El had good days and bad days, but since Chloe had left it felt like there were a lot more bad days than otherwise. It wasn’t fair. Why did Chloe get to go back to her cosy enclave home with her mum and dad and possibly siblings El had never bothered to ask about, probably not even remembering she had even been in another dimension, and El had to stay here alone in their stupid Morningside flat with half the mana-building resources she’d had before?
Well, alone except for the stupid hellhound. She had no idea how it even kept getting in.
She’d made a couple of attempts at tearing a hole in reality back to where she belonged, but unsurprisingly it had got her nowhere. She had nowhere near enough mana, and every time she tried it drained her and the power-sharer dry - not that she had anyone to share with now anyway - and that was in between the constant barrage of weirdness Vallo liked to throw around that inevitably led to her having to rip some poor monster apart at the seams when it wouldn’t take no for an answer. The Vallo monsters were - so far - not like Malificaria in that they weren’t targeting her specifically for her magic, but they apparently wouldn’t say no to a snack of skinny eighteen year old girl when they found one, and they didn’t have the same instincts the mals did, so she couldn’t even scare the little ones away. She’d spent half of December as a literal snowman, with Chloe keeping the fridge door open so she wouldn’t melt. What an absolute waste of time.
She was starting to realise she was not going to be able to get home by herself, as bitter and painful as that realisation was. Not without a huge delivery of mana from somewhere, and that was increasingly less likely. She focused instead on keeping up enough of her own store to be able to defend herself when the next weird and wonderful thing came crawling up out of the forest or a dimensional portal or whatever. That meant exercise, and preferably in a way where there was no possibility of enjoying it.
So she ran. You couldn’t run in the Scholomance, far apart from the mere issue of space, it would be an extremely dumb thing to do. You couldn’t run and keep an eye out for every Blood Clinger or Digester or bloody great SirenSpider that might be waiting to step out and let you run right out into its mouth/pincers/acid surface. She’d always settled for callisthenics in her room, which by comparison was marginally safe. But she could run in Vallo, through city street or farmland or beach or mountain track. Of course any kind of decent view might actually distract from the pain, so that was a disadvantage. The best course she had found was an ugly forest path that was barely a track hacked through the trees by some enterprising explorer, crossing the actual path here and there while things with burrs and thorns tried to rip into her trousers and bugs caught in her hair and every step required an extra lift to get over twisting roots and dips in the earth. And she ran fast, because she was unfortunately still in the best shape of her life after months of training for Graduation in the Scholomance.
So fast, in fact, with her thoughts whirring and buzzing around the total lack of a plan she had, and decidedly not thinking about Chloe or Aadya or Orion or anyone else she was unlikely to ever see again, that she was apparently not looking where she was going when she came out onto the path proper on the way back to the city, and ran headlong into someone with some force, bowling them both over onto the ground. “Ow,” she moaned, in pain both physically and in whatever tiny place she had stored what passed for motificiation.
Robin should have been paying more attention to where she was going. She knew better and it wasn’t like she’d never been in a forest before. Many Islands in the Four Seas, not to mention the Grand Line had forests on them, some dense, others not so much. But Vallo, the island and the city, was so different from any of the islands of her home (the ones she had been to, at least) that she couldn’t help herself and found herself lost in the moment, meandering along the path. At least she had enough sense to stay on the path.
She’d heard some rustling in the underbrush next to her, and the next thing she knew, she was sprawled backwards onto her rear end on the path. Her first instinct was that someone had attacked her and instantly her guard was up. She shook her head to clear it and was pulling herself back on her feet, ready to attack back when her eyes fell on the young girl who was also sprawled on the ground.
If the girl had intended to bowl Robin over, she apparently didn’t know her own strength, as she seemed just as stunned as Robin herself was, if not in actual pain. Robin let out a quick breath and reached a hand towards the girl. “Are you alright?” She asked.
El was already doing an internal full body scan, which she could do pretty quickly. Nothing was broken, at least. It was a good thing she knew how to fall properly. “Yeah, think so,” she said, groaning a little as she brushed dirt off the scrapes on her forearms. “You? Sorry I’m an idiot; sometimes I forget there are other people in the world.”
The girl seemed to be alright, at least that’s what she said. And she looked ok. No blood at least, which was a good sign. “I’m fine,” Robin said. “I’ve taken hits a lot worse than that. I wasn’t exactly paying attention either.” She peered in both directions off the path, looking to see if it intersected with a smaller path that she had just missed. “Did you come off another path?”
El shook her head, causing several leaves to come loose from her plait. “Not really,” she admitted. “I guess you could call it trail running? Just without the trail part.” She grimaced, realising she probably looked like a crazy person, haring through the forest without even any athletic gear, as though she was being chased by something. But in her defence, it wasn’t often that she wasn’t being chased by something. “Sorry again. And thanks for being cool. Most people would probably throw a wobbly if some girl bodyslammed them out of nowhere.” She hesitated, awkward as usual at the prospect of interaction with another human. “I’m El, by the way.”
“I’m Robin,” Robin said. “It’s nice to meet you, El, even if you did run into me.” She laughed. “Don’t worry. Like I said, I’ve taken much worse hits than that. A very good friend of mine has a habit of running into his friends constantly, and he does it on purpose.” She extended her hand to El again to offer to help her to her feet. “So no harm done. Do you go running through here often?”
El did her best not to think about Orion. He didn’t run into people on purpose, exactly, so much as lack a general sense of humans versus statues. She took the offered hand and let herself be pulled up, nodding thanks. “Sometimes,” she said, looking around, not entirely sure where she’d ended up. “I sort of run until I can’t go anymore, usually, and then I have to get back. You? I mean, are you going somewhere? Not that I’m lost, or anything,” she added, sounding more sure than she felt.
Hearing El state that she wasn’t lost made Robin think of Zoro. The swordsman was hopeless when it came to direction. He was the only person Robin knew who could literally get lost going in a straight line. Not that he would ever admit it.
But El seemed honest when she said she wasn’t lost and Robin believed her. “No, I’m not going anywhere in particular,” she said. “I’m just exploring. I’ve been on the island a few months and I haven’t made it out to the forest yet, so I thought I’d fix that. It’s very pretty out here,” she said, looking upwards towards the tops of the trees. She turned her attention back to El. “I can see why you would want to go running out here. It’s peaceful. A good place to be by yourself.”
“I like the open air,” El admitted. “I was stuck inside for two years before I came here, so…” she shrugged. “I guess I didn’t notice if it was pretty or not.” She glanced up, following Robin’s gaze. Chloe would have noticed, she thought. She probably wouldn’t have shut up about it. And it was pretty. The kind of view that would have made her cry, a few months ago. Strange how quickly you could take that sort of thing for granted.
Robin frowned slightly. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be stuck inside for two years. She had been on the run for most of her life, but at least she had the freedom to go where she wanted. Mostly. She never had the opportunity to stay in any place for very long, or around people without the inevitability that they would discover who she was. But the world had always been open to her, even if she was alone within it.
“Why were you stuck inside for two years?” She asked. Then realising that it was probably none of her business, she added, “I’m sorry. That was rude of me to ask.” Though she was still curious for the answer.
“I don’t mind.” She was used to explaining by this point. “I was at school. Where I come from, if you have magic, your best chance of surviving puberty is The Scholomance. There are mals - maleficaria - that’ll eat you soon as look at you, and the school keeps most of them out. Usually,” she added, dryly. “The school’s in the void, it's only connected to the real world by tiny pipes and things. So once you’re in, you’re in for the full three years until graduation. It’s pretty grim.” She made a face. “Last year I accidentally ‘fixed’ the gym so it looked like it was outdoors, and nearly everyone had a mental breakdown.”
Robin tried not to frown listening to El’s explanation. “That must have been horrible,” she said. “I don’t blame you for wanting to run through the woods. I’d probably want to do the same.” She pursed her lips in thought. “I don't know much about magic,” she went on. “Magic doesn’t exist in the world I come from.” At least not the kinds of magic Robin had witnessed since arriving at Vallo. “But you must be very powerful to transform your gym like that.”
“That you know of,” El pointed out. “Most people don’t know about magic at home either.” She shrugged. Of course she was very powerful, but most of the time she’d give it up for a shred of normalcy. It wasn’t the kind of power she wanted. “Which way are you going?” she asked, awkwardly.
Robin pursed her lips and furrowed her brows thoughtfully. El brought up a good point. There was a lot about her world that Robin didn’t know about -- a lot that the World Government purposefully kept secreted away from the people. It wouldn’t surprise her, really, to learn that magic did exist in her world, or had existed at one point. It would explain a lot.
Before she could get too lost in her own thoughts about magic and mysteries her government kept from her, El brought Robin back to the moment. “Oh,” she said, blinking quickly. “I was just following the path here,” she said, gesturing to the trail in front of her. “You’re welcome to join me if you want to take a break from running for a bit.”
“Thanks,” El said. It was a bit pathetic, really. A couple of years ago she’d been just fine by herself, but Aadhya and Lui and yes, even Chloe had spoiled her with their insistence on spending time with her. Besides, she was pretty sore. Running more now would probably build more mana, if it hurt enough, but then she’d be good for nothing tomorrow. “So where’re you from?” she asked, attempting conversation as they walked by way of trying to ignore the stinging in her knees. “I mean, what’s it like? You got gods walking around, or demons?” This, she had been learning, was practically normal by Vallo standards.
“On the surface the world I come from is not too terribly different than this one,” Robin said. “It’s made up of mostly oceans and islands, though. Even islands under the water and in the sky.” She chuckled softly “No gods or demons. Though there are people around who certainly </i>think</i> they are gods. My crew and I went up to a sky island called Skypea and met a man named Enel with the power to control electricity.” She went on. “He believed himself to be a god. His dream was to find a place called Endless Vearth and he wanted to destroy Skypea and all the inhabitants in the process. To him the island was ‘unnatural’ even though it had been up there for centuries.” She shook her head. “My captain fought him and saved the island. Enel managed to get away. I wonder if he ever did find the Endless Vearth.” She tilted her head thoughtfully, but ultimately decided she didn’t care. Enel was a madman with mad ideas.
“That’s mostly what my world is like,” she said. “At least how I’ve experienced it, but my experiences are not exactly normal for everyone.” She glanced at El walking beside her. “Are demons common in your world? The maleficaria you mentioned before? Are they demons?”
El thought being able to control electricity was rather like magic, but she didn’t know if it’d be rude to say so. “I never thought of them as demons,” she said. “But there’s a bloody good chance they are. Most mundanes can’t even see them, but maybe some old stories…” she paused thoughtfully. “They were common,” she clarified. “Around wizards, especially the pubescent ones. But I recently sort of…” she waved a hand vaguely. “Got rid of most of them. At least I hope I did.” If not, Orion’s sacrifice was worth nothing. “Crew of what?” she asked. “Like on a boat?”
Robin nodded her head. “That’s right,” she said. “I’m a pirate in the world I come from. And an archeologist. I like to think of myself primarily the latter of those two, but I was sort of…adopted by the pirate crew I’m with.” She smiled. “They rescued me, actually. I quite literally owe them my life.” Her lips pursed together and her brows furrowed. Since arriving in Vallo, she had tried very hard not to think about where the rest of her crew was or what Kuma had done to them. She was certain that she’d be reunited with them soon and they were all safe.
She let out a shaky breath and glanced at El. “You got rid of most of the maleficaria on your world.” She smiled. “It sounds to me like you're a hero.”
El tried and failed to resist the urge to roll her eyes. “You’d be the only one who thinks that,” she muttered, kicking stones ahead of her. “No one’s adopting me any time soon. I’m terminally unlikable. By wizards, anyway,” she added, since she had to admit, “most people here don’t seem affected in the same way, but at home I think I give off some kind of… vibe. People don’t like it.” She glanced sidelong at her new companion. “Aren’t pirates, well, murderers and rapists? Popular culture seems to give them a much better reputation than, well, any recorded history.”
Robin frowned. “I don’t think you’re unlikable.” She said. “Despite how we ran into each other.” she chuckled a little at the pun. “I think we’ve had a very pleasant conversation so far.”
She tilted her head thoughtfully at El’s remark about pirates being murderers and rapists. “In this world (and maybe others) pirates don’t have a great reputation. However, in my world pirates are outlaws mostly because the World Government says they are. Anyone the Government considers a threat to their order gets a bounty slapped on their head regardless if they’re an actual threat or not.” Robin had been one of those people. “Some of them are terrible, evil people who deserve to be jailed or even executed. But my crew isn’t like that. We have a habit of helping people. Usually because Luffy, our captain, takes a liking to them.”
“The World Government sounds fucked up,” El said bluntly. She was tempted to ask how that even worked, but suspected she either wouldn’t like or wouldn’t understand the answer.
“That is an excellent way of putting it,” Robin agreed with a nod. “Most of the people in power -- the ones at the very top -- are more interested in staying in power and protecting themselves than they are serving or protecting the people. It hasn’t been about that for a long time.” She glanced at El as the two of them continued to walk. “I could go on for hours about how fucked up it really is, but that is a lot to get into after literally just meeting someone. Besides, this is such a nice day and all, I don’t want to ruin it by talking about a corrupted government.”
“Fair enough.” El nodded. She didn’t exactly want to get into her worst trauma with someone she’d just met either, especially when she didn’t have a long list of friends to talk to at the moment. Unfortunately four years in the Scholomance hadn’t done much for her already shaky people skills. “So… what do you do here” she asked, after a few moments of awkward reaching for an alternative subject. “You in school?”
Robin shook her head. “No, I’m a little old to still be in school.” She chuckled. “I work at Looking Glass Tea,” she glanced at El to see if she knew of the place. “Wanda, the owner, was nice enough to give me a job. My …special ability…probably helped with the hiring process, but Wanda is very nice and I hope I can be of help to her.”
She went on as the two continued walking. “Other than that I’ve been doing some exploring. Getting to know the island and what’s here while I can.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Recently, I’ve been thinking of getting a boat. I miss being out on the water.” She looked at El. “You? Do you attend school here? Or perhaps teach?”
El shook her head slowly. “I’ve been mostly focused on not being here,” she admitted. “I figure if anyone could blast a hole into another reality, it’d be me. The two issues being, not enough juice, and no idea where to aim.” She made a wry face. “Probably it sounds dumb. I just want to go home.”
Robin was quiet for a moment. She couldn’t blame El for not wanting to be here. She herself had put a lot of energy into exploring Vallo so she wouldn’t have to think of home, since it was clear that she was not going to be able to get back there herself any time soon. It was easier to distract herself with exploration.
“How long have you been here?” She asked.
“A few months.” El shrugged. “I’m nothing if not stubborn, I guess.” She was privately dying to ask about the special ability Robin had mentioned, but wasn’t sure how to bring it up politely, since if the girl wanted to expand on it she probably would have already. “Er, how ‘bout you?”
“Also a few months as well,” Robin said with a nod. She glanced at El. “There are things about my home I do not miss, but there are plenty that I miss as well. My friends especially. I’ve been trying hard to keep busy so that I don’t think about it. Plus, most everyone I’ve met so far seems perfectly happy being here. But…” she took a breath, “it’s nice to hear that someone else would like to go home.” She glanced at El again. “Well, nice isn’t quite the correct word. Comforting, perhaps?”
“Yeah.” El sighed. “Some people get real shirty if you say you don’t actually want to stay here forever. Like sorry, just because it sucks wherever you come from doesn’t mean it’s okay that I haven’t seen my mum in four years, you know? And I have friends, too,” she added, a little defensively, since this was a pretty recent development. The voice in the back of her mind added what about your Schrodinger’s boyfriend? She ignored it. Orion was dead, whether she found a way home or not.
Robin blinked, a little surprised at how assertively El declared that she had friends. Robin hadn’t thought otherwise but now she wondered if that may have been a rude assumption on her part. She herself hadn’t had many friends until recently. She’d had no one until the Straw Hats had stumbled into her life.
“No one should be mad at you for missing your loved ones,” Robin said, her brows furrowing at the thought of anyone giving the girl a hard time for something so natural. “I’d be more concerned if you said that you didn’t. Friends and family are important. They keep us sane,” she chuckled softly into her hand. “Would you like to tell me about yours?” She asked next. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t know if they’re even alive,” El mumbled. “I mean I hope they are. They were meant to call me when we all got out of school. But I ended up here, so.” She sighed. “Never mind. They’re… probably fine. I just wish I knew for sure, you know?”
Robin nodded. “I do,” she said. “I don’t know if any of my friends are alive either. I like to think that they are.” She frowned slightly as her thoughts went back to the last time she saw her friends and the state they were all in. She shook her head and turned her attention to El and hoped the smile didn’t look as forced as it felt. “But we have to have faith in such things. I’m sure your friends are alright.”
“Yeah,” El said, still a little flat, but a bit better for having given voice to her worries. She felt as though they’d been stewing at the bottom of her stomach since Chloe had left. “Thanks. Hey, I’ve never been on a boat. If you do get one, maybe I could… come out with you sometime?”
Robin’s eyes lit up at the mention of the boat (and a chance to get her mind off of the whereabouts and condition of her friends). “I think I would like that,” Robin said with a nod. “I’ve been giving some thought to renting or buying a boat. I really do miss being out on the water. Sailing is a lot more fun when you’re with someone.” She gave the other girl a smile and a wink. “Once I get a boat, I will absolutely let you know so we can go out on the water.”
“Thanks, Robin” El said, and meant it. Possibly she could make an effort, in this place, to make friends. “I’d really like that too.”