Deep beneath an ancient city shrouded in shadows, the Ruins of Enigma silently stood amidst the vast expanse of the surrounding ruins. The crumbling, abandoned stone structures had stood the test of time and had witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations throughout the years, but they showed no signs of faltering.

  Meanwhile, Alice, Rachel and Zalgo found themselves in a cutting-edge laboratory decked out with neon lights. Standing before them was a very short girl with dark brown skin and curly lime green hair, donning a lab coat...with sleeves far too long for her arms. On her back was what seemed like an oversized metallic backpack with blinking lights. She turned around, her chestnut-colored eyes observing the girls with a mixture of surprise and amusement.

  "Aha! You should be the three Ephemerals I've been told about! Am I right?"

  The girls look a little dazed from the teleportation, yet their attention shifted to the girl in the lab coat. Alice's lips curled into a curious smile, and she nodded.

  "Yeah, that's us," Alice confirmed, her curiosity piqued. "And you are...?”

  The lab-coat girl grinned. "It's gibberish!"

  Alive blinked, opening her mouth to respond, but was cut off by the girl again. "Hehe, trust me, my name's just gonna sound like gibberish to ya, so just call me Doc! The most brilliant mind around!”

  "Ooookayyy," Rachel said, looking the lab-coat girl up and down, slightly amused. "And why would we have a hard time pronouncing your name, exactly?”

  The lab girl, or rather, "Doc" cackled, her grin widening. "Cause the language spoken in these here ruins contain sounds ya very likely can't make! Our language's phonology is difficult to wrap your tongue around if ya didn't grow up speaking it, but yanno most outsiders from other worlds don't, so it'll be quite tough for any of ya to pronounce. So you girls can just call me Doc, 'kay?”

  Rachel raised an eyebrow, still a little bewildered but intrigued. "All right, if you say so. But just so you know, I bet Alice could pronounce your real name if she tried.” she boasted, gesturing to Alice. “She's a super language nerd.”

  "Really now?" Doc's interest piqued, her gaze shifting towards Alice. "You a language nerd, huh? Well, I've gotta hear this then. Go ahead and give it a shot, if ya want.”

  Alice blushed slightly, not expecting to be suddenly put on the spot. "Oh, well...I am a bit of a language nerd. But, um..." she trailed off, unsure of how to respond.

  "Come on," Rachel encouraged her, unable to resist the urge to tease her. "Show us your skills, language expert. Let's see if you can pronounce her 'gibberish' name.”

  Alice shot Rachel a look of mild annoyance but smiled nonetheless. She turned to Doc and took a deep breath, gathering her composure and self-confidence. "Alright, I'm ready to give it a try. What's your name, Doc?”

  "Great," Doc continued, her voice now a gentle, coaxing tone. "Now, my name...is...Xshihlu?aghxari~”

  Alice's eyes remained closed, but her eyebrows furrowed slightly. The syllables that Doc had just uttered sounded completely foreign, almost alien to her ears. She took a moment to mentally break down the syllables, her mind trying to grasp the foreign sounds.

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  "It sounds a little strange, huh? That's because the first sound, ‘X’ - it's a soft, almost guttural sound that comes from the back of the throat. Then the rest... Well, it gets a little more complex. Try to mimic these sounds one by one, okay?”

  "Xsh...Shihlu..?aghxari?" Alice repeated, her voice hesitating but trying its best to imitate the strange sounds.

  Doc smiled approvingly, her eyes still twinkling with amusement. "Mmm, close. Try to relax your throat a bit more on the first sound. You're doing well, just try to let go of the stress in your voice. Let the sounds flow naturally.”

  "Xshihlu?aghxari," Alice repeated confidently.

  Docs' eyes widened, her amusement turning into genuine admiration. "I'm smitten! You pronounced it way better than any other outsiders that tried! Not perfect, mind you, but still quite decent for someone who had never heard the syllables before.”

  Alice opened her eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed with pride. "Thank you. I've been training my ear and tongue for different languages for years now, so I have some experience with sounds that are outside the norm."

  "Oh jeez," Rachel said with a dramatic groan. "Alice got so caught up in being a language nut that we forgot what we came to these silly ruins to do!”

  Doc chuckled, her attention shifting to Rachel. "Not so silly ruins, as you put it. These buildings hold vast knowledge that has been around for thousands of years. This place is a treasure trove of historical and cultural significance. You and your little friends should consider yourselves quite lucky to be standing here right now.”

  Rachel shifted awkwardly on her feet, feeling a bit guilty for calling the ruins 'silly.' Alice nudged her gently, silently signaling her to choose the next words more carefully.

  "I...I didn't mean 'silly' in a disrespectful way," Rachel fumbled, trying to find the right words. "Sorry, I just got a little carried away.”

  Doc grinned, sensing the girls' uneasiness. "It's all right. I understand. Just remember to show some respect, okay? These ruins are not just a bunch of old stone buildings. They are relics of the past, filled with secrets and untold stories. So you know what's going on here, right?"

  Alice nodded. "Yeah. A cult in these ruins opened up a portal that allowed dark forces to invade and attack, and the forest chief, Arana, wants us to help her fight off against those monsters threatening the knowledge and technology that call these ruins home.”

  Doc nodded, the smirk on her face widening. "That's correct. The creatures that are attacking these ruins are a specific variant of Depraved known as Malus Spectra, and they're incredibly dangerous. They're powerful entities that feed on the knowledge and energy within these ruins, trying to destroy everything that makes these ruins so significant. We've been working hard to keep them at bay, but it gets increasingly difficult each day.”

  Zalgo finally piped up, her voice carrying a hint of sarcasm. "If these monsters are so dangerous and powerful, why don't you just blow them all to dust with your hi-tech stuff over here?”

  Doc let out a hearty laugh, amused by Zalgo's straightforwardness. "Oh, I wish it was that simple. Ya see, the problem is that these creatures can't be killed through conventional means. They're like shadows, constantly shifting and adapting to any attacks we throw at them. We've tried high-tech weapons, energy beams, you name it. But they just bounce right off them. We need powerful Void Magic like we've never seen before. That's where you three come in.”

  "Wait, what?" Rachel interjected, her eyes widening. "Void Magic? We're like— beginners in Void Magic still, we're not that good at it.”

  Doc nodded, understanding their concerns. "Yeah, I am aware of that. But here's the thing - while you may be beginners in terms of Void Magic, you are also Ephemerals. And that makes all the difference.”

  "How so? Alice inquired, raising an eyebrow. "We're still normal people for the most part, I never got the hype surrounding the Ephemerals. We were able to learn the basics of Void Magic very quickly, but other than that…”

  Doc's smirk widened, her eyes gleaming with admiration. "Ah, that's where you're wrong, my dear. You're not just normal people. You belong to a special breed of humans that are incredibly rare and capable of extraordinary things.”

  Alice, Rachel, and Zalgo exchanged puzzled glances, intrigued by Doc's words. Rachel spoke up, her curiosity piqued. "What do you mean by 'special breed of humans'?”

  Doc turned around, walking up to a chair hooked up to a large machine with many appendages. She turned around to face the girls again, gesturing to the chair before saying: "May I see one of you for a moment?”