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[The first thing she tastes is a distinct flavor of slightly stagnant air. Yuck.]
[ELISE had been on plenty of vacations before- her father’s job certainly gave her family plenty of opportunities. Cruises, theme parks, the occasional bi-yearly trip to another country or two. So, frankly, she had a lot of expectations for this. All of which were ruined as soon as she appeared in…. Wherever she ended up.]
[In front of her, an inky black void. Behind her, more void. The only thing letting her know she didn’t have her eyes closed were the juts of dark blue rock (crystal?) coming out of the ground every now and then.]
[ELISE]: Ugh. Great. What even is this place?
[She shook her head, starting to walk forward. This cave (or, what she rationalized as a cave, since clearly she couldn’t see any light from a sort of sky) had to end somewhere. Maybe this is part of a subterranean spa or something, and she was just brought in at the beginning of the parking lot. Or that one host with the sunglasses hates her. Equal possibilities in her head.]
[After what seemed like almost 30 minutes (when it was more like 10), she finally saw something new in the distance, no- someone. As soon as they were in view, she started to rush over, waving her arms.]
[ An indigo-hued woman stood around a workbench, making methodical repairs to what seemed to be some sort of robot bunny. The sound of electronic music gets louder as the invisible woman reaches her. ]
[ELISE]: THANK GOD, there’s someone else in here.
[The woman, barely taking the time to look up from her work, glances over at ELISE.]
[???]: (…they’re still coming, huh)
[???]: …hey.
[ELISE]: Hi! You wouldn’t believe how relieved I am to see you. You being here means that they didn’t just dump me in the middle of nowhere.
[ELISE]: Look, this is supposed to be a bit of a vacation, and I guess I was just teleported to the wrong place- probably the parking lot, or… something. Do you know who runs this thing? I really need to get this worked out.
[The woman finally takes focus away from her workstation, looking over at the invisible girl.]
[???]: i do know who runs it, and i feel like they’re definitely worried about other things right now. i’d suggest you shut down any dreams of a spa day or- whatever you were expecting.
[???]: my name is lilith. by the way.
[ELISE huffs.]
[ELISE]: Of course, can’t trust hosts with anything… do you think you can tell me about this place then?
[LILITH]: do they not tell you this stuff when you get sent over?
[LILITH]: this is the jetblack. world between worlds- or something along those lines. currently still hosting a tournament, just as i’d assume you’re from.
[As soon as ELISE hears the word tournament, her demeanor changes significantly. She goes from annoyed and passive aggressive to excited again.]
[ELISE]: Wait, NO WAY. This was another location for a tournament? Maybe they DID send me somewhere I wanted…
[LILITH gives ELISE a surprised look. Genuine excitement from someone like her seems a bit off.]
[ELISE]: Well now you have to tell me even more! Is it still going? Can I watch? Were you in it? What sort of special moves and maneuvers have you seen? I really wanna keep upgrading my kit.
[She pulls out her phone and goes to the notes app.]
[LILITH]: woah. slow down. i was a part of the tournament, but- i think we may be on different pages here.
[ELISE]: I’m sure you also fought some weirdos in a bracket system that’s a bit random, but… you did fight, right?
[LILITH]: …i guess? i feel like i don’t usually see people interested in the combat side of things.
[She sits for a moment, thinking back, before deciding.]
[LILITH]: eh, well. when else will i get to brag about my run here? not like anyone here hasn’t seen them.
[LILITH]: alright, so… the first match was simple enough, no real fighting there- just a few friends hanging out. but after i made it through, that’s when the fists really started flying. have you ever tried to fight a giant lobster?
[ELISE]: Not a lobster, but I’ve seen a gillman fight, and they are SUCH pushovers. Well, I guess not literally, they’re pretty tanky… you know what I mean.