Gate of Memoirs/Two Roads in a Wood

One life for another hardly seems fair, especially when you're the one forced to make that decision.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Overcome"	Music: "Overcome"
 	
*Set: Hmph. Stubborn, are you?
 	
*Set: It's clear you don't intend to kill me...
 	
*You protest that it was never your intent to begin with, and you are just as confused as she is.
*In fact, you've never seen her before—at least not in your memory.
 	
*After several tense moments, Set lowers her arms, but her companion doesn't take its beady red glare off you.
Music: "Sky Fort"	Music: "Sky Fort"
 	
*Set: This "goldenwing" you speak of...
*Set: ...Was a goddess. Nay, more than a goddess, in my home of Urzyma.
*Set: Ma'at was her name—or as we called her, the Arbiter.
 	
*Set: But now the gods of Urzyma are no more, and I alone remain.
*Set: A marked mortal calling himself the God-King slaughtered us all...though he could not abscond his divine judgement.
 	
*Set: But his downfall came at a dire price; none could have known that even heka—our magic—had vanished in the wake of Ma'at's sacrifice.
*Set: And so I left. Urzyma has no need of a goddess anymore.
 	
*You ask if Ma'at was ever privy to the Veil, or the cosmic space beyond the boundaries of their world.
 	
*Set: It was called "Truth", by our creator-god, the Architect.
 	
*Set: ...Something about an endless Cycle, and that one day it would all end.
*Set: I suppose that was what she had in mind when she...
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Strange. Was that her?
*You can't help but feel as if you've seen her before, somewhere.
 	
*Set: You look a little pale. Did I hit you too hard?
 	
*Set: ...Actually, I don't feel particularly well either.
 	
*A high pitched ringing sounds in your ears, making you double over in pain.
 	
*Set: ...?!
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*The space peels back a second time, revealing only interminable darkness.
*Was the draught wearing off?
*You whip around and find Set falling to her knees, unconscious.
*Prey in a trap, both of you...
*Soft Voice: Ah. Coming round, are we?
*Soft Voice: Don't die. Not yet, anyway.
 	
*Gwyll's face slowly swims into your vision.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Devil's Heart"	Music: "Devil's Heart"
 	
*The nadir of the Veil comes back to you gradually, like waking from a terrible dream.
*The second time, now. It brings to mind sleep paralysis and other horrors you would rather forget.
 	
*Gwyll: Well done. I'd say that was quite effective...
 	
*Gwyll: Of course, I've never used it to catch *such* a creature before. 
*Gwyll: But! As they say, all's well that ends well.
 	
*Gwyll gestures to an unconscious Set, where the shining bird from before sits perched upon her shoulder.
 	
*Giselle: A totem?... Huh. So that's what it was.
 	
*Gwyll: Hoooh. You do know a little bit about unconsciousness.
 	
*Gwyll: But surely that's not your concern anymore. Is it?
 	
*The Erlking flicks his hand again, and a small serpent made of water slithers onto the palm of his hand.
 	
*Gwyll: Serpents and birds! Or some, in their deluded fancies, may call gods...
 	
*Gwyll: Ha, "gods"! A mortal's way of labeling power beyond their reach. 
*Gwyll: How ignoble can you get?
 	
*Giselle: Wait. She's a goddess?
*Giselle: How many more are out there? That the Queen could get to at any moment?
 	
*Gwyll: By way of a bone for you, Hound, I can tell you there is but one other—better found at the bottom of the sea.
*Gwyll: Trust me, I've been looking.
*Gwyll: They say one man's trash is another's treasure...
*Gwyll: Well, I suppose you wouldn't care so much for this little bird now, would you?
 	
*Gwyll: The one YOU caught for me?
*Gwyll: Leave her here, and you can chase your little water-worm. I'll even show you the way!
*Gwyll: Let none say the Erlking is not a magnanimous master of the midnight muse!
 	
*Your stomach sinks with both rage and disgust at being put on the spot. 
*To give up someone you barely know for the faintest hope to find another—one the Queen most likely set her sights on.
*It hardly seemed fair; what little you knew about Set was how much hardship she had endured for her world.
*You close your eyes and focus on his words. Surely there was a tale of that before...
*A tale about a world almost drowned beneath the sea...
*Was it something you had heard of?Or something you had experienced?
*"The Eternal Light"...
*Hadn't Kranus mentioned an entity like that?
Portrait 	Dialogue
 	
*You return to yourself, and glance sidelong at the unconscious Set.
*Her totem seemed to quirk its little avian head at you, then at the Erlking. A beckon.
*You trust your intuition regarding where you have to go this time.
*Maybe, just maybe—a foolish chance, but it would buy Giselle some time.
*Before your brain registers what you're doing, you draw your weapon in a feint at Gwyll, hoping to break his concentration.
Music: "Nothingness"	Music: "Nothingness"
 	
*The surprise attack catches him off guard, though your weapon slices nothing but the stardust of his cape.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*The grove shifts into something far more ominous, and a cascade of angry whispers descend about you.
 	
*Giselle's momentary shock melts away as she focuses on undoing Set's tethers.
 	
*Giselle: I can't say that was good thinking, but I'm in no position to complain!
 	
*Set: Mmrgh...
 	
*Gwyll: Nice try!
*Gwyll: Did you really think you could get away with that little trick?
 	
*You put yourself between your friends and watch the darkness rapidly descend from Gwyll's ominous halo.
 	
*Gwyll: Of course, I never really did expect one like you to simply lie down and take it...
*Gwyll: What is a revelry, if it isn't wild?
 	
*Giselle: , I'll take care of her! Be careful!
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Gwyll: I'm afraid our good graces are spent.
*Gwyll: Now dance, you fools!
*Gwyll: Dance for me!