Gate of Memoirs/Art of War

Lull your enemy into predictability while you wait for the perfect moment to strike.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Tremors" 	Music: "Tremors"
 	
*The blinding flash that erupted from the churning land was no earthbound bolt.
*From the dark waves, three figures scaled upward to higher vantage points—the warrior monk, the dragon spirit, and the goddess-girl.
*A party formed by coincidence, united by a singular purpose against a common foe.
 	
*Even the Queen Mother's normally stoic face quirked in surprise as she beheld her gatekeeper standing below.
 	
*Her calculated savagery, a hallmark of the arrant warrior monk of the past, now tempered by centuries of calm reflection.
*Saskya: Apologies for my late arrival, my Lady.
 	
*N'an-Wang-Mu: Saskya...Why are you here?
 	
*Saskya: Where else would I be? Is my role not gatekeeper of the land between life and death?
*Saskya: Leave these fry to me.
*Saskya: The druk is already on his way. He too, calls the storms.
 	
*Saskya: I trust my Lady will bestow upon these vile creatures a fitting punishment...
 	
*Before the Queen Mother could protest, Saskya was gone.
*Down the vertical cliff she slid, the memory of action and practiced movement returning to a body once hollowed.
 	
*As she rose from her landing, the Naga around her adjusted their grips nervously.
 	
*For no ordinary human could have such savage eyes.
*With every felled serpent, the surge of battle-frenzy grew in Saskya's veins, and the world tuned itself out around her—
*Deaf to all but the thunder of wardrums in her heart.
 	
*Casting a glance over at the other two, the Queen Mother regards this strange reunion with an odd expression.
*Centuries of being a living barrier had bolstered her confidence, but nevertheless, she was grateful for the threads Fate wove for her.
*Her old friend, Zeruiah, was right in one thing, at least—that the foreign goddess was a creature of benevolence, and so was she.
 	
*And yet, the reincarnation she encountered before as a trembling waif was now brimming with something decidedly malicious.
*Sparing no thought to that suspicious veneer of civility would be a disaster...
 	
*Time seemed to slow to a crawl inside Sero-Anya's head, the Naga reduced to little more than dark blurs against the storming ocean.
*As she floated in midair, heart tangled with anxiety and anticipation at the brewing battle, her consciousness begins to shift.
 	
*Sero-Anya: Ensa? Are you there?
Music: "Dark Pursuit"	Music: "Dark Pursuit"
 	
*Ensa-Taya: Stop calling me that. Do you not know how to address a *queen*?
 	
*Ensa-Taya: Oh well. I'll have plenty of groveling idiots at my whim when this is all over.
*Ensa-Taya: Ahh...It feels liberating to be out.
 	
*Sero-Anya: Remember what you promised. We have to protect Aimyhr.
 	
*Ensa-Taya: I don't need you to keep reminding me! And I promised NOTHING.
*Ensa-Taya: You are REALLY getting on my nerves, girl!
 	
*Ensa-Taya: I know. Why don't you take a nap? I'll wake you up when I'm done.
*Ensa-Taya: ...If I remember.
 	
*Sero-Anya: Ah—
 	
*Juno-Seto: Stop.
 	
*Ensa-Taya: You...
 	
*Juno-Seto: Do you not grow tired of this, Ensa?
 	
*Sero-Anya: ...Juno-Seto!
 	
*The radiant goddess, though only a bright spectre, still manages a small, sad smile as she runs a hand through Sero-Anya's hair.
*Juno-Seto: Ensa, please. Our battle...has already ended.
*Juno-Seto: We now face a trial graver than ever before.
*Juno-Seto: Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be.
 	
*Ensa-Taya: YOU are making everything difficult. All of you— Vanish. Now!
 	
*Ensa-Taya: Don't get in my way again.
 	
*Juno-Seto: ...?!
 	
*Sero-Anya: ... ...
 	
*As Sero-Anya returns to the present, her countenance darkens as she looks down upon the Naga.
*At their bewildered, beady stares, Sero-Anya merely laughs with all the malice of her dark self—a chilling sound from so innocent a girl.
 	
*Sero-Anya: Look at you pitiful, worthless worms, hailing an absent goddess and a colorful jester of a priest!
*Sero-Anya: I suppose you'll have to do as servants until I find better ones.
 	
*Sero-Anya: Shall we get started?
Music: "Roaring Soul"	Music: "Roaring Soul"
 	
*Tevarius pays no attention to the ice-cold rain beating down upon him, his golden eyes trained on his nemesis.
*The stormwinds heeded his silent command, winding around him like his great draconic self.
 	
*Saerenthis: You again...
*Saerenthis: So the serpent of the sea and the sky are fated to vie forever.
 	
*Tevarius: Do not place me among the likes of you. 
*Tevarius: I, am a *dragon*, and this is the land—the people—I have chosen to protect.
*Tevarius: Your evil storms are nothing to me, vile serpent.
 	
*Tevarius: This ends here.
 	
*Saerenthis: Mnahn' hlirgh.
 	
*Saerenthis: It has only *just begun*.
 	
*With a sweep of his hands, Saerenthis's skull relic begins intoning eldritch phrases, and the swarm below joins in the sonorous chanting.
*The roiling tide dances violently, a cascading cavalcade of deeper darkness.
 	
*Saerenthis: Grah'n! See here these obstinate heretics!
*Saerenthis: It matters not how many of them stand against the tides.
*Saerenthis: *All* will face their inevitable fate...in the hungry maws of the Endless Abyss!
 	
*Saerenthis: By the power of Tsovinar, the Deep Goddess...
*Saerenthis: <Ah'mglw'nafh!>