036.4 Jaela and the Silent Order of Eternal Tranquility

[Corwin]

[21:07] <Kotono> Jaela heads back to her room to change and get a few things. Waiting near her room is Mirima, something tucked under her arm. She smiles at Jaela as she approaches.
[21:08] <Jaela> "Hey," Jaela greets Mirima, her visible eye drawn to what the elf is carrying.
[21:10] <Kotono> It's a simple wine bottle. She smiles, "I we could sit back and enjoy ourselves," she offers, "The two of us, a roaring fire, some sweet wine..."
[21:11] <Jaela> "Sure." Jaela holds the door open for Mirima, intending to step in after her. "A shame things got so messed up and we didn't get a chance to earlier."
[21:13] <Kotono> Within the suite is luxury. Much like Ilsenine's suite at first glance, beautiful, ever shifting art and a roaring, magical fire, a thick carpet by it. That's what Mirima heads to, going to sit. "Our lives are never dull here," she agrees.
[21:18] <Jaela> "Considering how you girls approach boredom, that's got to be a good thing," Jaela agrees with a grin, retrieving a pair of wine glasses. "This place's got all sorts of stuff I never used, so I'm still getting used to it."
[21:19] <Kotono> Mirima grins back as she pours glasses, "It's a Queen's palace," she replies as she settles in, facing Jaela as the warmth of the fire basks over both of you. "Cheers."
[21:21] <Jaela> "Cheers," Jaela echoes, raising her glass to salute Mirima with it before trying the wine.
[21:22] <Kotono> It's a sweet wine, without a lot of kick to it. More of a casual meal wine than something ot get seriously drunk on. After a few sips, "Misalea tells me the expidition to the tomb's been put off a little bit," she begins, "At the least, with the recent attack."
[21:24] <Jaela> "Mmm, yeah." Jaela takes a larger sip, savoring the sweetness. "And it put something else off, too. Remember that invitation to go seek out the Silent Order of Eternal Tranquility with me? I asked Elena to deliver it, but considering the mess that day maybe she forgot about it. But I figure we could make the time tomorrow? And you've been allowed to visit the Tomb, as well as any of the other girls you'd like to take along, so we've had our progress there as well."
[21:29] <Kotono> "I got the invitation," Mirima smiles, "Why do you think I came to visit?" Going to lie down, stomach down and facing Jaela, "We're working it out with the girls."
[21:30] <Jaela> "I probably can't do anything to help, but if you can think of something I'm there."
[21:31] <Kotono> "Thank you," Sipping her wine and smiling, "How are you now, Jaela?" She softens her voice here, "Are you feeling better?"
[21:34] * Jaela shrugs. "Let's say I do."
[21:37] <Kotono> "An apparent defense," Mirima murmurs, sitting up. With a smile she drains her wineglass, her hands going to the ties of her shirt. It falls away, revealing nothing beneath. She slides up to Jaela, putting an arm around her. "I came here to help you feel better. In all sorts of ways."
[21:39] * Jaela almost drops her glass at the forwardness. Instead, she finishes it as well. "So you decided to get me drunk first? Good plan."
[21:42] <Kotono> "Well," Mirima smirks at that, "Shh. You've seen me in all my glory already, and you know how I feel. We don't need to waste time with formalities. The feelings and emotions are more intense after we...celebrate...with each other, those come then."
[21:45] <Jaela> Being evasive will just hurt Mirima, and Jaela doesn't want that. And since she decided to accept what life sends her way and live in the moment, she turns towards Mirima and leans in to kiss her.
[21:48] <Kotono> What happens next is quite lovely and enjoyable for all. Eventually the two of you end up in Jaela's bed, lying atop the sheets. Jaela's head is curled into Mirima's chest, the two just resting there. In a soft voice to part the satiated, serene silence about them, "Feel better?" she asks.
[21:50] * Jaela laughs, brushing her hand through Mirima's loose hair. "Do you really have to ask?"
[21:54] <Kotono> "It's polite," Laughing back, "We never know when it will end. Enjoy every day for the gift it is." Her hair is soft and warm to the touch - warm as her skin, like waves of silken red fire. "You take my breath away, Jaela. You're so beautiful without even realizing it, so much in command and always projecting yourself out."
[22:00] <Jaela> "You know it's like, don't you? When you're responsible for people, you just have to try harder to protect everyone. And when you're not someone special, you just need to cross the gap with effort." Jaela cups Mirima's cheek, brushing her thumb against Mirima's lips before raising her head to kiss them. "Thanks for being so persistent."
[22:03] <Kotono> "You're welcome." Smiling back at that, even softer now, "Passion always finds a way."
[22:05] <Jaela> The smile is easily returned. "I'll trust you on that."
[22:08] <Kotono> "I won't let you down." Mirima says softly, "Be it a public relationship or a private affair, or anything in between."
[22:10] <Jaela> Hiding anything with Elena and Canderella around is all but impossible, and she's not that sort of person to begin with. "It's not all that easy for me to plan ahead now. So let's just take it as we go?" Jaela says, opting for honestly. "Is that enough, Mirima?"
[22:11] <Kotono> "More than enough," Mirima replies, pulling in Jaela tight. "Let our passionate feelings burn as bright as a bonfire together."

[Corwin]

[19:56] <Kotono> As the two of you prepare, dressing and readying yourselves - Elena appears. "Sorry to interrupt!" Elena has a radiant red blush despite her normal apperance, "But um, Adrian told me to find you. Um, well...Misalea's sort of sprung wings."
[19:58] <Kotono> Pausing from adjusting her shirt, Mirima stares a moment. "Sprung wings? You mean that she's grown wings?" Glancing over at Jaela, "Does that make any sense to you?"
[19:59] <Jaela> "Isn't that a good thing?" Jaela asks Elena. Her undergarments are on, so she reaches for her gauntlets and the rest of her apparel is completed with a thought. "I can think of two times when it happens, without magic. In times of extreme devotion, or when you take on the blood of another. In her case, probably the former?"
[20:02] <Kotono> "Oh, it is. She's flying around Elrisa's Tower. Adrian's just a bit perplexed since they're angel wings and that you should know, since it impacts the Graceful Blow."
[20:02] <Kotono> "She has been praying a lot," Mirima says, "In between everything else. She's attacked her training and religious supplications with a zeal, at least as far as I've been back."
[20:03] <Jaela> "Tell him we'll be right over." Jaela looks about her suite to ensure she hadn't forgotten anything, before nodding curtly to herself. "Yeah. Let's go."
[20:07] <Kotono> Once clad and dressed, the duo head out to Elrisa's tower. Much of the Graceful Blow is outside watching, as Misalea swoops through the air. The back of the plain shirt she wears is torn out, angel's wings propelling her along. Adrian watches with a decidedly amused look, "Jaela, Mirima," he says, arms crossed as he looks up at her. "
[20:09] <Jaela> "She'll need a new wardrobe," Jaela muses, peering up. "Want me to take you guys shopping when we get back?"
[20:10] <Kotono> "She'll be game for it, I'm sure," Adrian continues to look up, "Anyway, I'm not worried or anything. She didn't even bleed when they came in. I just thought you should know, Mirima."
[20:11] <Kotono> "They look harmless," she concludes after a few moments, "According to Jaela, they're harmless."
[20:11] <Jaela> "They don't bleed," Jaela agrees. "It's not like we're half-birds, it's pretty much distilled divine magic."
[20:15] <Kotono> "There's worse," Adrian agrees, then chuckles, "I suppose she'll have to lay off the scales wisecracks," he murmurs.
[20:15] <Kotono> Mirima nods with a faint smile as she watches Misalea, "There's potential in that. I mean, she can tke the Graceful Blow to the air now. She'll have to intensify her training all over again."
[20:17] <Jaela> And it means Misalea is more likely to survive any fight, now. Jaela decides not to voice her thoughts, however. "It seems like Misalea's a natural at this, which just suggests it's all legit. If she does feel like asking someone about caring for them, tell her she can stop by?"
[20:18] <Kotono> "I'll pass it on," Adrian says, "Thanks, Jaela."
[20:19] * Jaela gives Adrian a mock salute, and with a final glance up at Misalea jerks her head towards the gates. "Wanna go, Mirima? It's okay if you feel like sitting the trip out after this."
[20:24] <Kotono> "I'm going with you," Mirima decides without hesitation, switching to Elven. "I'm not going to walk away from you." Taking Jaela's hand and squeezing it a moment, "Let's go."
[20:25] <Jaela> Then it's off to Elysium's fourth layer for the two of them!
[20:31] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[20:31] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 81." [1d100=81]
[20:34] <Kotono> The passage is that of warmth.  The sun is high in the sky. You stand on a lush island, white sand beach before you. Warming light soaks into your bodies. Everything is vibrantly alive, throbbing with color. The sand is warm to your feet, soothing without being too hot. The air is clean and clear, the sky such a beautiful blue that it take sall your will not to simply stare up at it.
[20:36] <Jaela> "I almost feel bad wearing armor here," Jaela admits. But feeling bad or not, she deploys her flying shield so that it could hover behind her.
[20:37] <Kotono> "...aaaaaaaaaaaah..." Mirima closes her eyes and smiles, staring up at the sky with blind eyes. She then looks about, "This is absolutely wonderful."
[20:39] <Jaela> "It really is. Ysgard and Sylica were the only ones you visited before, right?"
[20:42] <Kotono> "Yes," she confesses, going to kneel in the sand. She runs her hands through it, trails of white sand falling from them. "It's like every beach I dreamed about while in captivity." Getting up and going to the edge of the water, waves gently lapping, "Oh, the water's warm," she calls, "Perfect. It's not too chilly. It must be good to swim in."
[20:46] <Jaela> "It... probably is." Jaela is split on this. Staying on target seems like the right thing to do here, but being all serious and no fun is no way to live, either. "Wanna go for a quick swim? We'll have plenty of walking to do later, so we could...."
[20:50] <Kotono> "Oh, that sounds good!" Mirima's all smiles, taking off her sword and then her gear, "We'll just have to swim in our underwear. I don't want them to get wet if I can help it."
[20:54] <Jaela> "I'll dry us off after with magic, so it's not a worry," Jaela responds, sending her armor away. Left in her undergarments, she looks down and frowns. "I really gotta get the Ysgardian armor already. It's just perfect for this." But that's a wish for later. Now, she can enjoy this beach in earnest!
[20:54] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[20:54] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 22." [1d100=22]
[20:54] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[20:54] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 99." [1d100=99]
[20:54] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[20:54] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 22." [1d100=22]
[20:55] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[20:55] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 14." [1d100=14]
[20:58] <Kotono> An hour of swimming and soaking up sun follows. As this happens...OOC: Make a will save, Jaela? -18 modifier.
[20:59] <Jaela> roll 1d20+38-18
[20:59] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+38-18 and gets 25." [1d20=5]
[21:01] <Kotono> Jaela feels flush a moment, coming from within her. It's a passing sensation and then...hm? On the horizon. There's something on the horizon. A sparkling thing down the beach. Whatever it is, it looks lovely and immediately captures Jaela's interest.
[21:04] * Jaela straightens up and peers at the horizon, before pulling her eyepatch away and peering with both eyes. She spares a quick, distracted glance at Mirima and quickly nods towards the sparkling further ahead. "Let's go check it out," Jaela says, using prestidigitation to dry herself up as she wades out of the water.
[21:06] <Kotono> "Aaaah..." Drying herself and dressing, "What is it? Metal perhaps? It's sparkling awfully bright."
[21:08] * Jaela is starting to build up a lead on Mirima, but slows down for her sake. Her armor is summoned back, once Jaela is dry again. "It's a heaven, so this is something the locals wanted us to see. Maybe even the Triune. We can't fail them!"
[21:09] <Kotono> With that the duo approaches! Ahead you see it - a shifting hole in the air, shining bright. It looks like a portal.
[21:10] * Jaela looks at the portal with a mixture of wonder and confusion, reaching out to almost touch it before withdrawing her hand. "It's... not sunrise, is it? How long did we swim for?"
[21:13] <Kotono> "An hour?" Mirima says, "Perhaps we're being rewarded. This is the afterlife, you're rewarded for a good life. That's how it goes."
[21:15] <Jaela> "You might be right," Jaela says reluctantly. Then, firming her resolve, she nods. "Alright. Let's go." Keeping the Triune Goddess in her thoughts, as was expected from her, Jaela steps through the portal.
[21:16] <Kotono> OOC: What's the range of your blindsight?
[21:16] <Jaela> OOC: 60ft
[21:17] <Kotono> Mirima follows. The world grows darker...you stand in darkness. Darkness all around you, the portal winking shut. Simple, empty darkness all around. With her blindsight, she can tell it's utterly empty space. You hover in place, nothing underfoot.
[21:19] <Kotono> "Where are we?" Mirima murmurs, looking about with a hand drifting to the hilt of her sword.
[21:21] <Jaela> "I don't know," Jaela admits, trying to shift the two of them to Ysgard just short of the Aurora's gates.
[21:23] <Kotono> 'Shh now.' The voice you hear is a familiar one, the sound of Annalise. She speaks in Jaela's mind, 'This will go better for both of you if you leave Mirima behind and advance forward, Jaela. Don't bother with heroics or escapes this time - fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...that's not going to happen.'
[21:26] * Jaela uses Detect Magic to look around, even as she tries to keep her voice level. "Please let us go."
[21:26] <Kotono> OOC: Caster level check.
[21:26] <Jaela> roll 1d20+20
[21:27] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+20 and gets 36." [1d20=16]
[21:28] <Kotono> "Jaela?" Mirima asks, looking about with concerned fury as she draws her blade! Meanwhile Annalise just chuckles, 'Oh, don't bother with that, love,' The world is drawled out at the end, as if devouring it. 'Don't resist now. I'd much rather have this be pleasurable for you than a doomed struggle.'
[21:34] <Jaela> "What do you think love is?" Jaela asks, fervently praying to the Triune for deliverence. "Sylvie told me that you loved me. Of course, she only told me that after you left."
[21:35] <Kotono> 'Of course I do,' Annalise has a warm, soothing voice in Jaela's mind. 'I'm going to quash all your foolishness and give you the best present I can, love. Eternal life above all the other creatures of this Creation, something worthy of you. Oh, you're going to be a lovely, eternal jewel, Jaela.'
[21:36] <Jaela> roll 1d20+27+15
[21:36] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+27+15 and gets 61." [1d20=19]
[21:36] <Kotono> "What's going on?" Mirima demands, looking about further, "Who are you talking to?"
[21:38] <Jaela> "Please," Jaela whispers to Mirima, shaking her head. Then, she stares ahead into the darkness once more. "I want to make something of myself with my own two hands. I refused Lady Gwynharwyf's blood, remember? I would do the same even if the Triune herself made the offer. It's a big part of who I am. Do you hate that in me, Annalise?"
[21:41] <Kotono> As you talk, you can see them in the distance. Hundreds of feet away, cloaked in shadows and otherwise hidden. Eyes. Big eyes, small eyes. Sets of eyes, staring at you from all around. 'Why Jaela, I don't hate anything about you. I won't hate you for ignorance. Those silly opinions of yours will fade away like the evening sun once I've corrected you.' Annalise laughs - a genuinely
[21:41] <Kotono> enthralling sound, full of warm mirth. Unbidden, images of lying before the fire with Annalise come to Jaela's mind, and for a moment she feels flush. 'Your blood sings towards me, craving my embrace. So many times has it known me, Jaela.'
[21:46] <Jaela> "If you think I'm still a kid, then let me grow up on my own," Jaela insists, shaking the images away with an angry persistence. "Give me time. You're immortal, aren't you?" She clenches her fists in frustration. "If you say your way is so superior over mine, then why are you changing your habits? You never forced anyone before. So why did you just stop bothering trying to convince me? Why do you have to resort to force? Don't you even notice how it doesn't make any sense?"
[21:47] <Kotono> There's a moment of silence there, no immediate reply.
[21:51] <Jaela> "I'm scared of you," Jaela admits, almost cringing at her own words. "The way we parted last time. I faced down a Nessian and I never felt like that. I need time to get over that, Annalise. It's not something becoming like you or getting smarter will fix. It just needs time and trust." She wracks her mind for the right way to put it. "But just like you did that, you can build it back. I can't put all the blame on you. I was here, too. But it's still... I still can't get past it. So why don't we try to start over? If you honestly think your way's that superior, show it to me. I'll return on my own, again and again, and you'll have your chances to convince me. But if you're doubting yourself now, too, then hell, why not just come over to me instead? Either way you're changing."
[21:55] <Kotono> OOC: Make a diplo check here?
[21:55] <Jaela> roll 1d20+50
[21:55] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+50 and gets 62." [1d20=12]
[22:00] <Kotono> Silence again. A short stretch of silence, nothing at all. No noise, no movement, no sound. In a calm, quiet voice, 'Scared, is it?' Annalise murmurs, oddly devoid of much of anything. Meanwhile Mirima has her blade drawn, hovering close and protectively to Jaela, watching the eyes all around you.
[22:04] <Jaela> "I can get past that and become stronger. 27 told me I should have Blondie kill you, and you won't be shocked to hear Mom supported the idea. But I don't want to give up on you, and she accepted as much." Jaela bites on her lower lip in nervousness. "I think I can get past this," she repeats. "And I think we can talk to each other. Convince each other. Do it properly. Please prove me right, Annalise. You know I've always sucked at lying, so I mean every word. Just like I mean when I say I won't trick you to run away. I'll come back on my own, if you show me trust back and don't force things this way."
[22:07] <Kotono> 'There may be one problem with that,' Annalise observes, voice almost light. 'There's a group of fiends and undead, dogs of Orcus. They want nothing more than to rip you apart if you don't obediently come forward. If you want any hope of escaping this alive, say you give up and come forward.'
[22:13] <Jaela> "We give up," Jaela says, taking Mirima's hand firmly in her own and then stepping forward. "If that's how it is, I'm putting my trust in you, Annalise."
[22:14] <Kotono> "What the hell?" Mirima stares at Jaela, pulled along. The eyes part ahead, a singular, straight path of darkness leading ahead.
[22:15] * Jaela squeezes her hand, before walking slowly ahead. How she wishes she had telepathy of her own....
[22:18] <Kotono> Thus you walk down the path, the eyes left behind. Ahead is the chair you've seen before. Annalise sits in it, an amused little smirk playing on her face. Reclining back, her head supported by one hand, "You always chase along whatever hope you see, no matter how obscure or desperate to trust."
[22:20] <Jaela> "I do," Jaela agrees. "I know it tends to land me in trouble a lot, but I get to do a lot of things that are just right. And is there anything wrong with hope or trust?"
[22:23] <Kotono> "Mmm-hmm," Annalise replies, silent for a moment. "You do know anyone with even a dram of sense would surrender here. All of them will be more than happy to rip out your soul and present it for the Goat to devour for all time. All your high minded principals won't mean anything if you spend eternity being soul-digested by Orcus."
[22:24] <Jaela> "I'm not afraid of them." Jaela allows for a slight grin. "Although I can't say I like my chances against the eyes. Still, they don't matter. Only you and your choices do, Annalise."
[22:27] <Kotono> "I would be." Without missing a beat, "I naturally demanded servants worthy of me. Oh, we argued about it, and ultimately they gave me a dire insult of a force...but they judged by my normal standards, not as I am now. What's ready to kill you is still more than sufficient to do so." Tapping a finger to her lps, as Mirima scowls deeply, blade still drawn, "Ideally, my plans are to force
[22:27] <Kotono> you, turn you...oh, and I suppose turn Mirima or save her for you to turn, depending on your preferences. Then of course we betray Orcus, but that's a given."
[22:29] <Jaela> "Or we could leave," Jaela responds. "Either together, or separately, to meet again later. Or would could even destroy them." She raises an eyebrow. "Worthy of you or not, they can't really be sufficient to take us all on, can they?"
[22:32] <Kotono> "I was going to suggest a compromise," Annalise continues on, "I turn you and no one else, and promise not to turn anyone else on Aurora. We make our escape from here, and we return there like most of these unpleasant episodes never happened." Chuckling now, "Oh, I could manage, but you'd have trouple with Ace or the Preceptor of the Drowning Fist. Both are really rather designed to
[22:32] <Kotono> reave away mortal life swiftly."
[22:39] <Jaela> "Yeah, the fighting plan is really here if we're all in it together." Jaela glances behind her with a certain degree of wariness. "Listen, the last thing I ever wanted was to fight you. And I dunno what'll happen then, but I figured whatever the result I wouldn't want to keep on going afterwards. Just... you know, a quick trip to whatever afterlife I'll deserve once it ends. So that's a shitty option for me. And as for any choice I'll make of my own free will, I told you that stuff will need time. I don't think those guys are gonna give me anywhere enough of it. But they're not the boss of you, are they? So again, it's all up to you. And maybe it was dumb, but I ended up trusting you again. Are you gonna do the same for me?"
[22:44] <Kotono> You don't see any eyes behind you. "I confess that I did miss you," Annalise smiles, "I have no desire to bow down before Orcus, but still. I'll trust you if you trust me, and agree that one day you will submit to my gift."
[22:46] <Jaela> "I'll give you an honest chance to convince me," Jaela makes her counter offer. "It's pretty much the only way you'll be able to get what you want without trading down in some way. Isn't that worth a little hassle along the way? And once more, I promise not to betray your trust. But I think you knew that part already."
[22:48] <Kotono> "You do forget where you are. No chance of escape without me, the surety of spending eternity tormented by Orcus...oh, I'll be heartbroken," Annalise admits, "But I have forever to get better. You don't." Smiling and leaning forward, "My offer stands."
[22:49] <Jaela> "Isn't life more interesting with a little challenge?"
[22:50] <Kotono> "That's what people who don't get what they want say," Annalise smirks, "Besides, I'm sure the dogs of Orcus are getting restless. WE don't have forever, and demons are no strangers to betrayal."
[22:51] <Kotono> After a moment, Annalise lowers her voice, "For you...and for your world, Jaela. If you faced down a Nessian Pit fiend, you know there are horrors awaiting you. Horrors you need my help for."
[22:51] <Kotono> "Jaela," Mirima finally grates out, "I will be silent no more!"
[22:55] * Jaela glances at Mirima for a long while. "I understand," she says at last. "I asked too much of you already. But do you realize what it means for you to be denied your afterlife by the likes of Orcus?"
[22:57] <Kotono> "It sounds like a nightmare of dead flesh," Mirima growls, "You," Turning to Annalise, "Are manipulating her into a corner, no better than a bandit with arrow drawn and pointed at our head!"
[22:58] <Jaela> "Help us," Jaela finds herself telling Annalise. "Not because of some deal, but because it's a horrible fate to be Orcus's plaything and you can prevent that from happening to us."
[22:59] <Kotono> "Why," With a bland smile, "My help is already offered. All you have to do is say yes."
[22:59] <Kotono> "Oh," Annalise pauses, "I do think the demons are starting to move. You're running out of time now, Jaela."
[23:10] * Jaela darts a panicked look at Mirima, although when she speaks she sounds calm. "I understand. You will get Mirima and myself out of here alive and well, and one day you can come and collect on me."
[23:11] <Kotono> "Agreed," Annalise smiles beauifically, "See? You didn't burst into flame agreeing to that, did you?" Offering her hand, "Let's get out of here...now would be good. Yes, right now. We had best hurry."
[23:12] <Jaela> "I won't burst into flame following my Code," Jaela asserts. Her right hand is still holding tightly onto Mirima's, and she extends the left to Annalise.
[23:13] <Kotono> Jaela's hand is taken by Annalise. It's cold and dry, grabbing on tight. "This may be unpleasant, but you'll survive," she murmurs, "Close your eyes, it'll help with the vertigo."
[23:14] * Jaela closes her visible eye. Keeping it open is irrelevant with her blindsight.
[23:16] <Kotono> Utter darkness surrounds the trio! Waves of nausea assail you as you free fall, tossed about in gale-winds! Then...you land! Dizzied and sick, but there's light here. A dim red light, ashen trees and gray land all about. The sky is dark, Annalise letting go of Jaela's hand to dust herself off. "Hades," she announces, "I doubt we'll be lingering." Tapping a finger to her lips, "It's quite
[23:16] <Kotono> possible that the demons will have a way to follow us. Really, we shouldn't be lingering at all."
[23:17] * Jaela places that hand on Annalise's shoulder and tries to shift them to Ysgard next to the very gates of the Aurora.
[23:19] <Kotono> In an instant you reappear. The sunlight is strong, Annalise yawning slightly, but nothing more. "Mmmm." Looking about, "Oh yes, I took the liberty of dealing with the crux of our previous argument," Annalise announces. "Now," Smiling, "You were saying something about moving in together? I think I'd like that...and also I can keep an eye on you, and see you developing. I have quite the
[23:19] <Kotono> stake in you now."
[23:20] * Jaela lets go of Mirima and Annalise and leans against the wall, lowering her head.
[23:22] <Kotono> Smirking and going to lean against the wall, next to Jaela, 'I've gotten what I want for more years than you could ever hope to count. Don't despair. Unlike most, what I want for you is entirely benign. You made the right choice, in more ways that you'll be able to grasp for a long time.'
[23:23] * Jaela lingers a few moments longer, before she slaps her cheeks twice and straightens back up. "I'm responsible for my people," she speaks up in response. "That's all there is about it. Mirima, let's delay our trip by a day?"
[23:24] <Kotono> Mirima's face is cool, anger burning beneath. She glares openly hateful holes at Annalise, "Yes, I believe that would be best," she concludes. "What you did to my mind back there," her voice is passionately angry, "That will not go and be forgotten."
[23:25] <Jaela> Her mind? But this is not the time or place to ask, and Jaela can only maintain her front for so long. "I'm heading in first," she says, stepping past the gates.
[23:26] <Kotono> Annalise smiles back, entirely serene about it. "Your people will be well taken care of," she  murmurs, not even paying Mirima a moment's attention. "I have a few...favors I can call in. Things I was going to save for an emergency, but I think they'll be-" Annalise's voice is lost as Jaela heads in, leaving her behind.

[Corwin]

[19:04] <Kotono> Wandering towards the baths passes in a blur of self introspection for Jaela. So much so that she hardly notices the bump of running into someone. Of course, the cry, "Hey!" is better at removing her personal reverie.
[19:06] * Jaela jerks her head to peer at whoever she ran into.
[19:08] <Kotono> Standing before the bank of portals is Balyss. Oddly there's something new - two white angel's wings. Seems to be going around. Balyss herself blinks a moment, "Jaela, right? You there?" Waving a hand in front of her face, "You walked right into me."
[19:10] <Jaela> "Huh. Wings." Jaela shakes her head. "It's spreading."
[19:10] <Kotono> "Huh?" Balyss blink-blinks at that, "Oh! These! They were a gift from Selune and my heritage." Smiling now, a hand on her hip, "What do you mean they're spreading?"
[19:12] <Jaela> "Misalea got hers today. I guess hers are a gift from the Seldarine, though."
[19:13] <Kotono> "Oh." Her face falls a little bit, "Really? I guess it's going around," Muttering that, hand still on her hip, "Anyway, why so spaced out?" Behind and around you people come and go. Tannin passes by with a casual nod, slipping into a portal and away.
[19:15] * Jaela snorts. "You got every right to feel proud. I don't think it takes away from you or your devotion. If anything, I figure it shows how much the Aurora's favored by our side, yeah?"
[19:16] <Kotono> "I'd been doing a lot of work for Selune even before this," Balyss replies, "But say. If we're going to talk, how about we do it somewhere besides in front of the portals?"
[19:17] * Jaela shrugs. "Sure. Pick a spot."
[19:19] <Kotono> Thus, the duo head through the portals. It's a short trip to Balyss's room. It's fairly spartan so far - a few decorations are about, as well as a couple of shirts lying on her bed. A painting of the full moon hangs, several holy symbols of Selune hanging around it. "Grab a seat," she says, "I haven't had a chance to do anything with my room yet."
[19:20] <Jaela> "Mine was the same way," Jaela comments, sitting down on the bed by the shirts. "It only had a few books I bought for fun. Anything else, others pretty much picked up for me."
[19:21] <Kotono> Balyss goes to the closet, "I'm going to have to go and get new tunics and get my armor modified. Already got that in the forges to be worked on," Calling over her shoulder as she rustles, "So what's on your mind, anyway?"
[19:23] <Jaela> "Dunno, and that's the truth." Jaela tilts her head, keeping her eyes on Balyss. "So you're from a decent Prime?"
[19:25] <Kotono> "Uh huh," Balyss turns, hand on her hip again. She gives Jaela a level look, "Same one as Sylvie. We came from the city of Balmuria and the nation of the United Baronies. We're at the forefront of a new age of magic and miracles. It's a good time to be alive." Going back to her closet a minute, "Has Sylvie told you much about it?"
[19:27] <Jaela> "She's kinda a bitch so we don't chat much," Jaela responds cheerfully. "I try and I try, but each time she says something that makes me want to punch her out. I figured I'd give it another try once I returned from my trip, though. Think you could suggest a topic short of books that'll let us connect?"
[19:33] <Kotono> Sighing and leaning against the side of her closet door, "Yeah, I'm just getting to know her again. She's taken great pains at honing her skills at being a selfish prig. Selune's light." Sighing, "She has a good sob story about it, but I won't pretend she's some misunderstood angel." Pausing a few moments, "How's she pissed you off?"
[19:41] * Jaela considers between brushing the question off or honesty. In the end, honesty wins out. "She talks a lot about how she got redeemed and shown the error of her ways and set straight on the right path? But then she mocks the same thing happening to others in the same breath, like she's a special snowflake. Bitch, please." Jaela rolls her eye. "Then there's what she honestly thinks of her friends and her family. She's a human, right? Not some outsider? So that's all of her own choice. I can't respect that shit."
[19:42] * Jaela shrugs, then. "There's a bunch more about how she's needlessly rude, which is rich coming from me. And a bit more about how she keeps on slapping my hand away when I try to reach for her. She's miserable, I get it, but I think some of her misery is self-generated just so she can feel sorry for herself and feel good about her exceptionally tragic life in some twisted way."
[19:45] <Kotono> "Might be," Balyss grunts, closing her closet and coming on over. She sits on her bed near Jaela, "You know what I think? I think she's just selfish," Balyss says, "She and her pain are more important than other people. It showed in Balmuria, but it was all friendship and it wasn't anything you thought about much." Sighing again, "I think being on her own and nurturing what she's been
[19:45] <Kotono> nurturing has made it worse." A shrug follows, "I might be wrong about that, I didn't know her as well as a couple of others."
[19:48] <Jaela> "I realized I was being a hypocrite just like she is," Jaela muses. "See, I was gonna just keep away from her. But if I do that and write her off, how can I even think about helping the actually horrible things out there see the right way? But I just can't get past the huge stuff. I'm fine with being mocked, but when it's my core beliefs... and when she could help, but chose not to? And she'll do the same if I ask again, no doubt about it." She shakes her head. "I'd try to become her friend, but what are friends to her, really? Just someone who shares a backstory and she's comfortable around, but never really cares much for? Did she miss you at all? Did she feel bad about what she did to you? Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing that part, so...."
[19:56] <Kotono> Sighing, "Yeah, thanks. I've made a public spectacle of myself a few times," A blush comes to Balyss's cheeks, "I can't blame you for that. Right now, I don't know. She loved Janson...if by the way she acted, she loved him a lot. I know she is or was fond of everyone else there, but now? I'm still trying to grasp how she feels. Maybe she's distancing herself as a defense?"
[19:57] <Jaela> "It's a shitty defense, then." Jaela snorts. "Wanna go and beat some sense into her right now?"
[20:00] <Kotono> "Can it wait a bit? My balance is still a little bit off," Giving Jaela's own wings a look, "How do you get through doors with them? I keep catching them."
[20:02] <Jaela> "Hmm." Jaela hops off the bed. "Best way is to just show you." She takes a few steps to get some room, and then extends her wings sharply. Then, she folds them inwards and brings then back along with her shoulders. "Just don't try it in a shirt that's too tight on you. If you do, though..." she comments to Balyss, before turning around and unfolding her wings only to use them to cover herself. "See? Plenty of use to them beyond the obvious."
[20:07] <Kotono> Looking down at her own ample chest, "Yeaaaah, I already noticed how it strains my shirts," she adds, before ruefully smiling, "Here I thought I finally had these under control." Flexing her wings like Jaela's, "I seem to know how to control them naturally. The instincts are there."
[20:07] <Jaela> "Yep. That's how it works. It's a boon, not a curse."
[20:12] <Kotono> "Until you start using orisons because your back aches," Balyss mutters.
[20:13] <Jaela> "You do that?" Jaela asks curiously. "Huh. I just stuck to supporting myself with full plate until I got mine. Worked pretty well."
[20:15] <Kotono> "Look at how short I am and how big these are," Balyss says, pointing at the tip of her head then her chest. This is interrupted by Elena appearing, looking bedraggled. "Um, hate to interrupt a moment, but um Jaela?"
[20:16] * Jaela peers curiously to compare Balyss's physique with her own. At Elena's interruption, she asks, "Hmm? Sure thing, go ahead."
[20:17] <Kotono> She blink-blinks at this, "
[20:17] <Kotono> She blink-blinks at this, "Is there something that's doing in the water supply?" she mutters to herself, "Anyway, I think Hanna's going to kill Annalise or get her kicked out or something. They're sort of having a vigorous disagreement. Really vigorous."
[20:19] * Jaela sighs. "Great. Just great." She glances at Balyss again. "Sorry, got to run. Elena, please find a nice angel to help Balyss adjust to her wings in my stead." She pauses a moment after. "Where am I running to, Elena?"
[20:21] <Kotono> "The baths! They're in the girl's bath," Elena says, blinking away.
[20:21] <Jaela> "Oh good," Jaela drawls. Then, with another sigh she leaves Balyss's room. With all due haste, she makes her way to a portal to take her over.

[Corwin]

[20:29] <Kotono> Meanwhile, the door to the dressing room opens, Jaela entering.
[20:29] <Jaela> "Hi."
[20:29] <Kotono> Canderella turns, "Bad time for a bath...or a good time, depending on how you look at it."
[20:29] <Jaela> "Inside?"
[20:29] * Afina mutely nods to Canderella as she listens. Jaela's arrival gives her a visible start though. "Annalise is back," she tells Jaela bluntly.
[20:30] <Afina> "You knew? Yes, she's with Hanna, she has... a few seconds more to convince her, but her case isn't good."
[20:31] <Jaela> "Yes, she abducted me," Jaela responds. "Why are they alone, anyway? Let's go see them." Without waiting for an answer, she heads for the baths proper.
[20:31] * Afina remains outside in deference to Hanna. She can hear well enough, anyway.
[20:33] <Kotono> Canderella shrugs and follows, "May as well." Thus the two enter! Within are Hanna and Annalise. The latter is laid out on the floor before the former, rubbing her jaw. Hanna stands over her, literally quaking with anger. Her eyes have gone pure white, the sounds of bones cracking in her hands, balled up into bleeding fists. She doesn't even seem to notice Jaela enter.
[20:33] <Jaela> "So you heard about how we met again?" Jaela asks, stopping just past the doorway.
[20:34] <Kotono> Slowly Hanna turns, "No," she says, incredibly slowly, "No I haven't. Jaela, what did Annalise do?"
[20:35] <Kotono> Annalise picks herself up, "Negotiations and resolutions," she says, "Merely clearing up a lingering problem in our relationship. Right Jaela?"
[20:37] <Jaela> "You abducted Mirima and me from Elysium and threatened to give our souls to Orcus after his gathered minions killed us if I didn't become yours," Jaela points out. "You know I'm a terrible liar. I honestly don't know how to reach you, but those pesky hope and optimism are still there."
[20:39] <Kotono> "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!" Hanna's scream is loud enough to hurt your ears, as she pounces on Annalise! In one drive she pins the vampire to the wall, fists slamming into her again and again! She screams and shakes the held woman, hitting her fast as she can!
[20:39] <Afina> "Two minutes are up," Afina states as she flutters into the room herself now.
[20:39] <Kotono> Annalise tries to say something, but several fists to her face are quite productive in stopping that.
[20:39] <Afina> "Elena? Sorry, but you can get Sylvie now," Afina then speaks up for their trusty majordomo, shaking her head but making no effort to get in the way of the violence.
[20:39] <Kotono> "I don't think she's listening now," Canderella says, "The obvious, but often it's productive to point out the obvious. It makes you think."
[20:40] <Afina> "I know I'm thinking," Afina adds with resignation.
[20:41] <Kotono> Elena blinks and appears, "Sorry, say that again? I was just teleporting over from talking with Ithea!"
[20:41] <Afina> "Sylvie. Now," Afina repeats. "Annalise is done."
[20:44] <Kotono> "R-right!" Elena quickly vanishes again! Finally, Annalise shifts. She takes the form of a rodent, falling out of Hanna's grasp. She dives into the water and reforms, rubbing her bloodied face. "Alright," she admits, "This is getting a bit out of hand now. How about we all calm down."
[20:45] <Afina> "You're a deserter and a traitor, now," Afina speaks up. "I thought you a friend, Annalise, but that's over."
[20:45] <Jaela> "Annalise," Jaela says. "Do you really not get why mom is upset? Not one bit?"
[20:47] <Kotono> Before Hanna cna reply, whirling towards Annalise, "Of course I do!" she snaps, "I wasn't going to offer you up to anyone!" Taking long breaths, "They were just illusions, masked beneath the other enchantments. There wasn't a single fiend or undead there. It was a bluff, damn it!"
[20:48] <Jaela> "I told you I wasn't scared of any of them," Jaela continues. "Who was the only person I worried about? Was what happened last time in your realm a bluff too?"
[20:48] * Afina considers it a very cruel bluff, but Jaela has it in hand.
[20:50] <Jaela> "You are happy that we resolved our differences?" Jaela continues, paraphrasing Annalise's earlier words. "Are you happy that I submitted only to save Mirima's soul? Not because I wanted to be with you? How can you be happy with that?"
[20:52] <Kotono> Meanwhile Ithea enters, seeing the scene before her. "Jaela," she grinds out, ever so slowly, "You're so bullheaded that it required extreme measures to get through to you. Damn it!" Snarling again, "Fine. I need you! I need you, and I realized it after I left. I only barely avoided two abduction attempts on me by Orcus, another by a solar and then the devils got involved. I need you and I
[20:52] <Kotono> need you in a position where your damned mother or someone else can't talk you out of it! I'm still not strong enough to keep my old enemies at bay. I'll be lucky if they only return me to that holy sword paralysis."
[20:53] * Afina greets Ithea with a grateful nod, having more numbers can only help if they need to subdue Annalise. She's surely fed since she left and gotten those ninth circle spells she boasted of being on the cusp of before.
[20:53] <Jaela> "I told you that you could come back at any time. I told you that you would be among friends, whatever happened with us. Even today, I told you that we could all try to start over. But none of it was enough! Why, dammit?!"
[20:55] * Ithea gives Afina a nod as well, stopping besides her as she frowns and watches the words fly between Jaela and Annalise.
[20:55] <Kotono> Meanwhile Sylvie enters, looking about in confusion. She glances at Ithea, mouthing, 'What's going on?' to her. Meanwhile, "I want you, you idiot," Annalise drawls out, "Preferably in a way that weeds out all that damn divine foolishness you have in your head."
[20:56] <Afina> "Sylvie's on her way," Afina tells Ithea quietly. "If Annalise can't convince Jaela and Hanna... ah, Sylvie," she smiles at the blonde. "We may need 21, if you don't mind waiting to see how this resolves."
[20:56] <Kotono> "I have nothing better to do," Sylvie replies, as she gets a death glare from Annalise.
[20:57] * Jaela takes a deep breath. "I think it's past time you understand just what it is you've been looking down on all this time," she tells Annalise. "And if the Triune grants me this miracle, I will show it to you. I just need you to look."
[20:58] <Kotono> "Do I have a choice?" Annalise fires back.
[20:58] <Jaela> "Am I bluffing?"
[20:58] <Kotono> "Fine," Annalise snaps.
[21:02] <Jaela> Jaela comes down to one knee and draws the blessed symbol of her patron goddess. "My lady Angharradh," she says in prayer. "I was never able to show Annalise what I felt. Perhaps she spent too much time as she is to see it, or perhaps I was the one lacking. But with your help, it might be possible. Please grant me this miracle and let her experience real feelings, not the shade of them she has. Please let her truly understand how I feel about her, how my mother feels about me, the good and the bad. Everything."
[21:06] <Kotono> The scream that rips out from Annalise is loud enough to awaken the dead. Her hands go to her head, as she thrashes about! For several seconds this happens, Jaela's holy symbol glowing brighter and brighter yet! After about seven seconds it glows so bright as to blind everyone in the room, a final flash of light! Annalise's scream stops, as she lies face up on the ground.
[21:07] * Afina blinks her eyes a few times to get rid of the spots dancing in them and looks speculatively at the vampire.
[21:08] <Jaela> "Do you still think it's a waste?" Jaela asks quietly into the sudden silence. "Is this something you want me to get rid of? I've wanted you to feel the same way for as long as we knew each other."
[21:10] <Kotono> There's no immediate answer - Annalise just lies ther.e
[21:11] * Ithea casts detect magic, focusing her glance on Annalise's face, trying to figure out what they just saw and what effect it might have had on Annalise.
[21:11] * Jaela rises to her feet and comes over to Annalise to check up on her.
[21:11] * Afina is happy to remain in the peanut gallery for now.
[21:15] <Kotono> Annalise's face has mended by now, as you detect no unusual magic in her. "Urgh," she murmurs, sounding really rather dazed.
[21:18] * Jaela picks Annalise up. "The only way to compromise here is to put Annalise in the jail, is there?" she asks the others. "Even after everything, I want to try and save her. And the Triune is on my side." She channels a dimensional anchor into her left gauntlet, and then taps Annalise with it. "This way, there should be no objections?"
[21:18] <Kotono> Annalise mutters something else, but she sounds really rather dazed.
[21:23] <Afina> "No," Afina shakes her head. "If it really was a bluff... I can let things slide. But we're not good."
[21:24] <Jaela> "Please help me until I get there, then," Jaela requests, taking the lead.
[21:26] * Ithea isn't sure how much luck Jaela's going to have turning Annalise's mind with her in a cell, but she seems to be able to handle the situation on her own, and is willing to step aside on the issue.
[21:26] <Afina> "Sorry to get you down here for nothing, Sylvie," Afina apologises to the human first, and then to the angel, "And I'm sorry as well, Hanna. I did what I thought best." Then she flies alongside Jaela to offer whatever help is needed along the way.
[21:26] <Kotono> Sylvie shrugs, falling in. Meanwhile Hanna just stares, taking long, deep breathes now.

[Corwin]

[21:30] <Kotono> Once the still dazed Annalise is celled up, all depart - except Sylvie, who lingers a moment. She doesn't say anything, but she lingers.
[21:32] <Jaela> "I'm waiting for the days when I'll be able to wake up and not think 'man, my life's a mess' first thing in the morning," Jaela says, slumping against the wall opposite Annalise's cell. She crosses her legs underneath her and settles for a prolongued wait.
[21:36] <Kotono> "Keep waiting," Sylvie finally says, sliding down to sit a bit aways from Jaela. "I've concluded that once you lose those happy, innocent days, you can't get them back."
[21:38] <Jaela> "Ah, right, you're the resident expert on misery," Jaela says lightly. "You know, I had them back on Lifasa. Then it's a given I lost everything, but I managed to regain them a while back after meeting with everyone and finding mom. So if it could happen twice, it can happen again. Hey, it might even happen to you."
[21:40] <Kotono> "Maybe." Sylvie replies, studying the still dazed Annalise. "Were you going to actually kill her if it came down to it?"
[21:42] <Jaela> "Dunno. I told Mirima I was gonna live in the present, and that's what I was gonna do here as well. No plans. Just follow my heart and do what's right." She glances over at Sylvie. "We've all got our morals. I don't think we can go wrong following those." Her attention drifts back to Annalise's inert form. "I feel so much... I think the strongest feeling is that of wanting to save Annalise, even if it meant she'd decide she didn't want to be with me then."
[21:48] <Kotono> "She was telling the truth there," Sylvie murmurs, "From when I got there on. For what that matters." Glancing to Jaela, "What did I miss? I'm still filling in the blanks and figuring out what's going on, so I'm just nodding along with everyone."
[21:53] <Jaela> "Mirima and I went to Thalasia on a recruitement, and there was a portal we just had to investigate. Annalise was there and she said she'd thrown her lot with Orcus and would have his minions kill us and fetch our souls to that freak if I didn't agree to becoming a vampire. I dunno if I would've won against those things if they were real, but with the magic dampening me and boosting undead it was doubtful. And you know, you can't go wrong with self sacrifice. I guess she knew my weakness. You can't just abandon someone else if the price is something you pay yourself." Jaela shrugs. "She said those were illusions and she's been on the run surviving assassination attempts, and how she realized it was a mistake to leave as she did. The details aren't that important. I think it was probably true."
[21:55] <Kotono> "Wow. What a bitch," Sylvie marvels, "She wanted you to think she'd sacrifice your souls to Orcus?!"
[21:59] <Jaela> "I felt pretty sure she just wanted to turn me, by force if she had to. But where it comes to Mirima?" Jaela shrugs again. "Couldn't take that chance. Anyway, not like it was the first time Annalise lied." She leans her head back against the wall and voices into the air, "Elena, want to come over and keep us company?"
[22:00] <Kotono> Elena promptly appears and falls down face first, groaning, "I just got away from Ithea," she whimpers, "So tired...!"
[22:00] <Kotono> "It isn't," Sylvie murmurs, starting to smile, "Can you even get tired?"
[22:01] * Jaela pats the spot next to her. "Come over and take a rest. If anyone needs you, they can take it up with me."
[22:02] <Jaela> "I still think things would've gone better if I could've seen past them," Jaela meanwhile tells Sylvie. "But it's not like me to hold a grudge forever. Clean slate?"
[22:02] <Kotono> "Just wanna lay here a bit. Floor ain't so bad," Elena whimpers. "Sorta nice."
[22:02] <Jaela> "It's sorta a part of you, so of course it's nice?"
[22:03] <Kotono> "If that's what you want to give Annalise..." Looking at her, before her look turns to a look of pure amusement, "So is this like falling asleep with your head on your shoulder?"
[22:05] <Jaela> "Or your chin on your chest, I guess?" Jaela responds to Elena. Sylvie's question makes her think, however. "I dunno, again. Want to, yes. But I can't do it because Mom and a few of the others won't go for it. If I act like I'm unbalanced or some shit like that, I'll lose their trust and won't be able to do a thing about this. So I'm still wondering what I can do."
[22:05] <Kotono> "Do you want my opinion?" Sylvie ventures after a few moments.
[22:06] <Jaela> "If I have your help alongside it, whether I take that opinion or not."
[22:10] <Kotono> Sylvie's silent, "I'm torn," she finally says, "The logical part of my brain says you should kill her," Sylvie plays with a bit of her hair, "My heart says never to let go, since you may not ever find another, and you'll end up getting slapped around by your friends when they finally find you again."
[22:12] * Jaela nods slightly. "The logical part? It's what we always have to keep in mind, because if you forget it you get into a lot of shit," she muses. "But you know what I think? That other part is what changes the status quo. You don't rescue worlds with logic, and you don't tilt the planar balance with it." With a snort, Jaela adds, "Or Mechanus would reign supreme, wouldn't it?"
[22:14] <Kotono> For some reason that darkens Sylvie's face, "Yeah, Mechanus," she says with ill grace, "You'r eprobably right, though."
[22:17] <Jaela> "You hate those guys?"
[22:18] <Kotono> "I'm not fond of them. Came across a real load of shit from them in my travels." Sylvie replies.
[22:19] <Jaela> "Don't like them much either. They're so tied up in their bureaucracy they don't got time for ethics. Treating devils and archons the same? Stupid fuckers."
[22:20] <Kotono> "Oh, there's one person they favor," Sylvie mutters, "Don't put too much faith into what any of them say. Especially regarding grand calculations."
[22:20] <Jaela> "Oh?"
[22:22] <Kotono> "Yeah." Sylvie pauses a few moments, "According to some calculations they made, evil's going to win in the end. In particular, nothingness and the black bitch that represents it."
[22:23] * Jaela is silent for a few moments, before she laughs all of a sudden. "Hah! Really? I can't believe I actually agree on something with those guys."
[22:23] <Kotono> That gets Jaela a rather frosty glare, "You agree with them?"
[22:25] <Jaela> "Weren't you listening that time?" She grins back at Sylvie. "Of course I do. The signs are all there. But you know what? Those stuffy guys and their calculations, they forgot something. Free will. Free choice. The multiverse's going to shit on its own, so it's up to us to make sure it doesn't happen."
[22:27] * Jaela snorts. "Those guys, they're all about destiny. They don't understand how someone might choose to do the right thing if it's not prophecised."
[22:32] <Kotono> "I hope you're right," Sylvie smiles a little bit, "I really do."
[22:33] <Jaela> Still grinning, Jaela says, "I'm hoping so, too. But I'm also trying to do what I can to make it happen."
[22:52] <Kotono> "Yeah." Closing her eyes to sigh, "You're going to tangle yourself into destiny, no matter what. Even if you could have a quiet life somewhere away from this."
[22:53] <Jaela> "To me? That's like knowing I can help someone but choosing not to. I'm not some selfless saint, but this is a bit much so I'd never go for it."
[22:54] <Kotono> "Urgh." It's not Sylvie that replies, but Annalise this time.
[22:55] <Jaela> "Are you feeling better?" Jaela asks in concern, her attention instantly on Annalise.
[22:57] <Kotono> "Lovely surroundings." Annalise retorts as she sits up, "Charming, even."
[22:58] <Jaela> "It was a compromise," Jaela informs her. "The alternative was oblivion, but I didn't want that to happen."
[23:07] <Kotono> "How sweet of you," Annalise idly licks her lips. "Why don't you come in here and I'll show you my thanks? It's been a time since you've known the embrace of another, has it not?"
[23:08] <Jaela> "Not really. Are you going to tell me you didn't drink from anyone while you were away?"
[23:09] <Kotono> "That's not the embrace I meant," Annalise casts a smoky, pouty glare at Jaela.
[23:11] <Jaela> "Can we talk?" Jaela asks, pulling herself up until she is sitting upright while facing Annalise. "We've been through a lot but I wonder if we don't understand each other much better after today than the rest of the time we spent together."
[23:13] <Kotono> "If you like," Annalise says, "What do you want to say?"
[23:14] <Jaela> "Was it that painful to feel what I was feeling?"
[23:16] <Kotono> "More..." Annalise makes a show of thinking, "Overwhelming, having all of that pushed into my mind."
[23:18] <Jaela> "It was the first time I really called on a miracle. I just wanted to get through to you, and didn't really think about details like this."
[23:19] <Kotono> "That is the problem with them. Really, you're hoping your patron does what you want how you want it." Annalise waves a hand.
[23:20] <Jaela> "Maybe I'm just feeling too much," Jaela muses, shaking her head afterwards. "Can you tell me about yourself? About your life before you became a vampire? About how you were turned and why?"
[23:22] <Kotono> "Haven't we already discussed that?" Annalise replies, raising an eyebrow.
[23:23] <Kotono> At this moment Sylvie coughs several times.
[23:23] * Jaela lowers her eye. "I think we've established I can't see through your bluffs."
[23:23] <Kotono> "I can. You know," Sylvie adds, "If I tell Jaela you're lying, I doubt she'll take it well."
[23:24] <Jaela> "It's the only way I can think of to build all that lost trust back," Jaela admits. "I'm doing my best to try and understand you."
[23:29] <Kotono> Annalise is silent for a little while. "I don't even remember my parents...not that there's much to remember. My mother and father were faceless peasants in a massive empire. A ruthless empire where the elite lived in wealth and the vast majority in squalor. The women were expected to stay home and produce more peasant breeding stock and the men were expected to labor for 12 years old
[23:29] <Kotono> on for the glory of their masters. My mother and father died before my 5th birthday. I never cared to find out of what. It hardly mattered, peasants rarely made it much past middle age."
[23:30] <Jaela> "So you became an orphan, too?"
[23:32] <Kotono> "Mmm, yes." Going on, Sylvie nodding slightly, "I'll tell you if she starts lying, Jaela," she says.
[23:32] <Kotono> Elena turns her head to Annalise and listens.
[23:32] * Jaela nods absently at Sylvie, but her attention remains with Annalise. "Were you taken in by some distant relative? Or did you grow up on the streets?"
[23:34] <Kotono> "I was too good for that. An orphan easily slips through the cracks and I ran to the capital city by my 8th birthday. I do remember the name of that city - Radisrel. An ugly, wretched name. By my 9th birthday I was an accomplished thief, having picked up how to best stab the unwary and sneak away with coinpurses. By my 10th, I had grown overconfident and I was captured. A male theif
[23:34] <Kotono> would just be put to death, but a female thief, let alone one so young? An example must be made."
[23:36] * Jaela nods slightly for Annalise to continue.
[23:38] <Kotono> "I was given to a particular wealthy merchant. One for a taste of...young females. By my 11th year, I knew well the violations of the flesh and had been forced to learn both how to please him and how to act like a broken, vapid whore of a child." Annalise pauses here, "Soon after he let his guard down. I left his manor home with it in flames, his lifeblood having ruined the beautiful
[23:38] <Kotono> white dress he insisted I wear. I returned to the streets, but with a mission. I was going to hurt them."
[23:39] <Jaela> "The people who did this to you?" Jaela asks quietly.
[23:43] <Kotono> "Oh, the entire empire, but they'd do as a start. I applied myself wholly to my force of will during those days before and after my escape." Pausing to twirl a bit of her hair, "It so happens that I have a remarkably strong force of will, and managed sorcery with natural grace. By my 15th birthday I'd assassinated over two dozen important officials and was known as the Whore of Death."
[23:43] <Kotono> Smiling thinly, "That name somehow always stuck and recurred with me, like an albatross. Somehow someone always used it to describe me over the endless eternities, and it always stuck. Perhaps those little things so long ago had greater weight than I ever imagined."
[23:46] <Jaela> "I prefer your real name over it. I always thought it was very cute," Jaela says, realizing how nonsensical she must sound. Firming her resolve, she asks, "And what then?"
[23:51] <Kotono> "By my 17th birthday the empire was in a panic. I'd assassinated the heir to the throne and the emperor's wife. Cloie...that name stuck with me. She had the most beautiful satin dress and conical cap. Her blood was so beautiful as it spread out over it, Jaela." Annalise sounds far away, "And...it was bad luck, I learned later. Only two or three elder wizards in the empire could hope to
[23:51] <Kotono> see through my illusions and disguises. One of them chanced on me at my lowest ebb, after a difficult assassination. With that and the element of surprise, I was captured again. The emperor wanted blood...I can remember his words, but his face is a blur. It's been too long, even for me. I was to be put in the stocks in the noble quarter." A moment's pause, "Far worse than it sounds. Even
[23:51] <Kotono> the nobility treated women as little more than possessions. To be put in the stocks was a fate worse than death. You are stripped, stocked and...used. The entire noble quarter violates you all day long, and others are forced to watch and mock you during it." Pausing to twirl a bit of hair, looking away, "It's to break a woman. It worked. I don't remember much for a time...when I finally
[23:51] <Kotono> roused form a madness of catatonia and shock, I was half dead, stored in some forgotten dungeon cell."
[23:53] <Kotono> "That long dead empire was a cruel one. I don't believe they worshiped devils, but they'd have fit right into Hell. I imagine several powerful devils were once mortals in that realm." Pausing a few moments, "All I had from there was the one thing they couldn't take from me - my will."
[23:53] <Jaela> "So you escaped again."
[00:00] <Kotono> Sylvie's face is composed and tight, while Elena quietly cries. Neither interrupt, however, as, "I poured all my despair, hate, pain and anger into my will. In a week's time I was mostly dead...and I'd made strides in magic archmages struggle for centuries to make. A single word shattered my bonds, and that night Radisrel, beautiful and ugly Radisrel, burned. Over a hundred thousand
[00:00] <Kotono> lives I used as kindlewood for my revenge." She starts to smile, "I remember burning the emperor alive last, after his mind had snapped and he has soiled himself like a dog. I remember the acrid stench of his humiliation more than anything else...then the spray of his blood as I cut his throat as he burned. Mmmm. From there the neighbors moved in, of course. The empire was shattered by
[00:00] <Kotono> what I did, and thus advantages were taken - save in the ruins of Radisrel. I abode there, and none dared entire the cursed abode of the Whore of Death. By my 20th birthday, I ruled over the burnt wasteland of the empire's biggest jewel."
[00:03] <Jaela> She can't hold her composure as well as Sylvie can. She holds her hand over her mouth and her visible eye is misty, but she nods at Annalise slightly once more.
[00:06] <Kotono> "I desired servants and none dared approach me. So I animated the dead. A natural study to take on for the Empress of a dead city." Chuckling, "By right, I was actually the empress. It was a barbaric empire, where several times a weak emporer had been slain by another and the slayer was accepted as the new emperor. Had I spared any lives, they would have agreed with that. Yet I disgress
[00:06] <Kotono> .  By my 25th birthday I began to feel the inevitable stings of age. My studies of undeath interested me, in particular an old seer's tale that spoke of the First vampire one day coming to my world. My research indicated that the First would give a vampiric bloodline unrivaled by common bloodsuckers. What more worthy for an Empres than that?"
[00:07] <Jaela> "And you sought him out?" Jaela asks, voice wavering.
[00:11] <Kotono> "It was some effort, but yes. If I am to be honest, he swatted me aside like a gnat, uninterested. He dominated me to crush my will...and my will has always been the one thing I've always had. I've felt the touch of a divinity before, Jaela. His touch was like that. There merest effort makes your mind crumble and obedience come.  I knew I was defeated...but somehow I resisted. I resisted
[00:11] <Kotono> and fell to my knees. I begged him. I begged him for more power." He was a figure of incredible charisma, and he laughed and laughed.  "Most others would have died of shame and despair at that laugh, but I preservered. I sobbed before him...and finally, my sheer will impressed him. He took me...and he took me. My third and final violation..." Trailing off a moment, "Three again. It so
[00:11] <Kotono> often recurs, no matter how much or how little you wish it to. Yet I disgress. He was in many ways little better than a common thug, taing from women what he desired with that will of his. But he rewarded me after it was over. He bit me and left me to rise as a vampire."
[00:13] <Jaela> "Do you still want it, Annalise? Servants, an empire?"
[00:16] <Kotono> "Oh, I've had them many a time," Waving a hand lightly, "They're fun, but hardly indispensible. Empires aren't worth the trouble, unless you do it all yourself or get good overseers. The problem is one I suspect the First knew and was hesitant to turn me for that reason. Eventually you gift the few that please you with eternity, and ultimately they get ideas above their station. It
[00:16] <Kotono> usually ends up collapsing sooner or later, or if not, I'd force it as I'd grow bored. Allow some band of heroes to rise and pretend they could defeat me. I'd kill all but the one I liked the most, kidnap and turn him or her, and let the world think the heroes gave their life to slay the evil empress."
[00:18] <Jaela> "Then what do you want out of life?"
[00:20] <Kotono> "Jaela, Jaela, Jaela," Chuckling at that, "Whatever amuses me, interests me and excites me." Looking right at Jaela now, "Right now, that's you. Every so often I do fall ever so in love, and you're quite the woman to fall for. It's only too bad Aurora is light on the men for contrast, but I suppose nothing's perfect."
[00:23] <Jaela> "Don't you feel cold?" Jaela asks her suddenly. She thinks back to what Helm and the Triune Goddess had shown her, once upon a time. "And-- and empty, except when you drink blood?"
[00:26] <Kotono> "Everything has a price," Annalise admits, "The hunger is quite wracking. Oh, I've made strides in managing it that a typical vampire would think forever impossible." Smiling now, an entirely thin, cold smile, "Your blood warms my body and heart so, Jaela."
[00:27] <Jaela> "You don't have to pay that price," Jaela says quietly. "Won't you let me save you?"
[00:30] <Kotono> "Jaela," Annalise slowly licks her lips, fangs showing. "I like what I am." With a sultry smile as she leans forward, "I have incredible power and eternal life, all freely chosen by me. Certainly vampirism has drawbacks, but they are little things compared to the benefits. The great powers I have now are but a candle to what I possess at full ability. I care nothing for the self righteous
[00:30] <Kotono> powers who would damn me for daring to rise up and claim my own destiny. I live how I choose and I do what I wish. I reject them and choose myself and my own power. You choose to grovel before them and hope for crumbs and table scraps like a dog."
[00:34] <Jaela> "Do they damn you for rising up, or for doing to others what they did to you?" Jaela asks, wiping at her eye with the back of her hand. "Women and children were just possesions, you said. Many of them were treated just like you were, and either broke or couldn't escape. But you killed them too along with everyone who deserved to die, didn't you?"
[00:37] <Kotono> "Of course I did." Annalise smiles, cold, "But I'll tell you this. If Lifasa had been my world, the devils would have been pushed out and humiliated. Your world, depending on the Gods?" Opening her hands and spreading them wide, "Dust in the wind. Besides, if they care about them so much, give them peace in the beyond they claim to champion. But  more likely, they'll let them slip into
[00:37] <Kotono> Baator with a few words of self righteous pity."
[00:37] * Jaela shakes her head. "I'm not defending the gods. But this isn't about them. The only one I'm thinking about is you."
[00:40] <Kotono> "Yes." Pausing to sigh, "I was hasty, and overly relied on an aggressive gambit. I made mis-steps. For that I apologize," Annalise bows her head down. But if you want me to bow down and ask for forgiveness from the glorious masters on high? I rejected that an eternity ago and I reject it now. My soul is my own and shall reside forever within me."
[00:47] <Jaela> "I never felt like a dog begging for scraps. You know my Order? I just see Lady Angharradh as heading it. What I do is about me, so I don't depend on outside help. If I do get it? That's perfect. But I don't live my life waiting on a divine handout." Jaela wracks her brain for some solution. "If I found a way to give you that immortality without relying on my patron, would you go along with it? Or is the power you have beyond your magic too important to you?"
[00:49] <Kotono> "Jaela." Annalise reaches up, "I'm happy how I am. The question is - can you accept that?" She presses a finger against the wall of force that seperates her from Jaela, "Can you accept going against every lesson you've been taught and making your own choices?"
[00:50] <Jaela> "I could accept it before. When you said you'd stop in time, I didn't hesitate. But now... I don't know. Can you wait while I make sense of it?"
[00:53] <Kotono> "I don't particularly have a choice, do I?" Annalise merely smiles.
[00:53] <Jaela> "You do."
[00:54] <Kotono> "I suppose I do," Annalise says, "But I'll wait."
[00:55] <Jaela> "I will need to see Mom." Jaela sighs. "Why do you take such pains to antagonize her?"
[00:58] <Kotono> "She hates me, I hate her. It's really very simple." Annalise pauses, "Though I wouldn't b estunned if she has some suppressed attraction to me. I was teasing her about that today before things got violent. It was really just off the top of my head, but it did draw quite the reaction. Like you and I, Hanna and I do possess a certain personal...allure, I suppose."
[01:02] * Jaela hits the back of her head against the wall with a dull sound, and the grimace on her face isn't brought on by any pain. "Annalise," she decides to ask hesitantly. "Will you be waiting for me even if I wouldn't feed you again? It made sense at the time, but if you consider me some... some snack, and not a person--" She shakes her head violently. "I don't want you to look at me like that."
[01:09] <Kotono> "I like you, Jaela. I love you," Annalise says, "The fact that you're so wonderful to bite is just a bonus."
[01:14] * Jaela rises to her feet, managing a slight smile. "You know how I feel." She kneels by Elena to pat the girl's head. "Annalise, I'm sorry about this. I really am." She gestures at the cell. "But I want to keep you safe. I can only hope you understand."
[01:14] <Kotono> "I've been in worse," Annalise remarks, "Go on and do your thinking."

[Corwin]

[19:51] <Kotono> Hanna takes some finding. She's in her quarters, sitting on her bed. Her axe is sticking out her pillow, her arms crossed as she looks up. She doesn't answer right after Jaela comes in, before sighing, "Jaela," she begins, "What are we going to do with you?"
[19:51] <Jaela> "Dunno," Jaela responds, sitting down on the bed next to her. "Keep on saying that a lot."
[20:00] <Kotono> "What did she say to you?" Hanna inquires, "Just for the record."
[20:01] <Jaela> "The truth." Jaela leans back to rest against the wall. "Get the story from Elena or Sylvie later, if you like."
[20:04] <Kotono> "Mmmm-hmmm. I doubt it'll change anything, anyway." Hanna says, "She didn't genuinely beg for forgiveness or anything so impossible, did she?"
[20:07] * Jaela snorts. "No begging, but she did genuinely apologize. And not with prompting, either." She stares up at the ceiling. "Her story shouldn't change anything. If I want to save her, nothing else should matter. But now I understand why she doesn't ever want to go back to being a mortal, or why she scorns the gods so much. I can't really fault either. What do I do?"
[20:11] <Kotono> "You do nothing." Hanna says, "Take a nap and forget about this." Rising, "By the time you wake up, she'll be gone forever." Going to Jaela, speaking before Jaela can interject anything, "She's a horror akin to Abigor, only she's charmed and confused you." Placing her hands on Jaela's shoulders, "This is for your own good, my own good and everyone's good."
[20:12] <Jaela> "No, it's not. It's because you hate her."
[20:15] <Kotono> Hanna smiles, "I hate what she is and what she'll continue to do if she's allowed to live." It's a warm smile, but her eyes are hard. "I hate that I know that she poisoned, killed and fed on people I cared about. I hate that she's done so countless times because she got the better of me. If I'd opposed her better, she may have been long ago defeated or neutralized somehow.  I hate to think about all the victims she's tormented, all the crying children she's made orphans and all the misery she's spread."
[20:17] <Jaela> "And just a few days ago, when I came to you with 27's note, you asked me what I wanted to do. And after I told you, you said you'd help me. So what changed since then?" Jaela shakes her head slightly. "It became more personal. That's the wrong reason for you to do it, Mom."
[20:19] <Kotono> Reaching out and putting a finger on Jaela's lips, "No one threatens my family with what she did. No one." Her eyes narrow, "This ends today, Jaela."
[20:23] * Jaela doesn't respond right away. "I don't want that," she finally says. "Are you going to tell me that you know better and that I should stop being childish and grow up, just like she did?"
[20:25] <Kotono> "I'm going to tell you that it needs to be done. You can draw the other conclusions as you wish." Dropping her finger away now, "Consider your judgment compromised, if that makes it any easier for you."
[20:27] <Jaela> "I don't doubt it is, for both of us," Jaela agrees. She reaches out for her hand before it could be fully withdrawn. "Mom, you're the only one I can come to with this. I'm so tired of dealing with it on my own. Please help me instead of forcing me into something I don't want to do, too."
[20:36] <Kotono> "Jaela. It's time to let go." Hanna says, closing her eyes to inhale and exhale. "I've ignored the fact that you've profaned your body and soul each time you've laid with that abomination. I've tolerated it because you asked and because the Triune Goddess has given you a stunning a mount of latitude to pursue this. If you care about her," Hanna pulls away, "Pray that 21 grants her oblivion instead of allowing her soul to be judged and tormented for her crimes."
[20:39] <Jaela> "I'm still asking, and the Triune is still supportive, if her miracle is any indication." Jaela shakes her head sadly, getting up from the bed. "The only thing that's changed is that you're not going to be there with me. I was really happy that you defended me, you know? But I want more than just someone who beats up people that are cruel to me."
[20:42] <Kotono> "Take it up with them," Hanna finally says, "I serve Lady Gwynharwyf, not them. If they care so damned much about the abomination in that cell, they'll do something, I'm sure." Turning away and going to the door, "I won't suffer that horror to exist any longer."
[20:43] <Jaela> "Can we go to her?"
[20:45] <Kotono> "I can. You're staying here." Hanna says, crossing her arms and turning. "I have no intention of letting you add any dramatics to this."
[20:46] * Jaela purses her lips. "Elena! I know you're tired, but come here."
[20:47] <Kotono> A long sigh appears as Elena winks into being besides you. A chair comes with her, as she wears a comfy looking robe. Her feet are in a pan of steaming water, a wet cloth atop her head. "What?" she says, cocking her head over towards Jaela.
[20:48] <Jaela> "Tell her everything," Jaela says, pointing at her mother. Then, turning towards the older woman, she says, "Once you're armed with all the facts, go and consult Lady Gwynharwyf or Queen Morwel. I'll be waiting at the Aurora." She brushes past her mother to leave her room, then.
[20:49] <Kotono> Priest is found in the holy grounds to your Goddess. He is in reflective prayer, head bowed.
[20:50] <Jaela> "Sorry to interrupt," Jaela says, announcing her presence. "I'll be needing that life consultation after all."
[20:51] <Kotono> Rising from his prayers smoothly, "I understand you would not disturb me lightly," he says, "What is it you require, precisely??"
[20:52] <Jaela> "I don't know just how long we have, so I'll cut straight to the chase. My mother wants to kill Annalise, and she can actually do it with 21. Annalise deserves it a thousand times over, but there are two pesky problems with this. Mom is angry over me and isn't thinking straight. She's doing it for all the wrong reasons. And the other is that I want to save Annalise. That works for a summary?"
[20:53] <Kotono> "Then the question is what are you doing about it?" Priest asks.
[20:54] <Jaela> "Asking you for an outsider's view."
[20:58] <Kotono> "Does Annalise show any pentience at all? Any desire to make amends? Anything like that?" he asks back, "Has she petitioned the Triune for guidance and forgiveness, and ways to atone to the elven race for past crimes?"
[20:58] <Jaela> "Only to me. Not to the Triune," Jaela responds, shaking her head.
[21:02] <Kotono> "Um," Elena interjects, appearing before you. "I hate to interrupt, but Hanna kind of ignored me and went off, and she got Sylvie. Thought you should know, Jaela."
[21:03] <Jaela> Of course she did. There is no time to waste, really, and she rushes towards the dungeons at her top speed.
[21:15] <Kotono> OOC: What's your move speed?
[21:15] <Jaela> OOC: 60ft
[21:15] <Jaela> OOC: I'll caste Haste for 90
[21:15] <Jaela> OOC: x4, obviously
[21:20] <Kotono> Jaela passes by everyone in a blur, diving into the portal! As she sees the dungeon, she sees Sylvie and Hanna ahead, walking towards the cell with Annalise. They aren't far from it.
[21:25] <Jaela> Time stops for a few moments, and in that time Jaela crosses that remaining distance. It seems as if she had just appeared in front of that cell, size large enough to rival her mother's and her hair a flowing silver. Gae Trocaire is in her hands, and her shield has been fully deployed behind her. "I hoped," she says, slightly out of breath, "that I would never have cause to draw this weapon." Nevertheless, it is pointed towards her mother and Sylvie. "Explain yourselves!"
[21:28] <Kotono> Sylvie shrugs, "I'm along for the ride here because of 21."
[21:29] <Kotono> "I told you what I'm doing," Hanna says calmly, "Get out of the way, Jaela."
[21:30] <Jaela> "Not an hour ago, we talked about Annalise!" Jaela snaps, practically trembling in fury. "You told me to make my own choice. You said you'd help me! Not follow orders like a mindless peon!" She whirls on her mother. "And you! You promised that you would visit the Court! You lied to me! To my face!" She can't help but glare into the cell, before that same glare is directed back at her mother. "How much more are the two of you going to hurt me for my own good?!"
[21:32] <Kotono> "I didn't say I'd use 21, either," Sylvie remarks, "Look, I'm really not interested in getting invovled with this family drama, but Hanna insisted." Stepping back, "Keep me out of this right now."
[21:33] <Jaela> "You have that thing? So pick sides instead of pretending it doesn't concern you! You chose to carry it! She insisted? What if she insists you jump off the fucking roof?"
[21:35] <Kotono> "Jaela, you're out of control," Hanna says, not backing down in the least. "Look at what you're doing. You're drawing a weapon on your mother over a vampire that's manipulated, hurt and abused you."
[21:36] <Kotono> Sylvie sighs and rubs her temple, turning and walking away. "My choice for now is that I'm not staying around for a family fight. Once you two have this settled out, come talk to me. I don't really want to be dragged around by a raging planetar or get involved in her daughter's argument with her."
[21:37] <Jaela> "It is a weapon that would not draw blood," Jaela says, making an effort to control herself. "And yeah, she did all that. But I'm sorry, I'm just so angry I want to hit people." She raises her voice, calling after Sylvie, "What Mom wants to do is perfectly reasonable. She has every right to do it! That's why everyone's doing it, and that's why we're losing! Just keep in mind who keeps on winning when we go down that route!"
[21:39] * Jaela whirls towards Annalise. "Did you know that I died fighting against the Nessian? I did. And that's your fucking fault! I was so messed up I was going through the motions!" She gestures at her altered form. "I couldn't even have the presence of mind to cast these spells even though we were the ones attacking! What do you think about that?!"
[21:40] <Kotono> Hanna watches Sylvie go with a distinct look of genuine anger, turning back to Jaela. Before she can answer Annalise smiles just a bit, "Regretable," she admits, that smile fading away. "Indeed, if I had been at your side it wouldn't have happened. My apologies."
[21:42] <Kotono> "Jaela, you're making a big mistake," Hanna's voice takes on a rather frostily angry one, "You're doing that a lot lately."
[21:45] <Jaela> "I tried to go on without you, but people kept insisting on fucking helping me! Always with the helping! Go after her, Jaela, it can't go badly. Oh, she loved you all along, Jaela, I thought I would mention it now." She grits her teeth. "I get so mad just thinking about it! So I tried to ignore all that and I did it too well and I died." She turns back towards her mother once more. "Yeah, I know. I'm the eternal screw up. I wasn't sure what to do about Annalise, but you helped me see I still love her after all. And I can't even begin to say how much it pisses me off that you're using the same fucking arguments she does for telling me why you'll force me into something I don't want! Dammit, I want to save her! How is this wrong?!"
[21:47] <Kotono> "If after all this you can't see it?" Hanna looks on and her shoulders slump, all her spirit leaving her. "I can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved." She turns away, "Live your life how you please, Jaela. If you're hellbent on this, I won't stop you." She goes to the portal and walks out, leaving Jaela behind.
[21:48] * Jaela tosses her spear at the wall with all her strength. "I know I'm an idiot! You don't need to tell me!"
[21:50] <Kotono> A few moments of silence follow the cloud crash of Jaela's spear against the wall. Then, "Come here," Annalise says softly. "You look like you could use a hug."
[21:51] <Jaela> It's just too much not to cry in frustration, and Jaela slumps by the cell. "I lost my mom. What am I doing?"
[21:54] <Kotono> Annalise sighs, "I knew you'd see this sooner or later, Jaela. I...I know I told you that they're all ultimately hypocrites. Look at what she just did to you."
[21:55] <Jaela> "Shut up! This is your fault! You-- I stopped her, but you forced me against my will!" She slams her gauntleted fist into the ground. "If you told her you felt sorry about it! If you actually felt sorry about it! Fuck, if you never did it but just Send for me! None of this would happen then, none of it...."
[21:57] <Kotono> "It's an impossible situation now, isn't it?" Annalise murmurs. "I'm sorry, Jaela. I am. Just...choose me," Annalise murmurs, "Choose me over the mother that couldn't even be bothered to watch you grow up."
[22:01] <Jaela> Her bracers can't do much about her tears when Jaela futilely runs them over her face. "I won't choose you until you can understand why you have to take what you just said back," she tells Annalise. "And don't try to manipulate me." She stands up heavily. "Ask Elena for help if this happens again. I was thinking of camping out here tonight, but I just can't."
[22:03] <Kotono> "Jaela," Annalise murmurs, "Don't go. Come in here with me, Jaela. We need each other right now."
[22:06] <Jaela> "Maybe you'll understand a bit when I go." Jaela looks back at Annalise for a moment. "This is how it feels when you just force what you want on me, or hurt me just to make some dumb point you think would put you ahead." She starts walking towards the portal. "I'll return the day after."
[22:07] <Kotono> OOC: Okay, now what's Jaela going to do?
[22:07] <Jaela> OOC: Go to my suite, do my best to rest properly, visit Mirima in the morning if nothing happens until then
[22:10] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[22:10] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 36." [1d100=36]
[22:11] <Kotono> It's not much of a night. Sleep largely eludes Jaela, slipping away and pooling headlong into unremembered phantasmic dreams. They leave her waking up short of breath, with a suffocating sense of dread. But finally dawn comes, vanishing the long, restless night.
[22:13] <Jaela> Even more tired that previously, Jaela changes her plans and goes to see her mother once more.
[22:16] <Kotono> Perhaps its Jaela's tired mental state, but she can't find Hanna easily by searching around. She's not in the cafeteria, not training, not in the library, none of the firre have seen her, either.
[22:17] <Jaela> "Elena, please, tell me where Mom is," Jaela says, leaning against the wall of the hallway she stopped at upon giving up.
[22:18] <Kotono> Elena appears, "She's not in Aurora right now," she replies, "She went out for a walk last night and she hasn't come back."
[22:20] <Jaela> Frustrated, Jaela nods at Elena and leaves the Aurora's outer gates. Once in Ysgard, she tries to use a Miracle spell for a Sending. "I'm sorry, mom. I need you. Where are you?"
[22:21] <Kotono> No answer.
[22:22] * Jaela slowly makes her way back to Elrisa's tower.
[22:25] <Kotono> The dawn has risen by that point. The smell of cooking food comes from the tower - smells spicy. Adrian's just outside the tower, arms crossed as he watches the morning awaken itself. "Jaela," he greets as she gets close, "Misalea and Mirima are cooking with some magma peppers they traded for from some passing locals, if you're hungry."
[22:25] * Jaela looks like she'd sooner throw up than eat anything. "Then Mirima's busy?"
[22:27] <Kotono> "For the moment." Adrian replies, before leaning forward, "You look like you just saw Bel's big flaming balls," he observes casually, eyes widening nonetheless. "If you need her, go get her. Or hell, I'll get her if you're bad off."
[22:28] <Jaela> "Thanks."
[22:29] <Kotono> Adrian goes up and after a few moments Mirima comes down. She's dressed for war already, save for a simple white apron over her clothes. "Jaela?!" she asks, voice rising in alarm as she looks at her face.
[22:31] * Jaela shakes her head slowly. "You're the only one I can count on. I'm a horrible person for doing that, right? But I'm just tired."
[22:31] <Kotono> "Jaela, I said I'd be there for you," Mirima says, "Come inside with me, we'll talk."
[22:32] <Jaela> Whether she would still be welcome afterwards is in the air, but Jaela nods all the same, intending to follow her.
[22:35] <Kotono> So tired. Jaela feels fatigue tear at her, as she's escorted into the gardens. There are a few girls about, ones wh oflee once they get a sharp look from Mirima. You're lying there now, lying in the garden. Mirima strokes Jaela's head, whispering sweet things to her, just letting her rest and waiting.
[22:35] <Jaela> "What did Annalise say to you? Something that you couldn't forgive her for?" Jaela wonders, staring up at the sky.
[22:36] <Jaela> "Or was it that she did something? To your mind?"
[22:37] <Kotono> "She kept sending ideas into my mind. It was like my thoughts were drowning before I could say them. It wasn't anything, just dozens of different notions. It was like my thoughts were paralyzed after the moment of inception, skipping along. I wanted to say so much, but I couldn't." she replies, voice tightening.
[22:37] <Jaela> "It was all a bluff." Jaela sighs. "You heard about it? Or that she's in the prison now?"
[22:39] <Kotono> "Only a little," Mirima says, "What happened?"
[22:41] <Jaela> "She realized it was a mistake to leave, and this was her bright idea of being accepted back." Jaela closes her visible eye. "Mom wanted to destroy her, but I stopped her and put her in prison instead. But she still wanted to kill her, and I drew my spear against her." She sighs again. "People who love me do all these things for my sake. Things that make me sick. I stopped her again before it came to a fight, but she left. She doesn't want anything to have with me. And Annalise... Annalise just saw it as an opportunity to try and manipulate me. I just don't want to deal with all of it on my own anymore."
[22:42] <Kotono> "You don't mean that..." Mirima's breath hitches, "Jaela, you aren't thinking of hurting yourself, are you?"
[22:43] * Jaela snorts, although it comes feebly. "No. I came to you, even though it's not fair to you at all. But still, can you help me? Mom's the only family I've really known, and I only met her recently. I can't lose her."
[22:45] <Kotono> "You want us to search for her?" Mirima asks, "We'll do it."
[22:46] <Jaela> "I tried a Sending, and she didn't respond. She's not at the Aurora." Jaela covers her face with her arm. "The last thing she told me was how I couldn't be saved anymore and she was washing her hands off me. What can I do now?"
[22:47] <Kotono> Pausing, "If she really wants to avoid you, I think she can," Mirima finally says, "There's no point in hunting someone who can step between realities. I'm not sure you can do anything."
[22:50] <Jaela> "How do I know she's even alright?"
[22:51] <Kotono> "You don't. You can only bear it well." Mirima shakes her head, "I had to deal with that every time friends wen to war against the damn dwarves. You don't know, and you have to accept that, or you'll break down with fretting."
[22:52] <Jaela> "Too late, then."
[22:53] <Kotono> Bowing her head, "You look like you're sprinting towards a mental storm," Mirima purses her lips together, "Hanna's her own person, and can take care of herself."
[22:54] <Jaela> "I just want time to think. Without people killing each other or dying or running off."
[22:56] <Kotono> "Close your eyes. Rest. Think. Just listen," she says, "Let go for a few minutes." Unseen but sensed with blindsight, another person approaches.
[23:00] <Jaela> "I don't know what to do," Jaela repeats. "What she did, she did to us. Shouldn't we decide what to do about it? And no one deserves redemption or seeks it. Mom agreed with that just a few days ago. I wanted her to be there for me and help me make sense of everything."
[23:05] <Kotono> A voice sings. Misalea's voice, singing a soothing lullaby. It seems to cut into Jaela's awareness, burrowing in like a knife bearing only sleepiness. "I don't know," Mirima admits, "All I can give you is myself and the comfort I can."
[23:07] * Jaela decides that she is as safe as she could ever be, and tries to let go and rest, just like Mirima had told her to.
[23:11] <Kotono> Exhaustion segues into a numb sleep. How long Jaela slept she isn't sure. Her memory is a fractured haze of phantom images, fading away into deeper sleep...mmm. Hmmm. She's warm. So very warm. Warm and curled up, wings and all under a blanket. She's next to something soft and warm, pressed into her body.
[23:12] * Jaela opens her eye, after making sure that there is no one else nearby.
[23:14] <Kotono> There's only one person nearby. Mirima sleeps next to her, unclad as Jaela is. The two of you are in an unfamiliar bedroom, though the walls look like Elrisa's tower. Jaela's gear rests on a few chairs near the bed, freshly polished and cleaned. Her head feel sfar clearer, far less sleepy-foggy.
[23:16] * Jaela leans over to kiss Mirima's forehead, smiling at the sleeping elf. Then, she gets out of bed and starts to dress.
[23:17] <Kotono> "Mmmm?" Mirima rises and yawns, blanket pooling into her lap as she does so. "Afternoon," she says, wiping her eyes clear. "Finally woke up?"
[23:19] <Jaela> "Yeah. I feel better, too." Still smiling, Jaela twirls in that feminine pink girdle that seems so out of place with her much more serious battle gear. "Does it suit me?"
[23:19] <Kotono> "It would suit Adrian more," Mirima smirks, "But yes, it suits you. It adds a daring splash to our gear."
[23:23] * Jaela grins, and then dons the rest of her underclothing and her gauntlets, and the former disappear beneath her summoned millennial armor. "I can't be with Annalise the way she is," she tells Mirima. "It's not the part where she's a vampire, but the part where her first instinct is to lie and manipulate people, and where she doesn't understand why that is wrong." She puts her circlet on, taking a moment to admire her reflection with it before her helm covers it up. "But I'm not going to let someone kill her. I'm not going to give up on reaching her some day and saving her. I'd do it even if I didn't know what she went through to get that way. Are you alright with that?"
[23:23] <Kotono> "Are you going to be romantically involved with her?" Mirima asks, right back.
[23:25] <Jaela> "I'm not going to be involved with anyone right now," Jaela responds, shaking her head. "But I'd really like someone who would help me through it all."

[Corwin]

[19:53] <Blondezilla> Mirima's eyes narrow a little, "Really?" she asks, deceptively sweet. "You want the flower without the thorns?"
[20:00] <Jaela> "I'm pretty messed up right now and I want to stop being that. I can't do that without taking a step back and putting my life back together properly. I can't even think properly beyond that. And you told me how things like that went for you guys when you looked for some quick satisfaction instead of taking time to build something. Didn't you want something better than that for yourself, now that you're out and free?"
[20:07] <Blondezilla> "I don't recall that involving leaving me after one roll in the grass," Mirima glares at Jaela, "All while still using me as support."
[20:13] <Jaela> This is ridiculous, Jaela thinks. But rather than any number of responses, she shakes her head. "I'm not. I just need time, so that I can be with you for the right reasons and not because I'm trying to escape my problems. But if that's not good enough, then I'm sorry and I'll leave."
[20:15] <Blondezilla> "Then go and take your time," Mirima says, "Sort ourself out."
[20:16] * Jaela nods curtly, and turns to leave and seek out 27.
[20:18] <Blondezilla> You find 27 sitting in the infirmary. Lief is with him, as is Canderella. The two hold cards, while Canderella instructs 27. "Now, you can put those down and declare you have a winning hand," she says sweetly. Lief scowls and mutters in the meanwhile.
[20:19] <Jaela> "27," Jaela calls out, striding towards him. She offers Lief and Canderella a brief nod each, and then continues, "You like me, don't you? I need to apologize to Mom. Help me find her."
[20:21] <Blondezilla> "Then...I win?" 27 asks slowly, as Lief sighs and starts on taking off his shirt and pants. Canderella giggles, "I don't know about 27, but I like you. You're just in time! Shake it for Jaela, Lief."
[20:21] <Blondezilla> Meanwhile 27 looks to Jaela, staring at her, before nodding slightly.
[20:22] * Jaela can't help but raise an eyebrow at Canderella's words, but 27's nod helps refocus her. "Where do I go? What do I do? Help us meet and I won't forget it."
[20:23] <Blondezilla> Lief stops there, "Uh uh," he shakes his head, as meanwhile 27 stares at her. It stares at her for a long time, "You will take up the study of chaos?" It's as much a statement as a question, before, "She has returned home."
[20:25] <Jaela> "Oh that is so fucking cheating," Jaela complains. She grits her teeth, before forcing out a terse nod. "A promise is a promise, on my honor as a knight. As long as it doesn't break with my vows, and you wait until I've settled things." She looks at Lief once more, then. "I don't think you're very good at this gambling thing if a badger is winning against you."
[20:27] <Blondezilla> Canderella laughs, as Lief mutters and pouts, kicking at the bed he sits on. "It's just a bad run of luck," he gets out. "I've been cold ever since that trip to Tymora's realm!"
[20:28] <Jaela> "If you say so," Jaela tells him dubiously, confirming with 27, "So the Court of the Stars, then?"
[20:29] <Blondezilla> 27 merely nods at this. "Yes. Home." After that it begins to curl up, "Tiiired," it says. "Wish Anarch was here."
[20:30] <Jaela> "Yeah, well. If wishes were fishes--" Jaela tilts her head. "Dunno how that one goes after. Huh." She waves at the strange trio present, and then heads out of the Aurora to plane shift to her mother's home.
[20:32] <Blondezilla> OOC: Where exactly are you aiming for?
[20:32] <Jaela> OOC: Since I can't actually shift to the Court I'll just go for arborea normally and seek to find it
[20:35] <Blondezilla> Thus Jaela shifts over. She stands in the arboral forests, feeling a sense of welcoming rightness, calling her home. She inhales and exhales, feeling her inner pain and worry recede despite everything.
[20:36] <Jaela> She has her will, and it wouldn't lose even to Annalise's. Everything up until then had been a lapse, that's all. Fortified with those thoughts, Jaela focuses only on two things -- opening the way to the Court and the need to apologize to her mother above all -- as she sets out to stride through the forest.
[20:40] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[20:40] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 52." [1d100=52]
[20:40] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[20:40] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 41." [1d100=41]
[20:40] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[20:40] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 2." [1d100=2]
[20:42] <Blondezilla> Several hours of wanderings pass. The forest is warm and pleasant, not a thing out of place. It slowly and constantly pushes back against her negative feelings, replacing them with a settling sense of homliness. After several hours of wandering, you come to a rise, giving you a view of the forest ahead. It thins out slightly, a log cabin not far away. A chimney leaks out smoke, the entire
[20:42] <Blondezilla> grounds neat, tidy and well kept.
[20:42] <Jaela> The log cabin becomes her next destination.
[20:46] <Blondezilla> Coming closer, you can smell food. Something sweet, with honey and cinnamon - oh! That's it. At an open windowsill, you see a green haired elf woman. She puts a pie out on the windowsill, whistling a carefree and merry tune. She glances out the window, seeing Jaela. On that she waves, "Hello there, traveler!" she calls.
[20:47] <Jaela> "Good day," Jaela greets the elf, approaching the windowsill. "Are you a petitioner?"
[20:50] <Blondezilla> "Oh no, I just like it here, friend," her voice is like birdsong, high pitched and beautiful. It calls Jalea forward, "This pie's cooling, but I have another one that's ready to eat. Would you care to join me?"
[20:51] <Jaela> "If you don't mind the company," Jaela says, heading towards the door. She also curses herself for her oversight in not precasting Fortunate Fate with every trip out of the Aurora, and rectifies it as she knocks on the door. "Name's Jaela."
[20:55] <Blondezilla> "Marina," The elf lets Jaela in. Inside is a large, warm cabin - with the left side walled off, like a real house and leading to a hallway adn several rooms. But the right side is all homey and warm, a combination kitchen and den. An oaken table is here, well varnished. Pie is served - it's entirely gooey inside, yet resists spilling out everywhere. "On a quest, by chance?"
[20:56] <Jaela> "Just looking for family." Jaela takes a seat and tries the pie, saying, "Blonde, pretty fierce, looks a lot like me."
[20:59] <Blondezilla> "Oh! You're Hanna's daughter?" Marina asks, "You do look like her, especially in the face. How is she doing? She hasn't been by here in a long time."
[20:59] <Jaela> "She was doing fine until we had a fight and she went back home." Jaela sighs. "At least I made it over to the Court?"
[21:00] <Blondezilla> "Oh no, this is still Arborea," Marina clarifies right away, taking a bite of her pie. She sighs in contentment, "I haven't seen her in...at least a few dozen centuries?" Putting her fork down, "Not that it matters any here. But Hanna's not someone you forget easily."
[21:02] * Jaela follows suite. "I never get it how you people just count in centuries and millennia," she admits. "Doesn't it kinda lessen the everyday experiences?"
[21:04] <Blondezilla> "No, I can't say it does," Marina says, as you taste the pie. It's sweet, warm honey, lathering over Jaela's tongue. It begs to be savored, as, "After you finish what would have been your normal lifespan, I've found that time passes much easier."
[21:05] <Jaela> "Huh. Well, if you say so." Jaela decides to accept it as fact, moving on. "How did you meet Mom?"
[21:08] <Blondezilla> With a sheepish smile, "We sort of fought each other over a man," she admits, before giggling, "Oh, it was terrible. It was in the Court, so of course it was overblown and dramatic. After it all blew over we became friends. She spend a decade here, helping me with the cabin and rearing my firstborn."
[21:10] * Jaela snorts. "There's plenty of drama in that even outside the Court. So who won?"
[21:14] <Blondezilla> "My husband and children are out fishing," she says with innocent guile, "The oldest is a few millenia now, though he's still no older than middle childhood." Pausing to savor her pie, "They'll grow up when it's the right time."
[21:15] <Jaela> "I guess crazy age doesn't really imply maturity," Jaela muses. She'd seen ample proof of that. "Want me to pass anything on to Mom when I find her?"
[21:19] <Blondezilla> "Tell her I said hi, that's all. When she has a chance, come visit. I haven't had a chance to practice my swordsmanship in a good long time," Sighing happily, "I don't want to lose too much. I love my retirement, but troubles still pester me on occasion. She's good for keeping in practice."
[21:20] <Jaela> "Once I have a chat with her, I could return and practice with you in her stead," Jaela offers, finishing her pie and the licking her fingers one by one. "I dunno if I look like it, but I'm pretty strong."
[21:21] <Blondezilla> "You do look like it," she demures, "Would you like seconds?"
[21:22] <Jaela> "Thanks, but I really shouldn't." Jaela shakes her head, standing up. "Delaying things is never good. Thanks for having me!"
[21:23] <Blondezilla> "You're welcome," she stands as well. "Maybe the two of you can stop by sometime?"
[21:24] <Jaela> "I'd like that. And this decade, too!" Finding it too amusing not to smile, Jaela waves at Marina as she heads out into the forest clearing. Direction will not matter much, but she continues thinking about her goals and proceeds down the same path she had been taking so far.
[21:25] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[21:25] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 73." [1d100=73]
[21:25] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[21:25] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 1." [1d100=1]
[21:25] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[21:25] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 13." [1d100=13]
[21:26] <Blondezilla> A few more hours pass. Ahea din the forest are yet more trees - but you can hear something. It sounds like music, song and festivities.
[21:26] <Jaela> You can never know which form the Court will take as you approach it, and Jaela decides to investigate the festive music.
[21:28] <Blondezilla> OOC: What immunities ddo you havE?
[21:29] <Jaela> OOC: Outright immunities? Compulsions and diseases
[21:39] <Blondezilla> Ahead of you you come to a small clearing. H ere dozens of elves and satyr's dance about, eating, drinking and singing. The music sounds sweetly alluring.
[21:41] <Jaela> She did just eat a few hours ago, and her present disposition isn't geared towards mindless partying. None of them seem to be in trouble, and rather than take any of them away from their fun Jaela decides to continue on her way.
[21:48] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[21:48] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 63." [1d100=63]
[21:49] <Blondezilla> Dusk approaches as you wander. The forest is darkening, and yet still no sign of a passage to the Court of the Stars as the night begins.
[21:50] <Jaela> She will go through the night, using Lesser Restorations to keep herself alert and the glow from her spell-granted halo to illuminate the forest about her.
[21:55] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[21:55] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 84." [1d100=84]
[21:55] <Blondezilla> roll 1d100
[21:55] * Hatbot --> "Blondezilla rolls 1d100 and gets 99." [1d100=99]
[21:56] <Blondezilla> You wander for much of the night. Sleepiness is held at bay by Jaela, yet it sneaks up on her on occasion. Once in awhile she feels her eyelips slip close, blinking it away after a second. But after doing that, ahead of her in the forest is a free standing door. It stands there, just ahead of her.
[21:57] <Jaela> A fear of stepping past a doorway that appeared all of a sudden grips her heart. But Jaela can't turn away, and only casts Fortunate Fate again before reaching for the handle to open it.
[22:02] <Blondezilla> Jaela opens the door! Ahead is a peaceful, quiet hallway. It looks like the hallway of a house - nothing unusual about it. Warm, inviting, pleasant.
[22:02] * Jaela knocks twice on the doorframe, and steps past without waiting for an answer.
[22:04] <Blondezilla> You stand within the hallway. Doors are to both sides - and ahead it empties out into a dark room. A glance shows it to be a decorated living room, but one thing catches your eye. Lying on one of the divans in there is Hanna, face down and looking to be asleep.
[22:06] * Jaela weighs the pros and cons of waking her mother up. In the end, finding someone in your house staring at you as you wake up on your own is just too creepy, even for family, and she approaches her. Jaela places a hand on her shoulder and shakes her, calling out, "Mom, please wake up."
[22:09] <Blondezilla> Hanna does not stir at the shaking or calling.
[22:09] * Jaela decides to try shaking her harder, even as she raises her voice.
[22:13] <Blondezilla> No response again. Hanna looks to be quite out. As you shake her, you notice a chalice is dislodged from the divan, having been hidden under one of her wings.
[22:14] * Jaela grimaces, and looks for a blanket to place over her mother.
[22:16] <Blondezilla> There's no a throw blanket over one of the divans. A red woolly thing.
[22:18] * Jaela makes sure her mother's wings aren't trapped by her body, and then spreads the woolen blanket over her. Then, all that remains is to tap her shoulder to cast a Heal and sit down on the floor some distance away and wait.
[22:21] <Blondezilla> It doesn't take too long. Hanna stirs and yawns, stretching. She rises silently, eyes at best a quarter open. She looks stumbly on her feet, a yawn splitting her face open. "Where'd I leave it?" she mutters, rubbing her eyes.
[22:21] <Jaela> "Don't panic, okay? I'm here," Jaela says, if her glow doesn't give her up first.
[22:22] <Blondezilla> Hanna blink-blinks, rubbing her eyes clear. She blinks again after, repeating until her eyes are open and aware. "So you are," she observes neutrally.
[22:24] <Jaela> "I'm sorry, Mom. For drawing a weapon on you, and for a lot of other things. I walked all this time to apologize properly." Jaela stands up, using a lesser restoration to ward off any fatigue at an important moment like that.
[22:31] <Blondezilla> Hanna's expression is neutral, "Go on," she says.
[22:33] <Jaela> "You're right about how I made mistakes, and how I wasn't thinking straight. And I get that I can't save anyone if I have to do what I did to you to get there." Jaela looks down. "But what really matters is what I already said. I did something terrible to you and I came to ask you to forgive me. I will never do it again."
[22:42] <Blondezilla> Hanna sighs slowly, "What will you do now, then?"
[22:45] <Jaela> "I-- well-- I'm not fully an idiot," Jaela says, squirming. "Nothing bothered me more than the thought that I hurt you, or that you'd give up on me. I mean, I'm trying not to be all whiny here but it's a close call." She runs a hand through her hair. "I want to talk to you, Mom. Really talk to you. And after I explained everything, I want to tell you what I want to do. And before that, I want to tell you that you were right about 21, too. I'm not dismissing it now, but-- well, would you listen? Please?"

[Corwin]

[19:24] <Kotono> "Go on," Hanna crosses her arms, looking down at Jaela as she listens.
[19:28] <Jaela> "Thanks." Sighing in relief, Jaela says, "I'll start with how Sylvie and I questioned her. I-- hell, do you have anything to drink during it? I already sat through it once sober."
[19:29] <Kotono> Gesturing to a cabinet wordlessly, a beautiful affair with engraved carvings of satyrs and pixies at play, Hanna goes to sit down. "Just go on and get to the points here, Jaela."
[19:31] <Jaela> "It helped me understand her, for one thing," Jaela says. She raids her mother's cabinet for something suitable and a pair of glasses, while calling up the memory of Annalise's questioning. All it takes is some magic, and it comes to life in the room to relate the story of her childhood.
[19:32] <Kotono> There's various crystalline decanters full of red and amber liquids. Choosing one and pouring a pair of glasses - Hanna demurs hers, she merely listens. Hanna's face doesn't change during that at all, "Interesting." she finally says when it's over, "A tragic little tale of heartbreak and lowering yourself into evil to confront evil."
[19:37] <Jaela> "Interesting is not the word I'd use," Jaela mutters, the alcohol making it more bearable. "Even after I tried to make her understand how we feel, she tried to manipulate me. I think she doesn't feel bad over betraying people not out of some conscious choice, but because she never learned how. I can't imagine how it'd be if I grew up and had that shitty life where no one so much as cared for me. That's how it is, isn't it?"
[19:38] <Kotono> "Mmm-hmm," Sitting back now, "If you want to say it's a tragedy, I won't disagree. It's also a tragedy each and every time since then that she's abused, manipulated and slain to her own advantage and desires."
[19:43] <Jaela> "It's not something that can just be forgiven," Jaela agrees with another sigh. "How many of those she killed as a human were victims like her? I'm not gonna defend that. I guess I hoped I'd show her a better way... but I can't do it the way I was going about it." She shakes her head. "I wasn't gonna get back with her or anything. You know, before. Or let her drink my blood again. But I had this hope I could maybe help her anyway. Right now... right now I don't think I can. But I think that if anything reached her, it would be sanctified magic. I never cast it for myself, but it's not an empty hope, is it, Mom? If we used it as punishment for her crimes, and maybe she got a real conscience out of it in the end?"
[19:45] <Kotono> "I know the spell you're talking about," Hanna says, "It won't work. Unless she is absolutely and sincerely pentient, it won't do any good." Shaking her head back and forth, "I'm not sure it would work even if she was, Jaela. The powerful bloodline she's so fond of boasting about has given her exceptional endurance. I'm not sure it could be purified out of her by that spell."
[19:48] <Jaela> "It's about her, isn't it? If we get her to see how wrong she is, she'll know how shitty that bloodline is. Can we try? Between the Triune's power and that magic... and if the alternative is 21, she might give it a try and bet on her will to get her through."
[19:49] * Jaela hesitates, and then adds, "Wasn't it the same with Sylvie, the way she was talking? How being shown all this crap made her reexamine herself? If we could do it, but without 21...."
[19:50] <Kotono> "You want to point a nocked arrow to her head and demand she change?" Pausing to close her eyes and take a long breath, "It won't work if she expects to beat it or isn't sincere. She has to be 100% pentient on her own, Jaela. No games, no manipulation. It has to come from in here," Tapping her upper chest with a single finger, "You'd be wasting your time."
[19:56] <Jaela> "Then... what if we kept her in prison, and I kept trying?" Jaela asks her. "And if she escapes or does anything, we come after her in force with 21? I'm not thinking of giving her chance after chance, but this one last time? It will be different, because I will be different this time. I'm not deluded about how she is anymore. But I can't bear to see her that way, and I..." Jaela looks down. "It's hard for me to accept that oblivion is the best option. In any situation. Can I still waste my time if all I'm wasting is time? And I'm not putting myself or anyone else in danger?"
[19:58] <Kotono> "You're not just putting yourself in danger," Hanna points out, "From what I understand, Annalise has enemies. What if they attack Aurora? Are you willing to sacrifice lives of the valorous who stand with us because of that? What if she does escape and she kills another few dozen before going down? Are you willing to have that blood on your hands?"
[20:02] <Jaela> "I would do it for any ally," Jaela says quietly. "I'll repeat it with Sylvie present if you want. It's not the same as being happy about people dying. I just... I would take a chance for any of them, and hope that they can be reached. And meantime, I would do my best to protect everyone. But I know I can fail, and then I have to take responsibility. I know you think I'm going that far because we were dating, but it's not that. Ebony has enemies. So does Baleruk. So does Vul'lath. Who knows how many more? I'll accept them all. And if any of them need to be guided from a crappy, empty life, I'd try to do that too."
[20:06] * Jaela refills her drink. "When we invited Elrisa over, their faction was fighting a losing war. And if that's not enough, those girls hated humans, dwarves and just men in general. But it didn't matter one bit then, and we turned things around. We contacted that world, settled the aftermath of that war, even mended what we can so those elves get along with the humans on the Aurora. We've always been doing things this way."
[20:09] <Kotono> "Is Annalise really our ally?" Hanna drawls, "Or are you still chasing her clammy-cold pussy?" Leaning back in her chair, propping her head up with a hand, "Be all that as it may, none of them had the barest shadow of what Annalise has done on them. Acceptance only goes so far, and I'm not comfortable with risking our lives in a fool's quest with her."
[20:16] <Jaela> "I'm not. I still love her, but I won't be with someone who treats me the way she does," Jaela grinds out. She takes a deep breath, then another and a third. Turning this into a fight would just go badly, and she forces herself to calm down as she counts to ten before continuing.  "You're right that it's a lot more to overcome. You really are. But when I came across Willim, Ithea, Afina and Adrian, I could've said the same about our chances of taking out Abigor and Bel. Fool's quest, right? I think I used those same words to Adrian when he started spouting this nonsense about Medicant. But I learned from that, Mom. Just because a worthy cause is farfetched doesn't mean we have to get all practical and cut our losses. I believe that we have to try for as much as we can. And if I have you along to guide me back if I make a dumb choice again, I'm not worried about making a mistake."
[20:17] <Kotono> Here Hanna leans forward. "Jaela?" she asks, crooking a finger towards her.
[20:18] * Jaela leans towards her.
[20:23] <Kotono> "No." The single word is let to hang in the air, "After all this, I don't trust her not to worm her way back into your good graces, and I don't trust you not to fall for it. Moreover, I tolerated her once because you had stars in your eyes and believed you could reach her. I'm not making that mistake again. I love you too much to let you make that mistake again."
[20:27] <Jaela> "How am I supposed to ever get your trust?" Jaela asks sadly. "Mom, if I just go back and we use 21, we'll never forget it. You'll always think that I can't be trusted about some things. I'll always know you do. Won't you give me a chance? Under any condition? Even if I tell Sylvie to do what you tell her if you even suspect anything?"
[20:28] <Kotono> "Trust has to be earned back, Jaela. In time, you will," Hanna says, "As long as you let that vampire live, I can't trust you. I won't sit there and watch you dance with damnation over a fool's quest, no matter how well meaning."
[20:34] * Jaela is silent for a while. "What if someone else tries to reform her, and not me? If I ask Sylica, they might agree to try. Maybe she can be reached, just not by some loser like me."
[20:37] <Kotono> "Jaela, I don't think she can." Hanna says, frowning a little bit now. "I know you don't want to let go, but it's time to put to rest a great evil. The path you've chosen isn't an easy one..." Here Hanna shakes her head, "I've been emotionally scarred by my failures and defeats, too. Annalise can be blamed for one of my most stinging. But you have to understand what we're doing and why
[20:37] <Kotono> we're doing it, Jaela. Ending Annalise here means no more victims. No more schemes. No more misery from a withered husk of a woman parading around in the guise of a beautiful princess."
[20:40] <Jaela> "No. Ending Annalise means taking the easy way out, Mom. It's good and proper, and I'm sure Helm will give me a medal for it. But let's not kid ourselves about what it really is. Good is losing. Evil is gobbling up entire worlds, and you can't get into a proper fight with it without running into a Fallen. Some of that's been going on for so long there's an entire devil race of them, and plenty of fiendish lords. Even the assholes of Mechanus can read the writing on the wall. And you know why we're losing? Because we're doing what's good, alright, but we're not going the extra mile for it. They seduce and convert, but we don't redeem. Not beyond a token attempt, and if it's too hard? Fuck that, there's an easier way."
[20:45] <Kotono> "I'll take the easy way out if it means there's no more sobbing children, mourning a mother that was nothing more than a snack to a creature of the night." Voice calm and steady, "This isn't about it being hard, or anything like that. It's about ending the miserable stream of victims Annalise has stacked up over the eons!" Now her voice rises, "It's about no more broken families! It's
[20:45] <Kotono> about no more gray skied funerals, no more rising from the grave in the grip of freezing undead, no more vile lies dressed up as a higher state of being!"
[20:48] <Jaela> "It's already been ended," Jaela responds, her own voice remaining steady. She speaks on, resigned but unwilling to concede on this part. "She is imprisoned, and we can improve upon that imprisonment. And if we couldn't, the celestial realms have prisons that are escape-proof. None of her victims or their families deserved what happened to them, and Annalise should pay for her crimes if there's justice in the world. But you won't hear me say that justice means cutting our losses instead of turning her around. If she understood the weight of her crimes and we saved her soul... if she then went on to save many others...." Jaela shakes her head. "How many people has Antenora ruined? How many families? And how many has she saved, since her turn?"
[20:50] <Kotono> "Jaela, we have a chance to end an evil that could rival Abigor," Hanna says slowly, voice tight. "Yes, perhaps it would be better if we could save her...but we can't. All of this is nothing but a misaimed slop pile of hope, love and hormones racing around your head. Or," Pausing on that, "Are you going to be arguign this in front of Aurora if Abigor very nicely apologizes to you and
[20:50] <Kotono> promises not to do it again?"
[20:54] <Jaela> "I never did it right with her, before," Jaela tells her. "I thought she was some bored, flighty mage who made a few wrong choices and never bothered to look back on them since. I never understood her, even though I tried. And yes, I thought more about myself than about changing her. So you can't say that we can't, because I never tried in earnest and I know no one else on the Aurora so much as lifted a finger for that."
[20:57] <Kotono> "I wonder why?" Hanna says, not hiding the sarcasm in her tone, letting it drip off her words. "Jaela, I'm tired of this, and I'm not going to torment myself watching this farce play out any longer. If you're hellbent on this, go. I won't have any part of it."
[21:07] <Jaela> "There's nothing I want more," Jaela admits listlessly. "But you are wrong about one thing. You saved my life. You love me, and I love you too. You're family. If it comes to a choice, did you really think I could pick her over you?"
[21:08] <Kotono> Hanna sighs long, "To be honest...I don't know. You're my child, my family, but I'm still getting to know you." Hanna says, "You're a good person, but you're so fiercely independant and self-willed that it's hard to predict what you'll do. You take after the blood of chaos far more than I do."
[21:10] <Jaela> "What I did back there was wrong. I told you I would never do it again, and I mean it. And even then, I wasn't-- it wasn't like that. I wasn't thinking straight. She was locked up and I just wanted time to talk. I would never have fought against you."
[21:12] <Kotono> "...I know." Hanna murmrus quietly. She reaches out, taking Jaela's hand. "Jaela. Let me finish this for you. I'm not so cruel that I'll make you watch what happens. Yes, it needs to happen, but I won't pull out your heart that way. After that, let's go somewhere special. I'll show you something that'll help."
[21:13] <Jaela> "Watch?" Jaela asks with an incredulous laugh. "I'm going to be the one to do it. It's my choice and my responsibility. I'm never going to run away from it."
[21:15] <Kotono> Hanna's eyebrows go up, "...if you're sure about it." she finally says, "Are you?"
[21:16] <Jaela> "I tried to be some exceptional person but it's ended in failure, and no one's the least bit surprised," Jaela says bitterly. "But don't question my will. It won't lose to hers."
[21:29] <Kotono> Here Hanna sighs, "Alright." she says, rising. "Let's go. Let's end this sad chapter in our lives, daughter."
[21:29] <Jaela> If they can shift out of her house to the Aurora's gates, then Jaela will provide their transportation.
[21:30] <Kotono> Just before that, "Hold on," Hanna says. She dases off a minute, coming back with her axe and gear. "Now I'm ready."
[21:31] * Jaela shifts them over.
[21:33] <Kotono> A shift later brings the two to Aurora's gates. Hanna takes a breath, nodding to Jaela. "Lead on," Is all she says.
[21:33] <Jaela> Sylvie's room is first. The library, if that fails.
[21:35] <Kotono> Sylvie's found in the library. Dana's nearby, snoozing away. Between the two is a keg of ale, a mug by Sylvie - looks mostly untouched. She has a book open in her lap, scanning it and turning the page every few moments.
[21:36] <Jaela> "Can I borrow you?" Jaela asks, stopping by her chair. "And 21, for a few moments?"
[21:38] <Kotono> "Yeah, better than sitting here with Dana." Sylvie puts her book aside, "Apparently that armor of hers purifies the  ale out of her before it does anything. Hoisted by her own petard," That draws a hint of a smirk from Sylvie, "I'm not going to get stuck in another family argument, am I?"
[21:38] <Jaela> "No."
[21:39] <Kotono> Hanna shakes her head, "We've come to a resolution," she adds.
[21:40] <Kotono> "Fine." Sylvie rises and brushes off her lap, "Lead on."
[21:40] <Jaela> "The resemblance to Annalise's words is only superficial," Jaela says with a snort, leading the way to the dungeons.
[21:43] <Kotono> You reach the dungeons without incident. You find Annalise sitting in her cell, back to the wall. Her eyes are closed, as if in thoughtful reverie. "Hm?" she asks, opening them. "You've returned."
[21:44] <Jaela> "Do you remember what I said, before I left?" Jaela asks her. "Did you understand it at all? Do you feel bad at all over it? For me? For others?"
[21:45] <Kotono> Annalise merely glances at Sylvie, who returns the look without much of anything. "No," she finally admits.
[21:49] <Jaela> "Once I really understood this about you, I tried to hope... but I'm not going to amount to much after all, it seems. Not on my own." She looks at Annalise. "This isn't about the Triune or Helm or anyone else. It's about all the innocents you've killed among those that did deserve to die ten times over, and that I can't bear to see you like this, not feeling a thing for them. If you blame anyone, blame my weakness and not hypocritic gods." She has to force herself to go on and say, "Sylvie, please let me borrow 21 now."
[21:54] <Kotono> Sylvie takes a breath, as that terrible, beautiful weight comes onto Jaela. Her body shudders with the weight of it, struggling and exalting with it as it passes into her! Annalise rises, "So you've made your choice, hm?" she says, voice dropping into a chill calmness.
[21:57] <Jaela> "I wanted to reform you, but there is nothing else I can try," Jaela says. Despite the terrible weight now bearing down upon her, the one thing that doesn't change is that she continues to speak truthfully. "You are the first person I ever loved, Annalise. I'm sorry I couldn't save you." If it took the form of a book for Sylvie, with Jaela it can only be a spear. And she focuses upon that weapon against evil all of her considerable will, with the sole intent of burning all the evil out of Annalise to such a degree that it wouldn't even be able to escape anywhere to regroup or reincarnate.

[21:59] <Kotono> OOC: Roll init? Annalise will be doing something and not just standing there and takingit.
[22:00] <Jaela> roll 1d20+11
[22:00] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+11 and gets 12." [1d20=1]
[22:00] <Kotono> roll 1d20+16
[22:00] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+16 and gets 33." [1d20=17]
[22:00] <Kotono> roll 1d20+46
[22:00] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+46 and gets 58." [1d20=12]
[22:01] <Kotono> Annalise abruptly chants a pair of strange, twisting syllables! Aurora itself shakes after, Elena's call echoing throughout! The ground shifts, shaking harshly! OOC: Act Jaela.
[22:02] <Jaela> roll 1d20+26
[22:02] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+26 and gets 35." [1d20=9]
[22:06] <Jaela> She places her trust in Elena and Galariel. They can take care of the Aurora; the spear in her hands gathers holy energy, just like for any of her long-range bombardments, and then it lances through Annalise's throat before expanding rapidly to consume her entire body and beyond it.
[22:07] <Jaela> roll 21d12+21 DC43
[22:07] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 21d12+21 DC43 and gets 134." [21d12=2, 11, 4, 5, 3, 5, 2, 6, 7, 9, 9, 8, 3, 10, 1, 2, 3, 1, 10, 1, 11]
[22:07] <Kotono> roll 1d20+32
[22:07] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+32 and gets 48." [1d20=16]
[22:13] <Kotono> The blast is massive, bursting through the cell! Somehow Annalise avoids it, steaming white steam and hissing! Her fangs are out and long, arms shielding her face as the flesh from them is withered away! She savagely utters a set of familiar words...OOC: Counterspell chance if you're gonna, Jaela.
[22:13] * Jaela does her very best to stop Annalise's magic!
[22:14] <Jaela> roll 1d20+25
[22:14] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+25 and gets 32." [1d20=7]
[22:14] <Kotono> OOC: What level of spell does that dispel? Blanking on the counterspell rules.
[22:14] <Jaela> OOC: It dispels any CL21 or lower spells
[22:15] <Kotono> The spell is uttered, but Jaela's magic is just enough! It crumbles as the shaking stops, Aurora growing calmer once more! Annalise falls to her knees, momentarily stunned! OOC: I'll call for init here since shit is getting complicated.
[22:15] * Kotono changes topic to 'Annalise(33)>Jaela(12)'
[22:16] <Kotono> roll 1d20+17 Sylvie
[22:16] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+17 Sylvie and gets 37." [1d20=20]
[22:16] * Kotono changes topic to 'Sylvie(37)>Annalise(33)>Jaela(12)'
[22:16] <Kotono> roll 1d20+10 Hanna
[22:16] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+10 Hanna and gets 21." [1d20=11]
[22:16] * Kotono changes topic to 'Sylvie(37)>Annalise(33)>Hanna(21)>Jaela(12)'
[22:16] <Kotono> Sylvie narrows her eyes and prepares, gathering spell energy around her! OOC: Sylvie's holding, Annalise already went this turn. Hanna's up.
[22:17] <Kotono> "Not this time," Hanna says, preparing as well, "No escape, no second chances, Annalise!" OOC: She's holding and preparing as well. Go Jaela.
[22:17] * Jaela doesn't feel one bit of hatred for Annalise. All she does is continue to focus on burning the evil out of Annalise so thoroughly that only oblivion would await.
[22:17] <Jaela> roll 21d12+21
[22:17] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 21d12+21 and gets 132." [21d12=1, 1, 4, 4, 7, 11, 10, 2, 4, 12, 3, 1, 12, 9, 4, 3, 8, 3, 1, 7, 4]
[22:18] <Kotono> roll 1d20+32
[22:18] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+32 and gets 51." [1d20=19]
[22:18] <Kotono> Annalise dodges in the cell again, flesh of her face starting to melt off as she evades as best she can! "Jaela!" she screams, a pained, desperate cry! She begins to chant again, as...OOC: Sylvie's holding still. Annalise goes. You can attempt to counterspell her again if you like.
[22:19] <Jaela> roll 1d20+25
[22:19] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+25 and gets 45." [1d20=20]
[22:19] <Kotono> But the spell is utterly smashed apart, ruined! OOC: Hanna's holding, just in case. Go Jaela.
[22:19] <Jaela> "I'm sorry," is all Jaela can say, as 21 strikes at Annalise a third time.
[22:19] <Jaela> roll 21d12+21 DC43
[22:19] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 21d12+21 DC43 and gets 162." [21d12=9, 12, 10, 5, 6, 11, 5, 1, 6, 10, 4, 4, 2, 7, 5, 12, 2, 4, 10, 6, 10]
[22:19] <Kotono> roll 1d20+32
[22:19] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+32 and gets 47." [1d20=15]
[22:20] <Kotono> Again she barely dodges, flesh of her breasts and toro sloughed away into the light! She stumbles back onto her haunches, bloody tears falling from her eyes! She reaches out to Jaela, and speaking not a lie, "I don't want to die, Jaela!" she pleads, "Have mercy! I love you!" OOC: Hanna's still holding. Go Jaela.
[22:22] <Jaela> "I don't want you to die," Jaela admits. "But you cannot change. The only mercy I can give you is a quick death."
[22:22] <Jaela> roll 21d12+21
[22:22] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 21d12+21 and gets 154." [21d12=10, 7, 10, 8, 4, 3, 10, 8, 3, 4, 12, 3, 4, 3, 6, 9, 7, 12, 6, 2, 2]
[22:22] <Kotono> roll 1d20+32
[22:22] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+32 and gets 40." [1d20=8]
[22:23] <Kotono> At this point all Annalise can do is be blasted back! She lies on the ground - much of her skeleton can be seen. Bloody flesh clings to her body, her face utterly red and white with bone shards and burst blood! She lies on her side, whimpering, one hand reaching out. "Ja...ela...I'm scared..." she whimpers, "Don't...don't let Orcus get me..."
[22:24] <Kotono> OOC: Go Jaela, she's not in a position to act.

[22:27] <Jaela> "I won't let him get you," Jaela promises quietly. "At least about that, don't be afraid. You won't be suffering again."
[22:27] <Jaela> Crying now, she uses 21 one last time on Annalise.
[22:29] <Kotono> The final blast consumes Annalise! She shudders in it, form ripping apart! For a few moments you cans ee another form. Something canine - wolf like, more accurately. Resembling a werewolf in a way, with oversized fangs. A face of vast hunger, but that too does not last. In 21's light that fades, and all that is left is a crying child. Annalise reaches out with one dissolving hand,
[22:29] <Kotono> "Ja..el..a....." she whispers, before that too is gone. As the light of 21 fades, all that is left behind is an empty cell.
[22:30] <Kotono> Hanna silently puts a hand on Jaela's shoulder, saying nothing for a moment.
[22:31] <Jaela> "Elena," Jaela says, staring into the now-empty cell. "If you are able to come without putting the Aurora in danger, do it."
[22:33] <Kotono> Elena appears. She's shaking on her feet, clothing mostly tattered and burnt away. She doesn't seem concerned with flashing anyone, her voice going through a range of sounds, low to high. "Chaos in Aurora...purging it..." she manages. "Be okay, it was powerful but localized." Meanwhile Hanna pulls Jaela into a hug, rubbing her back and wings.
[22:35] * Jaela shakes out of the embrace. "Any casualties?" she asks Elena. "Is our intervention needed? If the answer is no to both, focus solely on the purge and report when you're done."
[22:36] <Kotono> "Not right now, still figuring and recovering," Elena says, wobblign on her feet. A white wedding dress appears over her form, shifting to a wizard's robe, before morphing into a a tunic and pants. G-galariel's working on it too."
[22:37] <Jaela> "I understand. Return to it, then." Jaela holds the spear out to Sylvie, shaft first. "It was one great day for good."
[22:38] <Kotono> Sylvie takes it, the weight and blessing of 21 leaving Jaela. After she does, "Eh, I won't pretend to believe you believe that," she says, "But I'm sorry. I know something of where you're at right now. I really am sorry for you."
[22:41] <Jaela> "You slowly destroyed your boyfriend's very soul because your mother made you choose between them, as he begged you to stop?" Jaela asks Sylvie. "I somehow doubt it. I'm borrowing your angst queen title for a bit, Blondie." She glances at her mother next. "I'll stay at the Aurora until it's secure. Then I'm leaving for Elysium for a few days. Let's talk after that."
[22:42] <Kotono> "Alright," Hanna says, "I'll be waiting for you when you're ready."
[22:42] <Kotono> Sylvie even cracks a smile, "I mean losing someone you love," she says, without any heat.
[22:44] <Jaela> "I already went through it. It's not easier the second time, and this time I lead her back here to be slaughtered." Jaela stares at the cell again. "You know, I don't think redemption is about how bad you are. I think it's about how much someone wants to save you. So since I failed, that says it all." She begins to head outside, passing through the rest of the dungeons to ensure that the prisoners all remain secured.
[22:49] <Kotono> The other prisoners look secure, thankfully.
[22:49] * Jaela scoffs at them, and heads out into the main portal chamber. And from there, if it is safe, into the courtyard.
[22:50] <Kotono> At the main portal chamber you find 27. He sits before the portal you emerge from. It simply looks up at Jaela, but doesn't offer a comment.
[22:51] <Jaela> "Is any part of the Aurora or its inhabitants in danger?" Jaela asks 27, using a pair of cantrips to clean her face.
[22:56] <Kotono> "No," 27 at last answers.
[22:58] <Jaela> Elena and Galariel are exceptional. She nods curtly. "If I study Chaos, can I bring oblivion to the First Vampire, or to Orcus? Without changing my nature or betraying my code?"

[Corwin]

[19:41] <Kotono> "Anything is possible in Chaos," Is what 27 says in return.
[19:42] <Jaela> Shrugging, Jaela heads for the gates.
[19:45] <Kotono> The gates are so reached - Aurora is abuzz, but it barely seems to be heard or touch Jaela.
[19:46] * Jaela steps outside and shift to Elysium's final layer.
[19:47] <Kotono> In an instant, the warmth and vibrant life of Elysium surrounds Jaela. She stands on a pure white sand beach, the waves gently lapping at her feet.  The sky is a perfect, crystalline blue, shining with overwhelmingly entrancing light. The waters around her swirl, promising the soothing that she sampled not long ago.
[19:48] <Jaela> This time, she abstains. Staying focused is not a concern for Jaela, and so she gets her shield out and follows the beachline while thinking of only the Triune and nothing else.
[19:51] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[19:51] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 11." [1d100=11]
[19:51] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[19:51] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 50." [1d100=50]
[19:53] <Kotono> Jaela walks. On and on and on she walks, by the beach. It doesn't seem to have an end - instead, the beach just goes on. Eventually, Jaela notices something. A pier is ahead, ramshackle but together. At the end what looks to a single male of middle age sits, fishing. Even from here, his jaunty whistle can be heard. A merry little tune, carefree and open. The sun shines down on him, oh
[19:53] <Kotono> so bright, so warm. So alive. As you walk the sands warm your feet, not too hot, more like a gentle massage than anything else. The air feels good on Jaela's face, the scents of the water, sand and land all mixing together. Above she can see multicolored birds, great V shaped formations of them flying about.
[19:55] <Jaela> Her life went to shit because she deviated from the quest. She's not sure what else there is to lose, but Jaela continues walking ahead. Thinking of Lady Angharradh is enough, and the only goal that awaits at the end is acceptance, at the appointed time, or a rejection.
[19:58] <Kotono> Thus Jaela forges on. Longer ont hat beach, the sun rising high and to noon. It's a long noon, the sun not moving for what seems to be a goodly time. Ahead now at last the beach ends - the open waters ahead are filled with what look to be oversized lilypads, blossoming with red and orange flowers atop them. Little colorful things, little more than dots of colored light with fairy wings,
[19:58] <Kotono> go about them, from one flower to another, sending up great clouds of yellow, red and orange pollen.
[19:59] * Jaela takes off, relying on her wings, and flies ahead as she follows the lilypads
[20:01] <Kotono> Thus Jaela takes to the path! As she does, the colored motes of light - no, tiny fairies - star to fly around her! They swarm around her, a swarm of color-spots following her! They're talking to her, though she doesn't immediately know the words. Flying about her and smiling, looking happy and carefree.
[20:02] <Jaela> "I don't understand," she tries to tell them. Jaela gestures at the path. "Should I be walking it instead?"
[20:03] <Kotono> One of them flies up, and tries another tongue and then in Celestial, "Hi! Do you understand this?"
[20:04] <Jaela> "Yes. I speak it," she responds, hovering in place.
[20:05] <Kotono> "Oh! My sisters and brothers all thought you looked lonely, and no one should be lonely and sad!" With a carefree smile, "Do you want to play?"
[20:05] <Jaela> "You can't help me, and I don't want to play." Jaela shakes her head. "I'm only here to find someone."
[20:07] <Kotono> The fairy's face falls a bit, "Why not? We can help anyone if we try and work together! We can help! If you're hungry we have food, if you're lost we know the area, and if you're lonely we can play!"
[20:09] <Jaela> "Can you break the Temporal Contract and save a person who didn't deserve her terrible life?"
[20:10] <Kotono> "Tem...what?" Staring at Jaela, "What's that?"
[20:10] <Jaela> "That would be a no. Please leave me alone, then."
[20:10] * Jaela follows the path anew.
[20:11] <Kotono> "But we just want to help!" The fairy looks stricken, "Can't we help?" Her words are left behind as Jaela flies ahead, past the swarm of fairies and away. Ahead the lilypath goes on for several hours, until midafternoon or so. Ahead is another island - her path takes her to the beach and if she continues this way, into a thick forest within the island's interior. It's quite a large island
[20:11] <Kotono> - Jaela can't see the ends easily as she approaches it.
[20:12] <Jaela> If she is right and devoted enough, a path should exist through the forest. Jaela banks on that as she lands, proceeding further on foot.
[20:13] <Kotono> Thus Jaela lands, taking to the ground. The forest is indeed a tangle - but as she applies a bit of effort, she finds a footstep, and then another and another and another. It looks like hard going - she'll need to focus on it, she thinks.
[20:14] <Jaela> Focusing comes easier than ever, considering the alternative. She presses on.
[20:16] <Kotono> Hours pass like this. It is a constant, mind consuming struggle. The forest grows thicker and thicker yet, as...OOC: Have ranks in survival?
[20:17] <Jaela> roll 1d20+24+2+15 yes
[20:17] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+24+2+15 yes and gets 59." [1d20=18]
[20:25] <Kotono> It's a pattern - a natural pattern, showing her the way to advance. The journey becomes doable, even as things grow impossibly thick. Ahead and ahead and ahead she goes, until at last. A clearing. The setting rays of the sun illuminate the clearing ahead. A log wall is ahead, a gate within straight ahead. Over it sits the three rings of Angharradh, the holy symbol surrounded by a triangle.
[20:26] * Jaela comes up to the gate and knocks upon it.
[20:28] <Kotono> The sound is loud - far too loud for the simple contact of metal gauntlet on wood. The doors open silently seconds later. Three green robed humanoids open it, standing before Jaela. As one they are silent, heads bowed in supplication.
[20:29] <Jaela> "I know this is the silent order," Jaela tells them in Celestial, before she would step past the doorway. "But I don't know if I'm supposed to keep quiet too when I'm visiting. Am I?"
[20:30] <Kotono> "Yes." The person that emerges is a blue skinned humanoid - a Mercane? He wears a coarse green robe, bowing lightly before Jaela. His voice is soft, but carries exceptionally well here, easily heard. "When outsiders come, I am their voice, for I am the only one who has not taken the vow of silence. Speak wisely and softly, for words disturb the tranquility of many here."
[20:32] <Jaela> "I'm looking for another who bears this mark," Jaela says, pressing her gauntled hand to the emblem engraved on her armor. The symbol of her Order, a variation of the Triune's holy symbol. "Or one who bore it once, at least. We are the only two left. Can I see her?"
[20:34] <Kotono> "This way," The Mercane murmurs, as the three robed ones step aside. Ahead look to be several log cabins. Past that is one tree - a tree tall and vast, rising up with hundreds of branches covering the entire Order in shade. Yet oddly, you're certain you didn't notice it until just now, despite that it should have towered in your view as you approached.
[20:35] * Jaela inclines her head and follows the Mercane.
[20:37] <Kotono> As you walk on, you see them. Each is clad in green robes and hidden. Some walk, some sit and reflect, others climb the branches of the tree. All are silent. You are lead to the base of the tree, where in the Mercane begins to climb - really rather well, actually. "Follow."
[20:38] * Jaela decides to try and follow him via flight. She offers another nod to maintain the sanctity of the place, and maneuvers past the branches.
[20:41] <Kotono> It's a long climb, but not once does the Mercane slip and fall. Up and higher you climb, eventually coming ot a broad branch about three quarters up. The branch is wider than a city street, and you are lead to smaller branchers yet out from it. Stopping before one more, all greenery and hidden by vast leaves blooming from the branch, and in the barest whisper, "She sits in meditation
[20:41] <Kotono> there," he whispers, and after a moment, gestures for Jaela to go ahead.
[20:43] * Jaela does so, proceeding slowly and with care. She never actually learned the knight's name, and it might even be possible their paths never crossed. It might come down to recognizing her by her symbol and bearing, and Jaela intends to take her time with that.
[20:46] <Kotono> Slipping through the leaves, you find the person ahead. She sits where leaves bloom, resting on then. Her body is hidden by the same green robes as the others, back ot Jaela. Her posture is relaxed, at least.
[20:48] <Jaela> She tries not to make much noise during her approach, but she's hardly Afina. But if the other woman wouldn't react, Jaela would go past her and come to a rest there to finally see face to face.
[20:48] <Kotono> The woman does not react. You can't see her face - her head is bowed deeply.
[20:49] * Jaela crouches there and places a hand over her shoulder.
[20:51] <Kotono> "!" She looks up abruptly, eyes blinking open. She has crystal-clear blue eyes, an eternal, ageless face. She blinks and stares at Jaela a few moments - she doesn't know her offhand, at the very least.
[20:53] * Jaela gives her a slight nod, sitting down properly. First, she has to be given a chance to come to her senses.
[20:54] <Kotono> She stares at Jaela, her eyes going down - and stopping entirely on the symbol of her order. Her eyes widen, a hand coming to her lips.
[20:57] <Jaela> "I know what kind of place this is," Jaela says quietly, now that she's certain she has her attention. "You don't have to speak." She nods once more. "As far as I know, we are the only two that survived. And believe me, I checked. But the rest of it is not as grim as you think. A group of us came together and found the ancient anti-fiendish planar fortress, Medicant. It's called the Aurora, now, and we are taking the fight back to them. We just returned from a strike against the devils on Lifasan soil, and we made contact with the resistance, freed a thousand of the captives and slew a Nessian pit fiend. We lost the original war, but we just started a new one and we're the ones pushing them back, now."
[20:59] <Kotono> The woman stares ahead and at last silently nods to Jaela's words.
[21:05] <Jaela> "We're still outnumbered," Jaela continues. "We might have our allies, but there is only one way to stay focused on the goal. Lifasans have to lead them. If we stand on the sidelines while others fight and bleed and die for our world, then whatever the outcome Lifasa itself is lost. It is our duty, no matter how much we wish we could be doing something else instead. In its name, and to bring you to this holy Crusade, I came to call on you." She extends her hand to her fellow knight. "I am Dame Jaela Daran. You know the stakes better than anyone else. Will you return with me and fight by my side for our world?"
[21:09] <Kotono> The woman reaches out, touching Jaela's throat. Her fingers dance across the moving flesh there as Jaela speaks, before she finally nods. She rises, turning and walking, a gesture for Jaela to follow.
[21:10] * Jaela rises to her feet in response, once more following.
[21:13] <Kotono> Once out you find the Mercane awaiting. In a barely audible whisper again, falling in with Jaela, "If she is coming with you," he begins, "I should be able to answer questions you may have, for she has taken the holy orders of silence, and has gained training as a Voice of the Triune."
[21:15] <Jaela> "A name," Jaela tells him, keeping her voice steadily quiet throughout. "I gave her mine, so it's only fair. The rest will take care of itself, unless," she says, turning to the other woman now, "you have something to tell me, or something you want me to know."
[21:22] <Kotono> "Don't," Shaking his head, keeping his voice entirely low, "Her gifts from the Triune Goddess and her vow are interlinked. She has forsworn the material word and the garish world of sounds. Do not tempt her away from it. Her name is Meillarberyl. Mei or Beryl is acceptable and she will answer to either."
[21:24] <Jaela> "I wasn't. But even if she talks through you, it's only polite to address Dame Mei instead of pretending like she is not here," Jaela rebukes him quietly. She thinks for a moment longer. "Are there any personal effects to collect? And is there a prohibition on telepathy?"
[21:29] <Kotono> "She wears the robe on her back and has nothing else," The mercane explains, "Telepathy...is that not the domain of fiends...well, fiends and mages. I don't know..." Rubbing his chin, "It's never come up."
[21:30] <Jaela> "I'll ask for guidance on that," Jaela asserts. "With my magic, it is not an obstacle." Turning towards Mei once more, she says, "Nodding and gesturing back to me is just fine, if such are your vows. Let's get past the gates, and then I'll plane shift us towards our fortress."
[21:35] <Kotono> That gets a nod in return. The trip down ot the surface is without incident. Yet on reaching the bottom, dozens of robed ones are there.
[21:36] * Jaela pauses, deciding to observe first whether they will block the way to the gate or are merely there to observe some sort of ceremony.
[21:40] <Kotono> Mei advances ahead. For a moment there is nothing, then she bows deeply before each of them in turn. Thereafter they part, Mei heading past thema nd towards the gates. Quietly, though less so as before, "This way," The mercane murmurs.
[21:40] * Jaela offers the remaining members a respectful bow of her own, following Mei afterwards.
[21:44] <Kotono> Once outside the MErcan speaks in a normal voice. Soft by any standard, but normal. It's harder to hear now, not as crystal clear as before. "Take good care of Beryl for me," he says, "She is a decorated paladin and a Voice of the Triune, as well as the possessor of a pact with the eladrin and Revel of Life."
[21:48] <Jaela> "I will..." Jaela starts to answer, pausing then. She is silent for a moment, and then says, "I will learn to do more than my current best."
[21:49] <Kotono> Mei nods at this, while the mercane smiles briefly. "May all three of the Triune watch over you." Pausing a moment, "I'd bet all the gold in the Union Bank that you'll need it. You look like you carry heavy weights on your soul."
[21:53] <Jaela> "My soul, was it?" Jaela shakes her head. "Thank you for your help. And rest assured," she continues, speaking to the two of them now. "The people of Aurora are honorable and view their allies above all. Nothing matter as much." Taking Mei's hand, she then attempts to shift them to the Aurora's gates.
[22:00] <Kotono> Instead Mei shakes her head a moment. She takes Jaela's sleeve and tugs it, and then shoots a look to the Mercane. "Do you mean the...?" he quieries. "Well, it won't hurt anything," he finally says, "If you think it'll help."
[22:00] <Jaela> "I can't read your minds without magic," Jaela says, somewhat confused. "We can't shift from here? Or I need to do something?"
[22:03] <Kotono> "There's only one thing she'd want to show you outside of the Order," The mercan says, "Just follow her. At worst, you'll be unable to find it. At best, you may gain a mercy."
[22:03] <Kotono> *mercane
[22:04] <Jaela> No one is eagerly waiting on her return, and Jaela nods. "Please, lead the way," she says, gesturing for good measure.
[22:06] <Kotono> roll 1d100
[22:06] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 and gets 3." [1d100=3]
[22:09] <Kotono> Mei transverses the forest with ease, leading Jaela along. In good time - at least a silent hour - she leads you to a place where the woods thin out. She pauses a moment here, touching the air just ahead. It ripples green, the silent woman reaching out, pushing her palm against it before nodding, and then stepping through it. She then looks to Jaela.
[22:10] * Jaela nods at her, and repeats her actions. First, touching the air, same as Mei, and then stepping past.
[22:12] <Kotono> The barrier ripples green as well, and Jaela passes through! Ahead looks to be a small natural spring. Unremarkable enough on first glance, but you can notice that three small brooks feed into it. Mei kneels here, going to scoop up a drink of water with both hands and drinking.
[22:13] <Jaela> Even if it somehow ends up taking away her voice, Jaela would not complain. She kneels opposite of Mei, and scoops up enough water for a good long sip.
[22:14] <Kotono> OOC: Make a fortitude save.
[22:14] <Jaela> roll 1d20+39
[22:14] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+39 and gets 58." [1d20=19]
[22:31] <Kotono> The water is cool and fresh, not a hint of being brackish. Going down Jaela's throat it soothes her body thrice over, like waves of light and healing into her! Then she feels her mind relax, tension and painful memories momentarily fading...and then in her heart, she feels the pain within soften for a few moments, as if being gently hugged. Then the sensation leaves Jaela entirely. OOC:
[22:31] <Kotono> +3 max HP.
[22:33] <Jaela> "It's nice and clear." Jaela sighs. "I guess even if I try to ignore it, this is a heaven." She looks at Mei, then. "Did you want to leave now, or stay a bit longer?"
[22:33] <Jaela> Realizing the stupidity after the fact, Jaela adds, "I mean, did you want to leave now, yes or no?"
[22:34] <Kotono> This time she offers a hadn out to Jaela.
[22:34] <Jaela> "Good enough for me." Jaela takes her hand, and as they straighten up shifts them to the Aurora's gates.
[23:12] <Kotono> Once there Mei looks up, eyes widening as she takes in Aurora itself!
[23:14] * Jaela draws Val'Finnegan and offers it to her. "Dame Mei," she says, gesturing at the temple at the edge of the courtyard, surrounded by greenery. "A holy servant of the Triune resides there. He goes simply by Priest. Please, hold onto this spear for now and go to him. I have something to do, before I can return."
[23:14] <Kotono> The spear is taken, Mei nodding once.
[23:15] <Kotono> She holds the spear up to view, eyes widening as she does so, all over again.
[23:15] * Jaela returns the nod, and then shifts away to the House of the Triad.

[Corwin]

[23:20] <Kotono> Woosh! Jaela transports. She finds herself in a simple room. A cot is here with a blanket, a desk with writing implement and chair. The room is lit from the walls, providing a gentle glow. Otherwise there are no doors in or out.
[23:20] * Jaela sits down on the cot and waits.
[23:23] <Kotono> It's a few minutes before a figure appears in the room. An angel clad in silver armor and with a sword of flame. Naliel stands before you, "Have you come to surrender yourself?" she asks right away, "Or for something else?"
[23:25] <Jaela> "I couldn't save Annalise, so I destroyed her soul," Jaela responds simply. "If she hurt anyone during this time, or if you just want to find reasons to punish me, go ahead. Put me to trial."
[23:26] <Kotono> Naliel bows her head, "Thank you, Lord Helm, for seeing to the end of that abomination," she prays, and then looking back up to Jaela, "Did you come here for absolution, punishment, or as glorified suicide?"
[23:27] <Jaela> "You can't give me absolution. So punish me all you like. You think I care after this?"
[23:27] <Kotono> "That's not what I asked," Naliel retorts, voice calm and sure. "What is it you seek here?"
[23:28] <Jaela> "It all ends. Everything. Decide what you want to do with me, and be done with it. If it comes down to glorified suicide, I win. If not, I'll keep on doing what I do."
[23:29] <Kotono> "It is not my choice to make," Naliel replies, "Do you repent of what you did, or do you stand by it all?"
[23:31] <Jaela> "If I knew I couldn't save her, I wouldn't have given me and her false hopes. But I would oppose nailing someone sentient and aware to an altar and leaving them in pain either way, so that part would never change."
[23:33] <Kotono> "You could have known, if your hubris did not blind you," Naliel points out, softening slightly. Her expression does not lighten, but her words so, slightly so. "Be thankful you still draw breath and the Whore did not turn you."
[23:34] <Jaela> "You know how she got that name?" Jaela asks casually. "For how she was sold into slavery and raped into sociopathy by corrupt nobles when she turned ten."
[23:37] <Kotono> "Dreadful," Naliel agrees, "Evil begets evil. Once again that wisdom is proved.
[23:37] <Kotono> "
[23:39] <Jaela> "There's more, but neither of us cares to listen to it. But I would prefer not to hear that name being spoken, if you would be so kind." Jaela shrugs. "What you refer to as my hubris no longer exists. I can't say about the future, but right now it is gone in its entirety." She leans back against the wall, staring up at the illuminated ceiling. "Wht begets good, I wonder?"
[23:50] <Kotono> "Effort," Naliel says, "Effort to purity, effort to choose the right path. Effort to endure, effort to love, to care, to be more than you are." Reciting that, like a memorized line in a play, "The effort to serve loyally, even losing ages doing one's duty for the greater good. The effort to give your life to protect others, even if you know it's suicidal. Still, it wasn't enough to reach
[23:50] <Kotono> her, was it?"
[23:51] <Jaela> "Not from me." Jaela returns her gaze to Naliel. "Where do we stand, with we being myself and this realm?"
[23:54] <Kotono> "I don't think anyone could," Naliel adds, "She cemented her path eons before you were born." Shaking her head after, "It's not my choice. I'll return with further word when a decision is reached. Until then, wait.  In case you wish for confession, a will or any other sort of writing, paper will appear when you sit and the quill is taken.
[23:55] <Jaela> "There is no need for that."
[23:56] <Kotono> "Your choice," Naliel says, before vanishing.
[23:57] <Jaela> Just waiting would invite memories she wishes suppressed, considering this conversation. Thus, Jaela prays to the Triune, devoting herself to her patron.
[00:03] <Kotono> In this at least harmoy comes. Time slips away. A mercy, all told, until, "Jaela." Naliel's voice again. It ruins the reprieve Jaela had buried herself in. "Jaela."
[00:04] <Jaela> "I'm not asleep," Jaela responds, opening her eye.
[00:05] <Kotono> Naliel holds a simple glass bauble in her hand. It looks uninteresting, just a bit of glass filled with a hint of light. "Take this." she says, voice gruff. "It is from above."
[00:06] * Jaela pulls herself to her feet, approaching Naliel.
[00:06] <Jaela> roll 1d20+27
[00:06] * Hatbot --> "Jaela rolls 1d20+27 and gets 30." [1d20=3]
[00:07] * Jaela reaches for the bauble and takes it in both of her hands wordlessly.
[00:14] <Kotono> The bauble is taken! Memories flood into Jaela - she sees Annalise staling in alleys, pouncing, drinking! Several times over, a flash of images. Naliel speaks during them, "This happened not long ago," she says. "You are unaware?"
[00:15] * Jaela closes her eye, and then resolutely shakes her head. "No. But it's no excuse. If you execute me, can I choose the method?"
[00:16] <Kotono> "I want to know the truth of this first," Naliel says, shaking her head, "Before anything else. Do you want to die...or do you think you deserve to die?"
[00:18] <Jaela> "Is there a difference? I don't think I deserve to live, and I don't think I deserve any afterlife." Jaela sighs. "But maybe if I live, I'll find something that will make sense to me again. So I decided to leave it to you guys, since you don't like me to begin with."
[00:19] <Kotono> "Letting you die would be merciful," Naliel states, reaching out and taking the bauble back. "I can think of no greater punishment than to let you walk out of here...but it's not my choice to make. It was decided you should know this and speak of it before anything else."
[00:21] <Jaela> "I want absolution. But there's no one I'll accept it from. Funny how things are, isn't it?" Jaela sighs again, dropping back onto the cot. "Those deaths were my fault. Did she turn any of them?"
[00:28] <Kotono> "One. The local clergy put it to rest," Naliel reports, then shakes her head. "His soul was freed."
[00:30] <Jaela> "Then I don't have any more duties left in this world related to Annalise." Jaela leans back against the wall. "I'll wait for the verdict."
[00:33] <Kotono> "You have the right to be there if you want, though we expect that you'd rather sit here and wait." Naliel continues.
[00:33] <Jaela> "I'm tired of this room, anyway. Let's go, if so."
[02:00] <Kotono> Naliel pauses, cocking her head ot the side. "Hold on, I just got instructions," she says.
[02:01] <Jaela> In the middle of standing up, Jaela halts momentarily before completing the action. She nods curtly. "Go on."
[02:04] <Kotono> "They won't give you absolution," Naliel says, "But ultimately you did end the menace of Annalise. That counts for something." She goes on, "Leave now. Unless you wish for my blade to cleave your neck and you seek absolution in that manner."
[02:07] <Jaela> "It's not the death I want," Jaela says, shaking her head. And she wasn't going to accept absolution to begin with. "So the punishment is permanent banishment from the realm of the Watcher?"
[02:08] <Kotono> "Yes," she says, "Go now."
[02:08] <Jaela> How useless! Jaela grits her teeth in anger, but then she's off with a spell.