DOOM SAGA I - I'll be home tomorrow

Day 55

The Fortress

Her hand rummaged through her school backpack checking if she was missing something, though it wasn't a lot to start with.  Two bottles of water and her last bag of ramen and chips. Her pencil case and some spare clothes were everything she owned now. Her phone had been dead for weeks now, but she put it in with the charger, all sealed in a plastic bag. She closed her eyes and prayed silently for what was to come, for everything to work out.
"Are you ready SODIA?", she asked as she got up and tied the rope that was threaded through the loops of her jeans a little tighter. Her notebook was stuck into the waistband at the front, her thin jacket loosely covering it up.
Yes. Are you, Io? I cannot accompany you beyond this station. You will be on your own.
Her hands were shaking, if it was either the starvation or her nerves was unimportant. She pressed the buttons that had little shreds of paper taped to them, reading her step-by-step instruction that hung on the big screen.
The portal is assembling. Choose your destination.
Her sweaty hand hovered over the location on the map.
Exultia.
A gentle tap and the portal rose from within the structure once more. She stood inches away from the blue glow with the shimmer of a city inside it, glaring at that thing that scared her so much.
She inhaled, held it, and stepped through. For a second she felt weightless before her feet touched down on the ground. She nearly lost her balance but caught herself just in time. A weird feeling filled her body, a feeling that this wasn't her planet, her home.

Argent d'Nur

The portal had closed behind her and she scanned the little tower she was standing in. It was wide open, with only pillars on the front side that were probably 30 meters high, and rounded chapel-like roofing. The city with huge buildings and small houses was scattered along the valley and mountain bases. A river calmy snaking through its centre. Most of the city seemed destroyed or damaged, with mossy green walls and holes in the roofs. But near the biggest structure, a massive dome with a big viking-hall to its side, she saw light and movement.
Heavy footsteps quickly came closer as she was standing at the rim of the broken flooring and stared at the city baffled. Half a dozen guards flew around the corner behind her, staffs in her hands and ready to fight, but they stopped abruptly when they saw her.
They looked at each other when she turned around calmly, her dumb face inspecting each of them. The one in the middle approached her, his weapon ready, and spoke in an unintelligible language.
"Ki vem ou ye? Ki kom ou te hit isi la?!"
She cocked her head.
"Ki vem ou ye?!", he asked again, more angrily.
"Uhm... uh..." she stuttered. He was asking for something, that's what she got.
She lifted her jacket to pull out the notebook but shrieked as their weapons clattered at her movement and all of them stepped closer. She raised her hands like the police were aiming for her, frozen in place. The front guy signed them to wait and she relaxed a little.
With a racing heart, she pulled up the jacket and out the book. Now each of them lowered their weapon. She quickly turned the pages to her marker and held it in front of her, pointing at it. The Slayers rune spread over the full left page. Confusion unfolded in the group as she tapped on it with her finger more vigorously. Even with der helmets on, she could feel how unsure they were about what to do about her. She put the notebook back into the waistband and sighed.
"Bring me to you leader...?"
The Slayer had spoken English before, so maybe they knew it. Her accent must be terrible, but their posture changed immediately.
"You are from Earth?", boss-buddy asked with a big question mark over his head, his mouth didn't seem to be used to this language. She couldn't help but groan at the relief of being understood, and her tension washed away.
"YES.", she said with an excited smile.
He nodded to the others and he grabbed her by the arm, not hard but firm, and led her onwards. His hand reached all around it with room to spare and it was hard to keep up with their pace while walking down the stairs and further and further. The adrenalin was as good as gone by now. Again, she prayed.