Morrigan and Solomon walked
down the ramp of a private transport ship from the Righteous Eye, the
Inquisition's flagship which Solomon commanded. The sight of the gargantuan
space station that was home to the Inquisition, the Void Star, was a marvelous
masterpiece. A five-pronged spire city floating in space that generated its own
atmosphere allowing complete freedom to its residents. It’s high gothic
architecture seemed to be normal for the Inquisition and Morrigan found
profound beauty in the dark shades of colors highlighted by the bright colors
of lights of innumerable dwellings, businesses both militaristic and civilian, and
the working docks that took care of the 13 other starships floating as silent
sentinels or in for repair.

She was in true awe to see
the blend of Terrans and Eskarii who bustled through the lively space station.
The purple and red swirling neighboring galaxy that could be seen in the sky,
giving the city-station a beautiful glow.

They walked down one of the
main thoroughfares and stopped at a map as he pointed out various sections of
the Void Star with pride. Her anxiety was through the roof being in such a
strange new place, though she felt as if she could trust the Lord Inquisitor.
Her body and mind struggled with the torrent of emotions she felt as well as
the struggle between determining whether she was safe or in danger.

She turned her head as
Solomon spoke seeing a glowing pink and green neon sign that said Pandora’s Box.

“Is that a bar?” she asked
interrupting the man.

He chuckled at her before
responding, “Yes, we have over 20 of them spread throughout the civilian
districts, though Pandora’s Box is one of the more popular ones. If you’d like,
you may go and have yourself a drink while I go set up the paperwork of your induction
to our ranks, if you stay there long enough, I can send your two friends, the
blonde mage and the… Marmuro’k, to come find you there. I’ll even send an
administrator to show you to where you’ll be staying once I’m finished,” he
said with understanding. He knew she was on edge and overloaded by the drastic
change in her life.

Morrigan mulled it over, she
was missing Nora and Xol direly though she understood they both had to be
vetted through the Inquisition’s systems. Understanding did not help the
encroaching nerve fraying loneliness sinking in.

She nodded despondently and
slowly started walking away only for Solomon to chuckle.

“Morrigan?” he said to
garner her attention.

She stopped and turned her
head.

“Please do stay out of
trouble, and tell Dora I’m footing tonight’s bill. I will send for you tomorrow
to the Grand Cathedral, to sign your papers and have someone give you a tour. Giving
you the day to try and acclimate before starting your training the following
day,” he said with a kind smile.

“And my mother?” she asked
cautiously.

He snorted and nodded, “I’ll
do what I can to set up a vid-call with her though it will take time to
coordinate her extraction from Earth. The news is she’s still within Federation
territory and the war has been ramping up, but I will do what I can to bring
her to the Void Star safely.”

“Okay…” she replied in
exhausted, frayed, meek hopefulness before walking away.

She entered Pandora’s Box with
caution as she took in the colorful low light. The music blaring was some form
of techno and the air was thick with smoke coming from the customers filling
the array of tables.

She took out her cigarettes
and lit one, thankful that she was allowed to smoke inside before moving
through the modest crowd with utmost caution.

The trip to the Void Star
was short thanks to slipstream technology, though she had no understanding of
it. She spent the entirety of the trip napping in Nora’s lap in a holding cell
made to protect both the inhabitants of the Righteous Eye as well as the
prisoners until everything was squared away. There was no hostility that came
from the crew nor Solomon when they were brought aboard, so Morrigan
respectfully approved of the request of being held.

She made her way to the open
bar and took a seat on the empty barstool.

The man behind the counter
turned around and Morrigan’s eyes went wide. The man before her was five foot
ten of caramel skin, completely bald and clean shaven. The surprising factor
was the number of gaudy jewels, makeup and obscenely colorful clothing the man
wore.

What the fuck is this?! Apollyon
exclaimed in disbelief.

“Ohh, you look like
something the cat threw up and dragged through the seven deserts of Istal III…”
he said with an effeminate flair mixed with mildly offensive disgust.

“And you look like you could
put a parrot to shame,” Morrigan replied with a drag of her cigarette,
remembering she still wore the soiled clothes from Castile V, explaining the
odd looks she got carefully moving through the patrons.

The man laughed and stepped
closer, “oh my, here I said something rude and you go and give me such a lovely
compliment, I’m Dora, what’s your name my catty little minx?” he said holding
out his hand.

Morrigan shrank back and stared
at Dora’s hand as if it may bite her.

Dora recognized the wild
look in her eyes and withdrew his hand. “I see, you don’t have to worry about
me darling. I’m as gay as the day is long and twice as shiny!” Dora announced
with exaggerated flourish.

Well… that definitely
explains a lot… Apollyon sniggered.

Morrigan snorted as she leaned
back forward, “well… it’s probably not safe still… I don’t know.”

Dora nodded in understanding
and reach for a bottle on high shelf and poured Morrigan a healthy amount
before sliding her the glass respectfully.

“Here, this one’s on the
house. You look like you need it,” he said incredulously.

Morrigan smirked as she took
the glass sniffing it. The whiskey in the glass was stronger than she had ever
smelled. That did not stop her from downing the entire glass in a single harsh
gulp.

“According to Solomon, it’s
all on the house,” she said passively as she set the glass down.

Dora smirked as he leaned
against the bar, filling the glass again. “So, you’re the potential new
Inquisitor I’ve heard about?”

Morrigan’s eyes shifted
throughout the room in panic, “how?! I just got here?”

Dora snorted as he watched
her panic, “sweetheart, gossip travels fast on the Void Star, and I hear it
all. Besides, believe it or not despite all the riffraff the Inquisition takes
in it’s a rare occurrence when a new potential Inquisitor is selected.”

Morrigan sighed as the whiskey
burned through her core, taking a slight edge off her nerves, “I see… were you
part of this… riffraff?”

Dora laughed heartily, his
girlish demeanor helping ease Morrigan’s nerves, “I was a warlord before I
built this place.”

Say fucking what? How?! I
demand answers!

Morrigan couldn’t help but
chuckle in disbelief as she agreed with Apollyon, “you were a warlord?” she
asked in scrutiny.

Dora smiled and nodded
enthusiastically, “oh yes, had an army of 800 men and women on Istal III as
well as Dorian I. Was fun but eventually it got too…dull, if that makes any
sense. Before the Inquisition picked me up, I wanted to find an out and they
understood I didn’t want to fight anymore. So, they let me open this wonderful
bar of mine and I’ve been here ever since.”

Morrigan was surprised by
that, “and you like the Inquisition?”

Meanwhile Apollyon sputtered
and made noises as if it could not process why someone would want to give up
being a warlord before stretching into a defeated, disappointed sigh.

Dora swayed side to side in
thought, “do I believe in them? Sure. Some of the Inquisitors are pompous
asses, but the work the Inquisition does is truly for the benefit of all. Being
independent, and paid to assist or investigate others keeps a healthy balance
between the CoU and the Eskarii as well as sticking it to the Federation like a
ten-inch rod,” he said mimicking the length of which he spoke and what it was
used for.

Morrigan laughed as she took
another drink, “I think I like you Dora,” she said with nervous calm. Being
around the overtly gay man helped her relax drastically.

“Well, I am just happy to
hear that, though I still don’t know your name dove,” he said with moderate
amusement.

Morrigan nodded and slowly,
cautiously held out her hand, “Morrigan,” she stated nervously.

Dora eyed her with raised,
trimmed eyebrows and met her hand with equal caution. Morrigan sighed in relief
when Dora gently took her hand and nothing bad happened, even her anxiety
relaxed.

“Nice to meet you Morrigan, seeing
as you managed to escape from whatever fresh hell you crawled out of, I think
you’ll do great work here,” Dora said with a bright smile that gave Morrigan a
glimmer of hope in her decision.