Gate of Memoirs/Right Place, Wrong Time

One person's fortuitous survival is another's can of terrible, black-hole-dwelling worms.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Dead God's Law"	Music: "Dead God's Law"
 	
*The Queen, not expecting such a vicious reprisal, draws back from the fray in seething annoyance.
 	
*Inara: All that talk and for nothing!
*Inara: Isn't that so, Vishap?
 	
*Vishap: If I may, my lady, perhapssss it is naught but bluster and bluff.
 	
*Inara: There still remains the matter of that unsightly *thing*, however.
*Inara: How passing strange it remains unscathed...
 	
*The mineral cocoon's alien hues shifted agitatedly throughout the assault, but its impenetrable shell gave no indication of injury.
 	
*S'eljah: Hmph.
*S'eljah: Your churning core will do naught but taint the sacred silence gestating within.
*S'eljah: It seems you've exceeded my expectations...in all the wrong ways. More's the pity...
 	
*Inara: See if I don't take your head off for that slight, witch!
*Inara: Vishap!
 	
*Inara: Tear!
 	
*The Queen watches impassively as the serpent rushes toward her,
 	
*and with a cruel smirk, each streak freezes in time, and slowly crumbles away into dust.
*S'eljah: I have use for you yet, my dear. But as for this snivelling serpent...
 	
*Vishap shudders and writhes, as if even his liquid form could not escape the withering touch of a force beyond even death itself.
*Inara: ...?!
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Source Hall"	Music: "Source Hall"
 	
*Your footsteps echo perilously with the promise of a plunging death as you race across the frozen wastes with Giselle.
*In the distance, a towering spire of ice reaches for the heavens.
*This desolate land of ice reminds you of something, though the exact memory eludes you for the moment.
*Something that had to do with the Eternal Light, at any rate.
 	
*Giselle: We're almost there. I'm sure this is it.
*Giselle: I can feel it, . There's no mistaking that presence...
*Giselle: And if this surge of energy is anything to go by, we're about to be short one goddess!
 	
*You nod. The air is thick with the telltale sign of energy being siphoned.
 	
*Having spent no small amount of time around Hypaea, this was exactly how it felt when she devoured Suizen and collapsed the Old World.
*You can only guess at what the Queen intends to do with such power.
 	
*A blast of energy collapses part of the icy exterior of the spire.
*Short of sprouting wings, there's no way you can reach the area in time.
 	
*Giselle: Really? I'm going to have to do this again?
*Giselle: Guess I don't have a choice...
 	
*Giselle: That spire better have some sharp corners!
 	
*Sharp—what?
 	
*Giselle: Hang on, !
 	
*Before you can ask what she intends to do, Giselle shoves you into a dimensional rip.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*The floor barrels toward you at nauseating speed as you burst out of what seems to be a narrow alcove in the ceiling.
*Far below, you spy the Queen ripping threads out of a serpentine creature.
*Bracing your weapon, you separate the two, though your blade's edge catches only whirls of emerald shadow.
*You land on the frozen ground, nearly slipping from the force of your timely intervention.
 	
*Giselle: We're not too late, I think!
 	
*As usual, the Queen's countenance remains unchanged, but for some strange reason,
 	
*her porcelain mouth quirks upwards in an amused smirk as she makes eye contact with Giselle.
*S'eljah: No... You're not too late at all.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*S'eljah: "You're right on time."