Laura looked up towards the fox, the whites of her eyes now colored an inky black, with glowing orange irises. Her gaze was unfocused as she tried to focus on Zenesha. It was hard to think. Laura can feel the Void calling for her as it hammered in her head trying to get her to pay attention to it. IT was painful.
Static filled the room, and the air lasted metallic. Her mortal vessel was failing her and soon enough it would die. Once that happened, she'll be expelled from this world, and considering how much Void energy she was leaking, others probably knew where she was. There was a high chance she would be ambushed the moment she was dragged back.
"It's already too late to save this body." Laura said eventually as her arms and legs started to turn an inky black. "Even if I could get some essence inside me there's no saving my vessel."
"Then what do I do?" Zenesha asked worriedly.
"... I'll need you to summon me... and instead of making a deal... I'll have to mark you..."
"Mark me... like the mark we talked about before?"
"Yes." Laura confirmed. "I really wouldn't want to do it without knowing the effects on you first. So, if you think it's too much, just forget about summoning me, I'll make my way back.... No matter how long that'll take."
Zenesha reached out and cupped Laura's inky black face with her hand and smiled. "Nothing is too much to have you back by my side."
Laura gave a strained smile as her true form consumed the weakened vessel. "Just use the pendent to find me. I can't explain how to summon me, there isn't- uhg."
Laura flinched as the Voids presence became over whelming for a moment.
"Goodbye Zen."
"Goodbye Lo-" Then she was gone. Her body disintegrating into black flakes before dissipating within the air.
=======
*Bam*
The first sensation Laura felt upon returning to the Void was something slamming into her side. She flew through the air as she concentrated on condensing her undefinable form into something smaller more maneuverable and try to stick to three dimensions. It'll be harder to fight since she couldn't rely one a physical form to keep herself together, but at least it gave her a higher chance of survival.
She crashed into a wall that seemingly formed from nothing and laid there in a daze as she saw several of her people coming at her with murder in their eyes. They looked like several different species from several different worlds. Far too many to count.
Though others stood out more than the rest.
"Is that a fucking dragon?" She whined before pulling herself up with her newly formed arm and making a run for it.
She was much larger than her mortal form, about twenty meters if she had to guess, but that didn't matter at the moment. Right now, she had to focus on survival. If she died here, she would be dead. Truly dead; completely erased. Her only saving grace was that thanks to being in the Void, the Void itself was no longer calling for her. Its presence was still there in the back of her mind though. Like always.
Someone ended up tossing a Voidling at her. They looked like an imp from earths mythology with a roll of her eyes she caught the poor thing and tossed it into her mouth. A flood of energy rushed through her as she continued to flee from the angry mob of assorted species behind her. Thanks to only her mortal body taking damage Laura was in perfect health all things considered, but that only let her run for her life.
She might've been on the stronger side for a forsaken, but even she wasn't dumb enough to face hundreds of others by herself. At least, not without a weapon.
"I don't even have my pack with me." She lamented. "I also have to figure out how to make another vessel.... Maybe I should've asked my family how to do that before I killed most of them."
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt something pierce through her abdomen. She flinched in pain and almost lost her humanoid form she worked so hard to maintain. Sure, it was featureless, and she looked like a walking shadow with orange light, but still. Looking down she noticed a hole going through her, and a spear made of void steel that landed directly in front of her.
She smiled. Or she would've if she had a mouth at that moment in time. Hell, she would've liked any facial features, but that wasn't an option at the moment.
"Who the fuck threw that!?" She heard someone call from behind. It wasn't a language she was familiar with. Must be from a very alien world then since most worlds tend to share languages. The Universes influence no doubt. There was no way that happened naturally. She of course understood what they said regardless.
Without hesitation Laura scooped up the spear, skidded to a halt and turned towards the army of Forsaken in front of her.
They all stopped.
She knew that they would win in the end if she tried killing them all. They also knew this, but now that she had a weapon, the question was how many of them would die before then? Laura just wanted to thin out their numbers before she continued to flee. Her current size was about fifteen meters, and she planned to continue running once she was back to her mortal height. It'll be easier to hide while small.
"Well then," She started, "I'll aim for that dragon first."
=======
---Zenesha General POV---
Zenesha was surprised no one from the Void came to her location. Laura's presence was definitely felt by all higher being in this world. The fox of course didn't know the moment the other Void creatures on the planet felt Laura's vessel dying, they all waited for her in the Void. Instead, the fox was left wondering what was happening.
She could of course guess, but it was all speculation on her part. Which caused her to worry more than ever. Laura was probably fighting for her life. That single thought filled Zenesha with dread as she continued to sit inside the empty room by herself. The only indication Laura was ever there being her empty clothes and bag.
After a while Zenesha reached into the collar of her shirt and fished out the Saphire pendent that contained a part of Laura's core. She needed this to summon her again... but how? Sure, she read books about it in the past, but she didn't know much about magic. There was that one Witch she and Laura found, but there was also Kathrin. Though her use of magic was distinctly different from witches.
After staring blankly at the pendent for a while Zenesha stood up from the bed and exited the room, making sure to grab Laura's bag on the way out.
'Well, it was more of a satchel now, but that's not really important.' She thought.
After making her way down the stairs, she ignored everyone in the living room turned command center. She was on the hunt for one person and one person only. After failing to find the rabbit inside the building, Zenesha ventured outside to continue her search. After a few more minutes she found Kathrin sitting out back staring at the setting sun.
The young woman dressed as a maid was Zenesha's teacher when it came to wielding her sword. Yet both she and Laura knew very little about the woman herself. From what they gathered Kathrin Hopkins was a normal citizen of the empire. Her entire life can be traced fairly easily, so her talents in this strange magic and swordsmanship was odd.
There's nothing within her upbringing that even hints at her somehow developing her current skill set. It didn't really matter to Zenesha at the moment as she approach the maid.
"Ms. Hopkins, may I have a moment?"
Kathrin turned her head towards Zenesha without a word and waited for the fox to speak. When she met Zenesha's gaze the Queen of the Zari Nation realized she didn't know what to say. She wanted help summoning Laura, but then she'll have to explain that she needed magic to summon something from the Void. On top of that she'll need to explain Laura's origins.
This was not something she can just ask casually.
Seeing her pupil hesitate to speak Kathrin tilted her head in confusion. "Is something the matter Ma'am?"
".... We're leaving for the capitol." Zenesha ended up saying. If she was going to tell this woman anything it'll be with a home field advantage.
"Understood." Kathrin responded with a nod. "I'll help Ms. Underwood organize and gather her things."
"... I can do that." Zenesha said tightening her hold on the satchel she was wearing.
Kathrins eyes narrowed. "Where is Laura; If you don't mind me asking?"
"That's... a long story." Zenesha replied. "I'll explain once we make it back to the capitol."
Kathrin didn't answer instead she closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them with surprised. "I thought it was odd she was letting her Void energy leak out so much. To think she died."
Zenesha wasn't one to show much expression, but even she couldn't help the comical look of shock her face made. Her mind grounded to a halt as she processed what the rabbit in front of her just said. She knew. Did Laura tell her?
"Yes, you heard me correctly, fand yes I did know." Kathrin said walking towards Zenesha. "Laura herself did not tell me what she was, but I've known since the moment I met her."
"... How?"
"I've met and killed my fair share of Void entities Ma'am." Kathrin admitted. "I had no real desire to kill Laura myself though. She wasn't causing harm... to what I care about anyway."
Zenesha leveled a suspicious glare at the rabbit. "What if I were to ask you to help summon her back?"
"Without some sort of symbol tied to her or object I don't think that'll be possible/" Kathrin answered with a hint of regret. "I'm sorry, but she's gone until she can make herself a new body. and return on her own."
"... Would this work?" Zenesha asked pulling out the pendent.
Kathrin looked at the Saphire pendent with what Zenesha can only called a complicated expression despite her facial muscles not moving much. The maid looked between the pendent and Zenesha multiple times with disbelief. Eventually she stopped and just stared at Zenesha blankly.
"She must like you a lot to give part of her core to you." She said blankly.
"... Will you help me summon her or not?"