View source for Same as It Ever Was (Part 4)

Nadina crawls up from her prone position and tries to escape the knight, but the knight hits her across the back of her head with the pommel of their blade, and she goes down without a sound. The sight of it makes Nala scream.

Her eyes glow golden.

"No!" Nala screams, falling to the floor with tears flowing down her face. "No, I don't want this! I don't want any of this--" Her last words echo. Something about the house begins to... hum? No, it's the ground.

Something's going wrong.

 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+18: (1)+18: 19 (EPIC FAIL)
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+13: (7)+13: 20
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+8: (4)+8: 12
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+18: (16)+18: 34
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+13: (11)+13: 24
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+8: (8)+8: 16
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+18: (16)+18: 34
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d6+1d6+5+5: (6)+(2)+5+5: 18
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d6+5: (3)+5: 8

Inside of the house, the knight summons a scimitar. "Unhand the girl." The knight says it like a solemn order. "She belongs to His Highness. She will be treated exceedingly well. There is no need to resist." Yet the knight brings his sword to bear against Zeke and Rune, and the attacks find no purchase.

"Your Highness! Fall back! Surely there is no need to add another bride to your lovely bounty," another knight calls as he attacks Harkashan by the front door. "We will buy you time."

 GAME: Telamon casts Suffocation/Quicken. Caster Level: 20 DC: 30
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+19: (9)+19: 28
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+19: (18)+19: 37
 GAME: Telamon casts Horrid Wilting. Caster Level: 20 DC: 29
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+19: (10)+19: 29
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+16: (20)+16: 36
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+16: (10)+16: 26
 GAME: Telamon rolls 20d6: (65): 65
 GAME: Simony casts Crushing Hand. Caster Level: 17 DC: 24
 GAME: Simony rolls cleric+12+1: (1)+17+12+1: 31 (EPIC FAIL)
 GAME: Simony rolls cleric+12+1: (5)+17+12+1: 35

Telamon's eyes blaze with arcane light as Raeluin lashes out with necromantic energy at Aryia. His response is immediate, and brutal, as he swiftly gestures with his rod at Raeluin. There's a crackling sound, the snap of ice in the air, but the deadly magic fails to strangle the obnoxious fey noble. No matter.

"I am going to fucking kill you," Tel says in an almost conversational tone. Another spell ripples out from him, a wave of ghostly blue light that bypasses Hark and Aryia -- but lashes at the fey warriors with star-spawned energies, leaving cruel scarring on their flesh.

 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+21: (8)+21: 29
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d6: (4): 4
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d4: (1): 1

The Goblin eyes the ongoing scuffles, casting a glance over her shoulder first, before looking back to where Zeke and Rune battle the guard who came in from the back.

Her grin is broad and shows too many teeth, as her holy symbol begins to glow. "Uhhhh. Zeke! Rune! DUCK! Oh holy Raven, give me a hand! A big fucking hand!"

Materializing above the group in the corner, the ten foot wide translucent hand moves downwards, attempting to grab the guard in its big meaty fingers. The guard is missed, the hand instead smashing into the wall behind him.

"Ooops. Missed..."

The knight affected by Harkashan's spell of awe-inspiring presence makes the audible sound of weeping from behind their mask. "Sire!" they say. "You should take this man as your bride instead. Is he not lovely?"

"Are you fucking _daft_?" Raeluin growls in response. "Look harder! He is but an overgrown lizard!"

This stiffens the knight, who takes up their blade. "R-Right! Please leave the battlefield, Your Highness! We will take care of it for you."

 GAME: Harkashan casts Curse. Caster Level: 17 DC: 24
 GAME: Riptide rolls 1d20+23: (20)+23: 43
 GAME: Harkashan rolls 11d6: (42): 42

The Knight manages to get to Harkashan, this swiping of his Scimitar managing to get through his divine protections and armor both, tearing across the tough scales beneath! Harkashan grimaces, stumbling back slightly, before he steps forward and grimaces deeply upon the Knight before himself. "Excuse me." He then remarks, stepping past the knight. Bemused as the other knight comments on him, yet manages to fight off the effects upon him.

"Do not worry, noble knight. I don't date people who are uglier on the inside than the out." Before raising his hand and gripping out towards the Fae Lord. Trying to reach to his very soul, declaring; "The Deathsinging Dragon demands, remain forever upon the Material Plane!" Except, he can feel his grip slipping even as he incants, grimacing, only to release.

Darn. He lets out a long pant, and then throws his arm aside, sending out a pulse of healing to himself and Aryia, reknitting their wounds with ease.

 GAME: Zeke rolls 1d20+29: (17)+29: 46
 GAME: Zeke rolls 1d20+29: (9)+29: 38
 GAME: Zeke rolls 1d20+24: (5)+24: 29
 GAME: Zeke rolls 1d20+17: (6)+17: 23
 GAME: Zeke rolls 1d8+10+1d6: (7)+10+(2): 19
 GAME: Zeke rolls 1d8+10+1d6: (2)+10+(5): 17
 GAME: Rune takes ten on bluff: (10)+31: 41

The blue-scale sith-makar defends Nala as best he can. He knows that he is not the best warrior ever forged, but he has learned the lessons of his one-time kin as best as he can. He growls at the knight before him, urging it to attack him, hoping that his larger form is an effective shield between it and the slender frame of the girl beyond. "We will not yield the hatchling!"

 GAME: Rune rolls Weapon2-2: (7)+26+-2: 31
 GAME: Rune rolls weapon1-7: (3)+26+-7: 22
 GAME: Rune rolls weapon2-7: (9)+26+-7: 28
 GAME: Rune rolls weapon1-12: (7)+26+-12: 21
 GAME: Rune rolls weapon2-12: (11)+26+-12: 25
 GAME: Rune rolls weapon1: (5)+26: 31
 GAME: Rune rolls damage2+1d6+9d6: aliased to 1d6+4+1d6+9d6: (6)+4+(5)+(41): 56
 GAME: Rune rolls damage1+1d6+9d6: aliased to 1d6+4+1d6+9d6: (3)+4+(2)+(34): 43

When one of her allies says 'duck', Rune rarely questions it. She ducks down just for a magic fist to go zooming over her head and smashing into the wall. "Uh, little more to the left next time and you've got 'im. Just watch out for Nadina!" Rune calls out in response, tightening her grip on her weapons.

Following up after Zeke's series of blows, Rune lashes out with her own, using some of the distraction that the Makari cleric offers in order to weave two good blows between the armored plates of her enemy. Two wounds that may look minor on the surface, but it is obvious from the way that they bleed that vital places have been struck.

Nala's weeping and screaming only intensifies as she sees the knight fighting against Rune and Zeke. She can't stop looking at her mother, who's slumped on the floor. She looks at the knight, who is bleeding.

"Stop it," she demands, her voice echoing with a strange power. Even those out at the front door and standing outside can hear her words. "Stop. It. STOP IT--"

Outside of the house, the sound of broken glass can be heard. Aryia... shatters? It looks like she becomes a two-dimensional glass portrait that shatters for no reason, beyond that the world is shaking harder now--and then the pieces of her disappear like she was never there at all. The same thing happens to the knight who had been admiring Harkashan, and then to the knight inside the house. They shatter. They disappear.

 GAME: Telamon rolls 1d100: (61): 61
 GAME: Zeke rolls 1d100: (37): 37
 GAME: Harkashan rolls 1d100: (39): 39
 GAME: Simony rolls 1d100: (35): 35
 GAME: Rune rolls 1d100: (89): 89

Raeluin opens his mouth, looking around for a moment before he looks down at his hands and realizes his body is slowly beginning to... crack apart. Lines run up his armor like the black lines on painted glass. "What--no, no, _no_--"

With his last word, he shatters, joined shortly by his knight.

Telamon's expression goes from wrathful to confused at the sudden turn in events. "What the -- shit! Aryia!" He reaches out reflexively to where Aryia was, as the ground shakes and Nala's voice can be heard. "What is... Nala, whatever you're doing, hold up! Don't--" Then he notices a line on the back of his hand, outlining the curuchuil. Glancing down, he sees more lines on his form, before he looks back at Hark.

"Hark, she's the key. Don't let--" Whatever else Telamon was trying to impart is lost as the sound of glass shattering rings out again, and the archmage seems to explode into flashing shards that disappear in a heartbeat.

The sight of the knight forming into glass and then shattering before her eyes has Rune drawing her blades away, looking shocked. It's as if she were momentarily wondering if some measure of her power, or Zeke's had done this. Without the context of what is going on outside, an uncertain look is cast over her shoulder before...

Rune stops, looking down as faint cracks seem to be forming along her skin, extending from her back and forward across her arms, her legs, and then up along her face. Her eyes shoot towards Nala, panic written in her features for a split second, "What are you--" But the words are cut off.

With another crackle of glass, Rune breaks into pieces that seem to crumble from that central point along her back, falling into shards where the rogue had stood a moment before.

Harkashan isn't certain what is happening so suddenly. The knight shatters, Raluin shatters, and his brow knits deeply. "What is going on?" He rumbles, glancing around, only to spot that Telamon is in a very similar situation. "Telamon?" He asks, looking up and down his body.

"What is Nala doing? How..." And then, there's a shattering. A shattering of Telamon, who he quickly dives towards to try and grab the pieces, but they simply slip through his fingers. Only to hear another shattering coming from within. Rune's words cutting out. 

His blood runs cold in that moment.

The Sith-makar rushing inside, pushing the door open, practically knocking Simony aside as he moves around her, rushing towards Rune just as she already shatters...

And glares at Nala, grumping at her; "What did you DO to them!?"

Zeke starts toward Nadina, thinking to help the woman as the enemies crumble to dust, but then Rune shows the same signs of harm and... Quickly he starts to cast a spell but the words do not flow quickly enough from his lips and she's gone.

Gone.

His claw falls to the side and a pulse of warmth flows from his body, but also sorrow. Sorrow that he could not aid Rune. He lays a hand on Nadina and heals her with help from the Dragonfather. Help that he could not give to Rune. "Why?" He does not understand.

He startles at the sound of Harkashan's angry voice and he looks at the other sith-makar in surprise. "Why are you yelling at the hatchling? Her nessst-mother isss hurt." His tone is that of disapproval. One does not come between a healer and those that they are healing.

At the shattering of the guard, Simony's head cants slightly. "That's odd.", she says evenly. But as the shattering of glass continues, she gasps as Rune falls apart before her eyes. Then she glances over her shoulder.

"NOOOO!", she shrieks, running into Harkashan and bouncing away. She runs out the front door, to fall to her knees at the pile of shards that was once Telamon. "How... why..?!" Her hands ball into fists, and tears begin to roll down her cheeks. "Wait... I... I can ask for a miracle..." The Goblin slowly gets to her feet again. "I.. it should work."

Nala crumbles to the ground, crying hard as she looks frightened of Harkashan. "You hate me too, don't you!?" she screams, her golden eyes burning like little suns. "Everyone hates me! My whole life, everyone's hated me except Mother, and now she's--"

Her tears turn into wails. The ground cracks.

Zenith flies over to Nala then. "No, no, Nala, it's okay, I promise--" Zenith begins.

And then... _Everything_ cracks. And falls away.

...

...

...

"Once upon a time, there was a castle far, far away."

Everyone comes to in a castle that looks very familiar to some people. Yet there are things that are different about this particular room. It looks like a nursery. The walls are painted sky-blue. There's a little mobile hanging above a crib with little stars, moons, and white and black ravens with blue eyes. Nadina holds a bundle of blankets in hand as she sits by the crib in a rocking chair, yet there's not a babe to be found in the swaddle. Just an empty void where a baby should be, darkness swaddled in light-blue cloth that's embroidered with hourglasses.

"There was a girl who was terribly lonely. She was so sad, so lonely. She'd been told all her life that she was a monster, and people did treat her like one, so she must have been one. So she believed the cruel lie that they told her." Nadina then looks up at the group. "Welcome to the second fairy tale of Nala."

Being dead is overrated. Telamon can attest to that, and Rune probably can as well. But it's still a pleasant surprise when Telamon opens his eyes to realize he's not, in fact, dead.

The half-elf sits up, looking around in confusion. His starry eyes narrow a little, considering his surroundings, before he gets to his feet. Everyone's here, that's a point in their favor. "We're not in Leca'fi Amdamu," he states. Not a question, it's fact. His eyes finally land on Nadina.

"Sometimes that is how monsters are made," Telamon says quietly. "But I don't understand how Nala could do..." He gestures, trying to encompass that entire mess from before with a wave. "...that. That kind of distortion is almost impossible, outside the Dreamtime."

Admittedly, Zeke is... confused is a good word for it. He doesn't recognize where he is. He doesn't recognize the bundle of... darkness as any child of mortals that he has ever known. Certainly no softskins.

Nadina's story however is one that sounds all-too familiar to Zeke. His own youth had been so terribly lonely. He had endured sadness and solitude. Endured being told that he was a monster until he had believed it in fullness. He had been treated like one until the day that he had fled into an entirely different world from the one in which he'd been raised. He smiles a little at the thought. "Perhapsss ssshe wassss ssseeking another world in which sssshe wasss not a monssster."

The feeling of shattering is like something out of one of Rune's nightmare landscapes, but when she awakens, it is obvious that it has filtered over into this 'waking' moment. Sitting up, she starts to feel along her arms and legs, as if checking that everything is there. Including patting down her chest and rubbing over one eye to be sure both are present. They are. Not a nightmare and yet...

"I'm fine... I'm fine." The second statement is repeated a bit quieter than the first. Rune looks around, but it's the strange words of this new version of Nadina that have her looking skeptically in the woman's direction. "What is this place?" Her brows furrow. It seems that Rune isn't in a hurry to get up, likely because her legs don't quite feel steady after that near death experience. "This sounds less like a fairy tale and more like a horror story."

Harkashan may be a Cleric used to death, but this wasn't death. This was something else. But more importantly, Harkashan isn't perfect. Anger bubbles up in that moment, his eyes glowing with a fierce red light. Grimacing as the girl immediately makes this about herself, about being hated. "Give me back Rune!" He demands of her - stepping towards her in anger, reaching out towards her, ignoring her words, no doubt making the situation even worse, when everything cracks and shatters!

And there they are, within a castle without familiarity to Harkashan. A place made for softskin children, it seems like. Darkness within a crib. The reason that the bird had been sent, perhaps?

But in the midst of waking, he still demands; "Give back Rune!" With that growling voice, only to come to realize that they are /in fact/ elsewhere. And what's more important, Rune is here. His long gait is quick to bring him to her and without words, he wraps his arms around her - largely her head - and pulls her to his chest.

Tail around her legs, leaning forward a bit, like he were but a beast, protecting something precious.

Simony blinks and looks around in confusion, her expression probably echoing that of the others as they pull themselves together. The Goblin looks decidedly ill for a few moments, an unhappy expression slowly disappearing as the feeling passes.

"Odd... it... I think..."

She smiles brightly as it appears Rune is whole, and then she runs right at Telamon, to hug at his waist. "Oh thank goodness. I thought you and Rune were gone. Dead." A sniffle. "I was trying to figure out how to tell Cor'lana. And uhm... this isn't your castle on the edge of the Dreaming?"

"What is this place indeed?" Nadina smiles a little knowingly. "This is the place where my daughter dreams. It's a safe space of sorts. She falls in love here. She gets into danger, but not too much danger that she can't come away from. She even grows up here..."

She stands up and unfurls the blanket she'd been holding. Nothing's in it, not even a child of darkness. It's just a lovingly embroidered blanket that she puts to rest in the crib. At that moment, a knock comes at the door.

Whoever's on the other side doesn't wait for anyone to speak. The door opens, and in enters a beautiful woman, about the age that Cor'lana is in the real world. It's Nala, just grown up. She's wearing a softly-bright yellow dress that covers her from the shoulders and trails behind her on the floor. She looks radiant. "Mother? Oh, I can't believe you were hiding in here. Are these the entertainers for tonight?"

She smiles at the group of adventurers. "I need the best and brightest for this ball! It has to be _perfect_!"

 GAME: Telamon rolls sense motive: (15)+29: 44

Zeke blinks. A... ball? He looks at his feet. Like the sort for playing that game with small hatchlings? "Thisss one issss a little old for playing ball." He remarks pleasantly with a low rumble in his chest, but he offers a slight thump of his tail that proves that he's still willing to try. He's always been happy to watch over the hatchlings after all. It's the duty of the elders to pass on their wisdom to the young. He clasps Telamon on the shoulder. "You will be good at this yesss?" Yes. They need to be the best and brightest! Though why he has no idea.

Really he's starting not to trust Nadina very much, but he's trying to give a nest-mother the benefit of a doubt.

"Erk." Echos a sound of surprise from Rune as she is nearly crushed to the armored-chest plate of the lava-scaled Makari. She coughs. "I'm here... I'm okay." She pauses, wiggling a bit, "But not for much longer if you don't let me... breathe!" The half-sil protests, shoving against the chest of her mate and finally pushes herself to her feet.

"Well... it wouldn't be the first time I have seen dreams take on a life entirely their own. If our Cor'lana can make entire people out of dreams that seem real enough..." Rune motions around them, as if encompassing everything in this place. "Seems it's a trait they share..."

Then, at the arrival of Nala, Rune quiets. After her last experience, she doesn't exactly want an immediate repeat. "Uh... My mother was always the performer, me... not so much." Though her response is quiet.

There's a bit of tension in Simony's expression as Nala makes her appearance, but she blinks as the woman seems to believe that the group are entertainers. "Uh.. uhm.. the sort of performance we do is not for the faint of heart..." Her voice trails off and her eyes follow the ball that Zeke baps with his tail. She nods slowly at Rune. "I uhm... do artwork. I don't know if that counts as entertainment."

Rune is not so easily surrendered upon the floor. Harkashan still lifting her a bit by the time she's wiggling and trying to get loose. It's not until she shoves against his chest that he relinquishes his grip upon her, and looks down at her. "Hrrm, yes... you are here." Pause. "We are both here." Looking around.

Ah, Nadina is talking. Re-engage grump!

And then adult-Nala joins in, and he instinctively crosses his arms again and furrows his brow at being called an entertainer. "Nadira, explain." Harkashan has only so much patience, and it's quickly grown thin.

Telamon wraps his arms around Simony in a hug. "Easy, easy, Simony! It's all right. Sometimes, it does work out. But... we have more questions in need of answers." He pats the goblin priestess on the head, before looking at Nadina.

"Speaking as someone who has spent a fair amount of time in dreams... it's better to try to forge them in the waking world than indulge them too much here." Telamon takes a deep breath. "I know my wife... wished she could hide in her books and dreams. I'm just glad I could bring them to life."

When Nala bursts in, he lifts his eyebrows, but at Zeke's inquiry he reaches up to cover his mouth and stifle a laugh. "Different kind of ball, Zeke. It's like a dance and celebration. Courting is involved, though not always." Tel turns a dazzling smile on Nala. "I do have a bit of experience with such things. Lutes, and dancing. Perhaps we could assist in this?" His hands are behind his back, idly wiggling... tiny little threads appearing around them, curling before fading again.

"What--not a _ball_ like what children play with!" Nala grins brightly at Zeke. "I'm holding a great big dance. I'm hoping a lot of people come. Specifically... The man of my dreams."

She sighs deeply, fanning herself. "Telanmo Atlon! I intend to propose to him tonight in front of anyone and everyone. Even if we've only talked before in bits and pieces. Mother said I should be bold. Speaking of which, I've got to go to the kitchen and see how the servants are doing with the cake!"

Nala bounds off, leaving Nadina alone with the group. She sighs gently. "So... It appears Nala somehow has gained the power to... 'control' the timeline. The problem is that she doesn't particularly realize that she has this ability."

"Yeah. That's a problem." Zenith says this, waddling out from behind Nadina's chair as he glares up at her. "She shouldn't. Is this your doing?"

"It isn't," Nadina says, brows creased. "I think it might be His doing. The Raven's, that is." Then she sighs. "I'm sorry, I realize that does so little to narrow it down. The Raven who is not Zenith. The god. He might have taken an interest in this more than I expected... Or he simply wants to experiment and decided to use us as his little control group. At any rate... Telanmo is the boy that Nala is besotted with."

She looks at the group and smiles. "Seems like we've got a show to help put on. And given none of you lot are musicians, per se... Except for Telamon there... I have an idea. If you're willing to hear it." There's a glint of mischief in Nadina's eyes.

Maybe Cor'lana didn't get it _all_ from Grandfather.

The look of absolute disbelief that passes on Rune's face is nearly comical as she watches Not-Cor'lana go trouncing away, talking about dancing and proposing to some random boy she's only talked to a couple of times. She doesn't give word to it until the girl is gone, however. "The one thing I've never understood when it comes to these kind of stories... how the hell can someone be so besotted with someone when they barely know them?" 

Shaking her head, she looks at Nadira, then Zenith, and then around to the others. "I know I've seen Cor'lana turn someone to ash in a heartbeat, but this seems beyond even her capabilities. Definitely some kind of supernatural force at play." Running a hand through her hair, she lets out a soft breath.

"I can sing, a little. Not super confident with it, but I'm open to suggestions." The daughter of a storyteller offers. She may not have her mother's gifts, but something is better than nothing.

"If it isss a fessstival, why not call it one?" Zeke inquires of Telamon politely but curiously. Calling it a 'ball' certainly doesn't make any sense to him, but he can tell that the mage is a little preoccupied so he doesn't want to take up too much of the man's time. Instead he looks at Nadina with all the suspicion that he can muster which is really mostly a blank expression with a bit of stern disapproval. "What isss your plan?"

 GAME: Simony rolls linguistics: (4)+14: 18

"She is smitten with the boy, but barely knows him?" Harkashan rumbles, catching on to what Rune is saying. "This young lady is unstable enough as it is. Are you sure you wish to introduce a relationship that may very well be doomed to failure?" He inquires with Nadira. "This seems unwise at best, and catastrophic at worst." Grump. 

"No offense, Telamon."

Telamon smiles broadly at the young woman. "Well now, this should be an event to remember. Fortune does favor the bold, and sometimes you have to take the chance. Can't fly without spreading your wings, after all." He watches the woman bound off, shaking his head.

Once's she's gone, he muses, "Telanmo?" before shrugging. Not worth worrying about. More concerning is Nadina's explanation of what's going on. "But it's still occurring in dreams, Nadina. Believe me, I know all about those places." Tel holds up a hand which is now tangled in something like cobwebs -- a bit of raw dreamstuff. "I can believe the Raven might have done this -- time is also his domain -- but this also treads on the realms of Ni'essa Sky-Singer."

Tel gets a slightly pained look at Rune. "If this 'Telanmo' is anything like me, he was charming but cautious. Not laying it on too thick -- especially if he's my age now, where he knows not to talk himself into a corner." His lips quirk up in humor. "Nala, starved for attention, might simply throw herself at him -- metaphorically if not literally. It's definitely a problem." He heaves a sigh. "Well, I'm glad I sprang for those lessons from Master Mayhew."

Simony is comforted by the hug, and lets out a lengthy sigh. "I can only imagine what would happen if I had tried to ask for a miracle, to bring you back. What if it didn't work? What if it did, but it was unnecessary? I don't know if I'd be upset or angry." Simony's eyebrows rise up as she learns the purpose of the ball, and watches as Nala bounds away.

She looks to Nadina as she speaks. The Goblin blinks a few times, and then bursts into giggles. For some time, she laughs, hopping up and down, while holding onto Telamon's side.

"Yes, if the Holy Raven is responsible for this, and there's no reason to not believe that, then this is a sign of his compassion. He has given her /control/. What's the one thing most people want in their lives? What's the one thing she did not have? Control over her own destiny, her own life. Even IF this timeline is to vanish. If it doesn't matter... SHE doesn't know that. In her final moments, she will be happy. Content, at the very least. Did you see her smile?"

She glances over at Zeke a moment. "Oh, well... the word ball is taken from a Rosalian word, probably misheard, or mispronounced... but the original phrase means 'to dance'."

Nadina frowns a little as Telamon speaks. "You know," she says, "you have a good point. Maybe someone--or a couple of people--should stay with Nala during the ball. I'm sure she's going to go straight for this boy, and..."

She looks at Telamon for a moment. "He's like you. But he's a bit different. More specifically... I don't think he's derived from the same sorcerous 'gift' that you have. Nala's told me stories of their previous encounters. Something about stretching out his very limbs to defend her? I hardly thought it was possible. At any rate, Nala is still my daughter. The poor thing might cut her heart out on a platter and give it to him, only to be rejected, and... There goes everything."

"I am going to lodge a complaint with management," Zenith grumbles. He clearly doesn't have the same outlook that Simony does on their deity at the moment. "Especially if this turns out to be a touch of the Seer and not... Him."

Nadina reaches down and pets Zenith on his fluffy little head. "Anyway, I was going to suggest... You all are adventurers. What better entertainment could you provide than to fight something? Perhaps someone could conjure up some kind of illusory beast and put some of you and the beast in a cage together, and then you fight it and entertain the crowd. Meanwhile... Someone, or multiple someones, rein in my daughter? Make sure she doesn't... disappoint herself?"

It's not every day that a girl getting her heart broken might mean the end of reality for a whole timeline.

-TBC