Pip crumbled the parchment and tossed it into the bin, frustrated at her inability to write anything concise. Pip was lucky with her room selection, having explored a bit below with a few civilians who were curious about other lodgings. They'd found a hotel of sorts, if the puzzling mechanical layout could be called that, and Pip was allotted one of its suites. The bedroom was small, true, but it was quiet, had a small porthole window and an attached bath. The nicest thing about the suite was the two adjoining rooms that connected to the sleeping quarters. She'd set up a desk, refurbished the dilapidated couch, and even spent the night before conjuring a Phantasyan tea set.
She dunk the tip of her pen in ink and on her seventh try, began again. This time she started with the envelope.
Delia Delaney
11701 Corvaeni Boulevard
Hallowed Gardens, Prieri, Phantasya
Guarded Worlds Universum
Hey Mama,
I hope yer doing well. I hope dad is too. I
Pip hesitated, the tip of her pen hovering above the parchment in frazzled, frustrated confusion. She wanted to tell her mother everything— about the green flash that stole her away from the Hallowed Gardens, about how she wasn't even supposed to be there and had she followed the rules the Guardian Sphere's magic would have prevented all of this and how even though she probably won't make it home any time soon she'd already made a buttload of friends, saved a swathe of people, and continued to fight for the continuation of peace. But telling her everything didn't feel all that good.
She wouldn't lie, not again and not... wholly, but what point was there in worrying her with half truths and conclusions there'd be no way of her verifying? Pip sighed and refilled the nib of her pen.
Hey mama,
I hope yer doing well. I hope dad is too. I just want you to know I love you both so, so much. What I'm about to tell you sucks, but just know I love you and I won't ever give up. You both taught me that, even before the Grail came into our lives. Please remember that. Please remember that I love you and that I'm using everything I've ever learned and everything y'all have ever taught me to get back.
I won't be coming home, not for a long while I don't think. The Void Beyond sent me somewhere and it's hard to explain without going into unnecessary detail— just trust me when I say I'm looking for a way home. For all of us, because it's not just me who got scattered out here. "Here" is also hard to explain, but I have a bed to sleep on, food to eat, and people to laugh with.
Some of them are hard to understand and harder to get along with, but I still remember what you told me about Noxiana's attitude after our first meeting. You were right, of course, to give people a chance to prove their colors, but hollow hells if it isn't hard.
I had to write to you because I knew you'd find a way to tell dad that wouldn't make him feel miserable. I knew you could handle the news. I'm sorry, and I'm sorry for having to ask you this again: but could you tell Noxiana? I'm sure the other Wardens have already felt something amiss and I'm sure she's going to be a handful when you tell her I won't be coming home any time soon.
Tell her I would if I could.
The situation here is just as dire. I can't be on both battlefronts at once this time.
I love you mama. Tell dad I love him too.
P.S. I don't want to be morbid, but if I do happen to... not make it back, make sure you get the reclamation fund yer entitled to. It will set you and papa up good. Neither of you'll have to work again and the health packages are better than his retirement one. It's not much but it's the least I can do.
Pip<3
Pip wiped away shed tears and waited for the ink to dry. It had been much more emotional than she thought, but it was therapeutic, in a way, to get it all out there. To lay bare her hopes and dreams. She got up and stretched, not too fond of that kind of vulnerability, and loosened the built up tension in her shoulders.
Now to find that IPS guy.
