easy. Just able to walk into the concrete room with the one light in the center. Underneath that and in an office chair, turned away from her, was Entrati himself. At least, she could see all the same features and him wearing that ballcap. It didn’t feel right. But she had no choice, walking closer and grabbing the chair to turn it around.
The weight in the chair was far too light as the lights flashed, from what was Entrati was replaced by the tiny figure of Atasi wearing the hat with her legs criss cross- But it certainly wasn’t Atasi from the unnaturally large and toothy smile with her eyes all black, laughing before disappearing as fast she appeared.
Fuck.
“You better have him, Marty-” The drifter didn’t respond, kicking away the empty office chair. “Marty?? Is Entrati ther-”
“He’s gone! Fuck’s sake! It’s broken through already- Changing things-” She scowled heavily, cursing under her breath. Well, this just threw every crumb of a plan she had out the fucking window. Nothing she knows will be of any damn use now- There was the sound of louder gunfire, the roar of engines from outside.
“Bollocks! Get your arse out of there! Quincy, Aoi, we need fire support!” Azura hesitated from moving at first, feeling rage bubbling from inside. Instead of it being fiery hot anymore, it was like a cold chill consuming her, filling her lungs.
“I told you this was a set up!” Quincy yelled over the comms, shaking the drifter from her thoughts. She kicked the chair one last time before turning around, transferring to Excalibur as she tried to calm her breathing.
Stupid fucking thing. Sol above, she wished she could get a fist giant enough to punch it in its damn face.
Notes:
personally i dont think we saw the drifter upset enough about things and i should preface ive been mildly sick so this is probably gonna be a funny mess I swear theres gonna be gays in the next chapter im tryin to fit in while being quest accurate
also I hope these have been long enough??? im trying to portion them like the quest as well- makes it faster to post.. idk enjoy we'll get to gay people more soon i prommy
Chapter 5: Whoopsie Daisy
Notes:
ya girl MAKIN THESE QUUICCKKK but its also caauusee eheeee itssss short chapters and a little bit with skipping through but i blame the hex quest and am TRYING to extend things I prommy but anyways short little chapter, gay chatter
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
What a great job she did of absolutely failing. 10/10. Truly an outstanding fuck up never seen before. And she even had the feeling before she reached the fucking holding cells that something was off, but nooooo. Dumbass. The drifter had to take a moment before joining the Hex in discussion, needing to level herself out or risk her rage to leak through. It was like walking through quicksand as she took each step forward from the garage, able to hear the group talking as the empty mall echoed their voices. They had 14 hours and 5 minutes.
“So what do you want me to do, Lettie?” Exhaustion hanging on each of the leader’s words.
“ Maybe , we cut our losses like we should’ve done weeks ago. We pack up, and get the hell out of this estercolero before it’s turned to ash. Just an idea!” The silence following that was almost deafening before in a quieter voice, Aoi muttered.
“..You don’t have a problem with a few hundred thousand going up in smoke..?” There was a heavy sigh from the medic, Azura able to see them as she walked closer.
“Anyone still stuck here is techrot anyways. Sometimes, you have to amputate, Aoi.” A small pause. “And cauterize .”
They were sitting near the middle of what seemed to be a food court, all sitting around a table, Aoi sitting on a statue at its side.
“Didn’t come here to cut an’ hide. If Doctor E won’t stop this, then I say we do it. Am I right, Amir? AMIR?” It went quiet as Azura stood off to the side, feeling everyone’s eyes on her. The tension in the air was palpable. Arthur cleared his throat.
“So? Where’s Entrati? You said you knew and said this was a loop.” The drifter had to take a breath, feeling like she was having to deal with the fucking orowyrms again and dragging anger back from the tone Arthur had. She was going to say something but Eleanor spoke before her- or mentally spoke- whatever.
‘ Not anymore, is it? Your Boogeyman changed the rules. You’re toast like the rest of us. ’
Boogeyman. Certainly a name you could use for it.
“Seems so. But that means we can change it too.” In her time to cool down, she thought over different ways they could take control. Arthur let out a sort of huff.
“Stop the nuke.”
“No one listens.” Quincy muttered, rolling his eyes.
“Get me wired in.” At least someone was on board, Amir having a bit of a grin.
“Let’s take a minute to plan, since we’ve broken the loop, we’re gonna be going in blind. So, we need to get prepared for what we’ll need to get you in- Which.. Where will that be?” The drifter asked, looking over at Amir. He hesitated for a moment, pushing back his glasses.
“The right transponders would be in a techrot heavy area… Specifically where there’s a lot of spores-” Lettie cursed loudly, face palming with an angry sigh.
‘ Sounds like Lettie’s excited. ’
The medic gave Eleanor a look that could kill lesser men, but the other just gave her a little smile that said it all. So. Azura’s gonna say it’s safe to assume things happened there and there are things in progress that might end with attempted murder. Fun. Love that.
“I’m going to make sure I have enough supplies and check on mis panquecitos- I’ll be back in a minute.” Lettie got up and walked away rather quickly in an angry huff. Seems like a normal thing to the rest. Each left then one by one, going to prepare something until it was just Aoi and Azura. With the rest gone, the drifter decided to take a seat at the table, sighing and resting her head against it. Might as well chat a little since they haven’t had much chance to.
“Do you have anything you gotta prepare or-” Azura asked, looking over as the protoframe was messing with what looked to be a liquid ball of metal, hovering it between her hands and turning it into different shapes.
“Not really . I kinda can just make what I need when I need it.” Makes sense. She formed what looked to be a metal paper crane before melting it back into the orb. Azura partly wanted to ask if the group was always like this but had a feeling her answer was obvious, so she took another route much better for them both.
“So, from someone who, I assume, regularly drives atomicycles, how’d I do as a newbie?” As planned, she surprised the other with her random question, there was the ever slightest hints of relief for something different to their situation. Aoi hummed for a minute, even making a mock atomicycle briefly from the metal. “I mean- c’mon, the roads were pretty iced up- Annnd I didn't crash, so that has to add to my score.”
“Not bad , but you scratched the paint, so I deduct points.” The drifter faked a huff, crossing her arms.
“I didn't know rust counted as paint-” She joked lightly, Aoi rolling her eyes.
“There was some, annnnnd you scratched it- But , I guuuuess since you listened and were willing earlier with being cuffed, I will let this slide just once from your goodie points.” Azura laughed as the protoframe spoke with a playful tone, pretending it to be serious. It was nice to take a break, as small as it was. Took away the stress and brief crushing reality settling in.
“How kind of you to spare me some mercy for my good behavior- I'll be sure to try and keep it up then.” She hummed lightly, sitting up with a sigh. If she doesn't think about, she could almost pretend herself there wasn't the threat of being vaporized. Sure, highly likely it'll just loop. She could probably loop it. But she couldn't in that war. So what if she can't here?
At least the other continued the conversation as they waited, allowing the drifter a breather.
“You know…I don't think we ever actually asked your name… We've just been calling you Marty-” Aoi pointed out, looking at the other. Huh, not even Azura noticed it.
“I guess so… Not like I hugely mind. I was mainly called ‘drifter’ for a long time, picked up the name ‘Azura’ couple years ago.” Long time being over a thousand years, but y’know. She was looking down at the table, feeling the protoframe’s eyes on her. It was a very common question. “Both aren't my real name, but I'm not fond of that story- You're Aoi, right?” She flipped the topic to avoid the awkwardness, grateful the other noticed her discomfort and didn't mention it.
“Yep! One and only! You know, it's actually really funny you go by Azura-” The drifter raised an eyebrow looking at her curiously. “Aoi and Azura, they both mean blue!”
Azura blinked.
“Wait, it does???” Now Aoi looked surprised, tilting her head but a bit of an amused look.
“Yeah?? I thought that was probably why you picked it, since.. well blue seems to be your whole outfit choice- And your eyes, and hair-” For Lua’s sake. She put her head in her hands, rubbing her face.
“ That little ass- ” She sighed tiredly, a twinge of embarrassment. “No, I- I didn't really pick it myself , I was fine with no name but told I needed one and so. They offered Azura, and I was like sure, why not. Of course it means blue- Ugh!” She complained a little more, huffing angrily with a sigh again. Atasi was the one who insisted a name and offered the name of Azura. Ugghhh, she should've known… At least Aoi laughed from the story..
“Do you not have different languages or something in the future? Do you just use English??” Oh, that's what they called it here? Good to know. Azura kinda shrugged.
“Yes and no…? I have a universal translator, but it had to be updated with this language- We have different ones, but not from Earth.” She motioned to the mall. “There was a purge on all human history, so culture or anything wise, I have no idea what most of these things are-” Aoi looked mystified and fairly confused.
“Wait, why??” The drifter shrugged again.
“No idea. It was waaaayyy before my time, and way after your time. Something something, elites limiting and destroying information to keep control of the populace.” Seemed the other wasn't new to these tactics, looking relatively pissed off like when that Rusulka lady talked earlier.
“Great to know that doesn't change… I wanna ask more but I feel like it's gonna hurt my brain.” There was a small pause. “Do you work with those guys or-” Azura laughed a little, the thought too funny to not.
“No, they're kinda mostly dead- I'm more… Free lance? It'll probably make things more confusing if I explained it more.” Not bad questions to knock out of the way as they waited. At least it'll help boost the trust from the other and make that one less person suspicious of her. But, she dug a little bit of a hole for herself, hesitating before clarifying. “In a way, I was assigned this, but not for any reason but to stop the time looping, and get Entrati's ass for messing with shit. Order doesn't matter.”
“So, you’re like us then, right? Going where you’re needed to help others.”
“Yeah, exactly right to be honest. Came here to help, and I’m not leaving until I do, like how you’re not leaving either.” Didn’t feel right to. Doesn’t matter if she does or doesn’t stop the reactor. It’d be like if she left midway dealing with Ballas and ran away to Duviri instead. What’s the point if she doesn’t even try? The protoframe nodded with her words, seeming more at ease with her.
“Maybe Arthur did make the right choice in trusting you.. Besides the part where we’re now having to stop the explosion ourselves-” Azura feels like she did pretty good, maybe got herself some better footing. She just didn’t want to be a sole outcast (again) here. She was about to make a retort before the others started to return. Hopefully it won’t be their last chance to talk one on one, the drifter was rather starting to enjoy it.
“See you’ve been keepin’ an eye on Marty,” Arthur commented as he joined, nodding to the rest before looking at Amir. “You got a location for us?”
“Yep! I’m all ready too!”
“Time to go stop a bomb.” Azura stood with a stretch, cracking her knuckles. Gonna be a fun time.
Notes:
if i accidentally fucked up some part w the lore or anything uhhhh its azuras fault/j hate having to be slow w the gay but alas. soon.... trying to make these longer, next one shall certainly be extended and gonna be nice chunk- if this story was a roller coaster we are starting to go up the hill! luckily or unluckily though, we all know what happens when we reach the point of climax and the end of the quest. (this fic will extend past it though!)