<Nora>

 

Was it supposed to take this long?

Hovering in the warp stream, Nora felt dissatisfied. While she was aware that this form of transportation wasn’t exactly instantaneous, it shouldn’t take this long just to get to their location. It never did in the show, and yet they had spent a grand total of five days warping. And, not Earth days mind you, but Cradle days, Nora’s world’s days, which were three times as long.

‘Blasted book…’

Sadly, there wasn’t much she could do. The only person with any sort of knowledge about what might be happening refused to talk to her. The damn book was being more blatantly traitorous and stubborn than normal. He completely refused to acknowledge her at all, no matter what she did. Teasing, goading, and even asking earnestly failed. 

Nora was completely out of options.

…Well, except one.

“I’ll do it! I’ll stick my head out!” (N)

Threatening.

“This is your last chance! As your diamond, I command you to tell me what’s going on before I do something you don’t like!!” (N)

How certain was Nora that he wouldn’t like this? Pretty certain. Having the misfortune to have lived with the magical book for a long time, Nora picked up a very useful tenth sense. The sense of ‘what action will piss him off’. It was the most refined of all her senses. Never having let her down, not a single time.

Seeing no response, Nora declared,

“At the count of one, you better start talking!” (N)

The book shifted in space.

“Five!” (N)

It was working.

“Four!” (N)

He would crack

“Threee!” (N)

Almost.

“Twooooo!” (N)

Just about there.

“One!”

‘God damn it!’

He didn’t crack after all.

“You brought this upon yourself!” (N)

Nora stuck her head out.

The vastness of space greeted her.

It was filled with the usual unremarkable, unnoteworthy things. A few stars, a couple planets, and one or two asteroids buzzing by. Nora nearly sighed at the plain scene. Maybe when she first got on a ship, such a thing would have had an impact on her, but now, having seen it countless times, it felt nothing more than ordinary.

‘Ha…’

Just as Nora was about to pull back into the warp stream, a subtle gleam caught her eye. Focusing on the sight, Nora soon realised something. It was another warp stream. And, more importantly, it wasn’t alone. She paused for a moment, unable to stop the smile climbing on her.

Something interesting was finally happening!

“I won’t allow it!” (L)

Having turned back, the book was able to quickly guess her intentions.

Good.

It saved her a few words.

“Eh? If that’s so, what are you going to do about it?” (N)

Lexicon was all bark, no bite. A complete wimp who couldn’t do anything by himself. Hell, now that the two of them were alone, he even dropped all pretence of respect due to Nora’s lack of gems. They wouldn’t tolerate such a tone. He greatly feared them or, more accurately, loved himself too much to let himself die by their hands.

“Do you want them to know we are coming?!” (L)

The Gems on Earth knowing whether or not they were coming hardly affected the goals Nora was set to accomplish. In fact, it might actually aid them. Regardless, either way, it was very much a pointless concern.

“I don’t care.” (N)

“You arrogant, ignorant brat!! Don’t think just because you’ve got a little strength that you can fight whoever you want! (L)

Nora frowned.

It was evident Lexicon didn’t fully understand how gems worked. If he did, he wouldn’t be throwing such a massive tantrum. He was under the impression that the feats Nora pulled were standard for the gem race. From the rate at which she grew her empire to the displays of power she commonly did. In his proverbial eyes, the longer last empire would far outpace the newer. It would seem ridiculous for anyone to attack such an empire.

Anyhow, since Nora didn’t plan on informing him, she decided to address a more serious issue. It had been an exceptionally long time since they were last left together alone. The damn book had gotten even more disrespectful in that time.

“Do you think that is any way to address your leader?” (N)

“The very idea, the very notion that a little crybaby can be MY leader is absurd!” (L)

“Oh, shut up! It was one time I cried! One! Time! Let it go!!” (N)

There wasn’t much to say about that. It wasn’t like the Cradle, the world Nora found herself reborn in, was the most peaceful. The desolate land used to teem with monsters before Nora’s gems wiped them out. Back when she roamed the land alone, a single instance of weakness came upon her.

“Huh? Really!? Then what about—!” (L)

Sticking her head out of the warp, Nora decided to mess with other warp streams to pass some time.

 

 

“You fool! You really did it! Why can’t you ever just—!” (L)

Sitting back in her own warp stream, Nora listened to endless complaints filed at her. They range from the smallest, least inconsequential things to the biggest, most bothersome things. He went over her general attitude, her lack of care, and… you know what? It doesn’t even matter. It was all just boring nonsense.

‘Wish I could speed up this ride…’

Too bad the warp gate rejected her input. If she could find a way to input her energy, they wouldn’t have to waste time in the warp stream. Lost in thought, Nora tried to find a solution.

‘The gate rejected my energy, but I haven’t tried the warp stream itself, no? Maybe I can…’

With nothing to lose, Nora spread her aura.

While it was true that the gate had multiple conditions for its activation, would those conditions still apply once they passed the entry point? If Nora were to compare the current situation, it would be like that of a locked door. A person may need the key to unlock the door and enter the hallway, but they wouldn’t need the key in order to continue walking. They would merely walk.

“Wait! Stop that immediately! That’s too much!” (L)

Infusing a tiny, meagre amount of energy into the warp gate, Nora let it greedily absorb her energy without a care.

As a result, they sped up.

‘Nice!’

Perhaps because of this stunning result, she failed to notice what should’ve been obvious.

The sound of glass shattering rang as the warp stream deformed and completely shattered. Both Nora and the book were ejected into naked travelling at speeds many would fail to comprehend. Surprised but not startled, Nora twisted her body, grabbed the book, and started to search for a solution.

Early in her playing with the warp streams and exposing them to a smidgen of her energy, Nora had completely destroyed them. Not intentionally, though; she had just underestimated how fragile they were. As a result, nearly all they had been passing were gone except one. The last remaining stream Nora had decided to leave alone for later in case she got bored.

A great choice looking back.

Aiming for the last stream present, Nora directed their momentum there. Without these streams, they had no way of getting to Earth quickly. Entering the stream, Nora felt relief wash over her until she felt her body stretch uncontrollably. It... It seemed that the warp was trying to move them at a set speed while their bodies were travelling unthinkably faster.

‘Alright, no problem!’ 

Nora just needed to add a little power to the stream…gently this time. Having gotten a sense of the warp's limit from the last failure, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

A pinkish hue enveloped both Nora and the book.

The warp picked up speed, and they travelled by calmly until Nora felt her feet touch ground.

It looked like they were here.

Letting go of the book, Nora let it fly on its own as she waited for the light emitting from her to die down. Having jumped out of their original warp, there was actually no guarantee they had arrived on Earth.

Scanning the environment, Nora almost despaired until she saw the nostalgic scene.

A wide smile came on her face.

And, as if on cue, a herd of familiar faces appeared with weapons drawn.

They looked tense.

Hiding her widening smile with a cough, Nora spoke,

“Hello there! Sorry to trouble you after barging in so suddenly, but this wouldn’t happen to be Earth, would it? (N)

What was there to be tense about?