“Psst, Riri. Look at this. You ever seen anything like it?”
“Yes – back when Hera and I were traveling in space together. But it is not exactly the same, Miss Pepondosovich.”
“Weird…”
Riley and Miss Pepondosovich were now in a large white hallway; the ceiling just filled with a soft light which extended across the entire hallway. It was immaculate, at the very least- but it did also have several plants adorning the walls, one which Miss Pepondosovich was holding.
“P…please, don’t touch anything!” The tondion captain could not help but just follow behind Miss Pepondosovich; his hands waving around in panic as she was grabbing some sort of crystal plant.
“Relax, Captain Kuhoo. You should drink something to calm you down,” Miss Pepondosovich just sadly waved him off, however, as she proceeded to touch the plant without a care, “I am just-“
And before she could finish her words, the crystal leaf she was holding snapped in half.
“Wh—” And before the tondion captain, Kuhoo, could say anything, Miss Pepondosovich just quickly handed him the shattered crystal leaf and then just casually returning to Riley’s side, who was just sitting on a bench planted on the wall.
“Tch,” Miss Pepondosovich just shook her head in disappointment as she looked at Kuhoo, “Look at what you did.”
“W… what!?” Kuhoo quickly but subtly threw the crystal plant onto the pot, “You…you did that! Please, Miss Pepondosovich, stop touching everything!”
“Maybe if they just let us meet this Overseer already, I wouldn’t be touching anything,” Miss Pepondosovich crossed her arms, “They asked us to meet her, and then let us wait outside her office? I swear, if I was a little younger and lacked the patience of a saint, I would have already kicked down that door.”
Miss Pepondosovich then looked at the door on the other side of the wall, which had two people guarding it.
“Please don’t do-“
“Oh, Riri! The phone’s ringing.” Miss Pepondosovich then quickly removed her backpack and started rummaging through it until she reached the phone, “Ah, it’s Enel!”
Miss Pepondosovich then held the phone with two hands and then jumped onto Riley’s lap so that the two of them could fit on the screen.
“What the― are you eating sweets again!?” Miss Pepondosovich then quickly squinted her eyes as she saw Enel eating a snow cone, “I told Esme not to give you any anymore, you’re going to be one of those fat children I keep seeing on the internet! Riri, tell him!”
“It is okay to eat whatever you want, Enel,” Riley just shook his head, “But you must also be prepared to eat the consequences and—”
“Riri!” Miss Pepondosovich gasped as she quickly moved away the phone, “Why are you telling that to a child who still wets his bed!?”
[No, I don’t!] Enel quickly screamed as he heard Miss Pepondosovich’s words, [I haven’t peed the bed for… for 6 years now!]
“You’re barely even 5 years old,” Miss Pepondosovich could really only sigh as she looked at Enel smiling on the other side of the screen, “I swear, how did someone as cute and innocent like you come out from Riri and Esme? Who’s your favorite aunt again?”
[Aunt Miss Pepondosovich!]
“That’s right, that’s right,” Miss Pepondosovich nodded in satisfaction before glaring at Riley, “Anyway, where’s your Mom? Are there any others there? Why don’t you give them the phone?”
[N…no, I called by myself!] Enel just started running around, and all Riley and Miss Pepondosovich could see was the bottom of his chin that was dripping with mango juice, [I wanted to show something, look at this! Look at this!]
“That’s… your room,” Miss Pepondosovich squinted her eyes as she saw the clouds and stars on the wall and ceiling. And soon, Enel moved to the closet and opened it, “And… what is that?”
[Look, look!]
Miss Pepondosovich stared at the screen for a few seconds before glancing at Riley, “That’s… a portal. Don’t… don’t go near it, okay?”
[I already went inside!] Enel let out a small giggle.
“What!? Where’s your mom?!”
[There’s nothing inside, dark. Very dark! The giant eyes are not there.]
“Go to your Mom or grandma and tell them, okay? Right now!”
[Okay, heehee!]
Miss Pepondosovich and Riley once again watched as Enel started running until he reached Hannah and the others, seemingly leaping onto her, hard.
[E…Enel…? What’s wrong? Wait, why are you holding the-Eh!? Riley!? Did you guys call?] Hannah raised an eyebrow as soon as she was on the screen.
“Enel was the one to call us, Sister,” Riley shook his head, “There is a portal in his room.” [What!?] The screen then quickly became chaotic, [Riley! I’ll call you back, okay!?]
“…Just what is going on there?” Miss Pepondosovich could really only glance at Riley while she returned the phone to her backpack, “You said things will stop happening there once you were out of the picture, Riri.”
“It is probably nothing, Miss Pepondosovich.”
“There’s literally a portal inside your son’s-“
“The Overseer would see you now.”
And before Miss Pepondosovich and Riley could continue their conversation, one of the Overseer’s men approached them and gestured to them to follow him. The two just looked at each other for a second before shrugging and heading to the Overseer’s office.
And as soon as they entered, they were greeted with the view of the expanse of space – the windows, filling most of the office-no. It did not really look like an office at all, but rather a lounge with a beautiful view of space.
And there, standing close to the window… was a woman sporting a buzz cut with a peculiar
color.
“… You know her, Riri?”
“No.”
“Ack, and here I thought they let us wait for the suspense of it all.”
Both Miss Pepondosovich and Riley just walked inside the office as they looked at the
Overseer.
Her hair had patches of white and black, and she stood probably 3 meters tall – other than that and her white suit that made her look like the captain of a naval ship, there was nothing
else of note to her.
“The two of you are the refugees they mentioned to me?” Well, perhaps if there was something else of note, it was her gentle voice and the language she spoke – it was an Earth language, even though she was clearly not from Earth at all,
“The two of you gave our doctors quite the scare. And I am hearing that…
…you might be from the Unknown?”
“Maybe,” Miss Pepondosovich was the one to answer; shrugging her shoulders as she made herself comfortable on the sofa in the center of the office, “All I can say is we’re not from
around here. Right, Riri?”
“We are from the Unknown.”
“Riri!” Miss Pepondosovich could really only cover her face.
“Well, wherever the two of you may have come from – I suppose the important part is that I know that the two of you are not spies from the Order of Nothing,” the Overseer just let out a small hum as she started approaching the two, “We have ways of finding out, and the two of you have been cleared of any suspicion. That is why we asked you to wait outside while we
check, and I apologize for that.”
“Hm,” Miss Pepondosovich shrugged.
“The doctors say that you are also very special,” the Overseer sat down in front of Miss Pepondosovich, “They were unable to penetrate your skins, and they told me that it felt like they were trying to pierce steel.”
“We take very good care of our skins, Overseer,” Riley casually said as he sat down beside Miss Pepondosovich, “Is there anything you needed from us?”
“Hm…” The Overseer nodded as she let out another hum, “…Then I will get straight to the
point I want the two of you to join our cause. We could use people like you in our battle
against the Order of Nothing.”
“No,” Riley quickly shook his head, “I am afraid that is not possible – we are only stopping here to rest and sightsee. We will be leaving in a week, Overseer.”
“…That is unfortunate,” the Overseer let out a short but very deep sigh as she stood up, “But I
can not force an unwilling participant. But I suppose since you will be staying here for a week, I still have time to convince you.”
“I… I will convince them, Overseer!” The tondion captain, Kuhoo stepped forward and bowed at the Overseer, causing her to blink a couple of times in surprise.
“You… don’t need to bow,” the Overseer shook her head, “But I shall thank you in advance for
your-“
“Overseer!”
And before the Overseer could finish her words, one of the guards stationed outside her office
barged inside,
“The Order of Nothing is attacking us!”
“Again!?” The Overseer quickly rushed and just left Riley and the others.
“Welp, I guess that’s our cue to leave,” Miss Pepondosovich shrugged before hopping out of
her seat, “Where are we going next, Chaperone?”
“Back… back to the ship!” Kuhoo also rushed out of the office, “I also need to defend
Everywhere!”
“…” Miss Pepondosovich and Riley just looked at each other,
“…Great.”
***AUTHOR NOTES***
I am trying my luck at Royal Road with a new book, Legendary Shadow Blacksmith, it will
really really help me if you check it out and make a 5 star rating T_T. Don’t mention you came from Villain Retirement or doe, that might slightly get me in trouble. It’s also here in , and I am still choosing where to actually put it. But it will really help me if I get both audience. Thank you!