Mystran rest

[Anastasia]

"Then, we wait on Jessica." Syala says, "And square one, as you said." A long bow of her head, as if in thought. "My other idea is to seek powerful things in Chronias, but I have no doubt that's planned for and saved for when we need it most."

[Ebiris]

"It's not like we can visit Chronias and come back," Alicia says. "I don't really have any other ideas we can use right now. Even if we try hunting down a better magic sword, it's not going to make the difference on a conflict of this scale. We need a tool of the incarnations, not just an artifact of divinity."

[Anastasia]

"If it was only so easy to find one," Kascha says, "None of the Guardians were too helpful, their commands were too strict. But maybe..." A trail off, "Maybe we could learn something if we had a chance to study one?"

[Ebiris]

"Do you  have any ideas?" Alicia asks Kascha, eager for ideas. "As I understand it, 21 is gone now. All that's left are the divine seeds."

[Anastasia]

"I mean one of the remaining Guardians," Kascha says, "Though maybe Zaphkiel could help up to study something like that?"

[Ebiris]

"Ah... well, I believe the seed in Elysium is unclaimed, which means its guardian should still be extant," Alicia says. "Given their restrictions on action and how opaque they are to magical sensing though... do you have a plan for how to study them?"

[Anastasia]

"In honesty...?" Kascha slumps a bit, "Not in the slightest. But I can't think of anything else."

Syala comes forth and gently hugs Kascha. "I know. It's so much pressure and when it feels like we can't do anything, it hurts."

"I've been thinking of so many things, but none of them work out," Kascha admits, "Should we copy Shar's trick, the escalation will only get worse. What will Creation look like if we all became one with our planes and wielded them like swords? Would there be a Creation? 21's purpose is fulfilled and it is out of reach now, and...what does that leave us? I'm scared, I'm so scared that I can't find anything to help with this. I can't let Seira down!"

[Ebiris]

"I know," Alicia commiserates with Kascha. "We're just lacking so much in raw power, experience, knowledge of Creation's mysteries... where do we go or what do we do that can actually make up the vast advantages our enemies have over us? Ultimately I think we have to be creative, to come at it from a different angle because we can't match Shar on ground she's chosen. But that's a lot easier said than done."

[Anastasia]

"It is." Antenora agrees, "But we were chosen and we will not fail. Not in this. Marie, do you have any insights? Your talent has always been exactly that, creativity and unanticipated perspective."

Kascha sighs softly, "And now more and more depends on me. We're taking on so much just for the power to stop Shar in the end."

[Ebiris]

"Well... you know the saying to think outside the box?" Marie says thoughtfully. "What about thinking outside Creation? We've seen before how someone can make things real out there just by enforcing their will around them. How someone can assert themselves to become an existence independent of Creation. What if we all put our heads together out there on something Latha can make, some kind of... rule-breaking artifact that can beat anything Shar can come up with? Something specifically made to counter this trick of hers, or just something so generally useful it evens the odds for us?"

[Anastasia]

Antenora bows her head in deep thought. "Perhaps, but I doubtlessly worry of the risks. Besides, if such was easy and possible, wouldn't it have been done by Io or Zaphkiel, or even by others at their behest? We still lack what it is that make the Incarnations and Guardians so fearsome. Still, it's far better to try than not, and perhaps we will be the ones to succeed for the first time."

[Ebiris]

"How many seek the power of the Beyond and go mad from it, bringing terror to Creation?" Alicia asks gravely. "But the fact is we have profited. What Antenora did that was so rare and has now been made simple from her example. So yes, we might be the ones to succeed here, and we're sorely lacking in other options."

[Anastasia]

As all ruminate on it, it's Kascha who speaks first, "Then...what do we seek to make, Alicia? That's as important as creating something in the first place."

[Ebiris]

"Something... to break the connection she's exploiting?" Alicia posits. "It would only be resetting things by taking away her latest advantage however, I wonder if we should aim higher? The problem is that anything we make can be stolen or copied - if we make this an arms race and give Shar time to adapt to it, she'll be able to throw more resources than us at making something better. So whatever we make it ought to be decisive."

"I don't think we can just wish up a sword that kills Shar, and a weapon's only ever as good as its wielder," Marie says. "I think just at least we can aim to ruin this new ability of hers. It's not something that can be turned against us anyway if it gets lost or copied."

[Anastasia]

Syala paces back and forth as she's silent a short time, before, "That's all we can aim for right now. If we tip our hand too strong, we may provoke more problems - like those new swords of hers. We don't want to escalate into her trying something precipitous. We have to remember that if it comes down to us, right now we still lose to Shar."

At that Antenora, very softly, murmurs, "As much as it pains me, yes. Until we change that fact, we do need to operate with wisdom."