Decisions, Decisions...

### Preface

This was written by Saelswith about Session 32, mostly from Mavka's POV. For context, this is the party's fifth attempt at the time loop.

### Decisions, Decisions...

Mavka watched Gossamer disappear through the snowfall before turning back to join the rest of the party. Reckless as Helio and Caeli had been, they needed her help; the wounds the two genasi returned with upon escaping the rift had already been infected when they arrived, despite being fresh. Though her healing magic had done little to help, the herbs in her satchel might be able to. Mavka hoped that when the day reset their wounds would disappear, but the anxious pit in her stomach didn't convince her.

The city, half in ruins after the events of the day, was dark, but an illuminating snowfall was already beginning to stick to the surfaces that were half-dry. Mavka had to focus more on her footing than ever, distinctly unused to maneuvering her prosthetic leg on the icy ground.

She was so preoccupied with trying not to slip that by the time she realized she had arrived back at the rift, she had no idea where her party was.

Although, there was one familiar face— her own.

Mavka stifled a groan as Zund, who was idly tossing rocks into the rift, looked up. She had noticed Mavka at the same time, and a wicked grin spread across her face.

“That's too bad about your friends,” Zund said, standing to mirror Mavka. “Sounds like you guys have some issues to work out.”

Mavka just glared at her. She moved to turn and leave when Zund spoke up again.

“Maybe *we* should take a trip down there, see what all the fuss is about,” Zund said, tilting her head smugly as Mavka eyed the nearby rift with apprehension. It was a little too close for her comfort. So was Zund.

“As much as I’d love to, I really should be getting back to my friends,” Mavka said, trying to make her voice as neutral as possible. She felt a stab of envy at Zund’s natural confidence— well, arrogance. Perhaps this was the arrogance of youth that the Elders had always lectured her about. And they thought *Mavka* had been difficult.

“I appreciate the civility,” Zund chirped, and Mavka found herself infuriated at the ease with which blatant lies escaped Zund’s lips. She almost believed it, against her better judgement.

“But really," Zund smiled as she took a step toward Mavka. "Wouldn’t it be fun?”

As Zund stepped forward, Mavka took a step back. She was trying desperately to hide the unsteadiness she felt in her prosthetic leg on the slick stone, and hoped Zund couldn't tell.

“What’s the matter?" Zund gasped dramatically, still grinning. "Are you *scared*?”

Fury welled in Mavka’s chest for a moment, but she pushed it down. Zund wanted a reaction from her, and Mavka wasn’t going to give her one. There had been plenty of opportunities for Zund to kill her, after all— these were just empty threats.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Mavka said with a cold smile, attempting to copy Zund’s arrogance, “I really must be going. My companions will be missing me.”

“Oh,” Zund grinned. “Will they?”

Mavka watched as Zund began to change. Her hair lengthened, then shortened, matching Mavka’s unique cut exactly. The rest of Zund changed to match Mavka, as well; she was an exact copy, down to the last freckle.

Mavka remained silent, glaring into her own face that glared right back. Their breaths billowed out into the cold at the same moments. Mavka remained unblinking; so did Zund.

Maybe she had misjudged Zund. This was a threat, if she'd ever seen one. Tension filled the air as Mavka waited for Zund to make the first move.

Mavka was acutely aware of the rift's ominous presence lingering at their side, and her footing felt more perilous than ever… But it would still be so easy to push Zund in. She could do it, right now— she could cast hold person while Zund was mocking her. Then, just one little push could send her tumbling in, and half of Mavka’s problems would disappear with her.

However, that would also complicate others. Mavka didn’t know whether Zund had the orb stolen from Isaldul on her person, and if she did, it would be lost in the rift, or potentially obtained by whomever was behind the Sons of Vestige. That couldn't be allowed to happen.

Then there was the whole matter of the Amber Order’s relationship with Kendrick— the others seemed convinced that Zund was necessary to help them convince Kendrick to teleport them back to Isaldul, to find Relidyr. Mavka had her doubts, but after the events of that day, *she* wasn’t about to make a call like this without discussing it with at least some of the others.

Mavka decided that she wouldn’t kill Zund. Not right now, anyway.

But Zund had made a decision, too.

Mavka had been distracted, glancing into the rift. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zund begin to move toward her. Mavka was rooted in place. The spiraling snow seemed to stop, hanging lifelessly in place as Zund's ferocious grin turned even darker.

Mavka couldn’t say she hadn’t seen this coming, but *actually* seeing it coming was very different. It was terrifying.

Mavka barely felt Zund’s hands shove her— she was too busy trying to brace herself, and her prosthetic leg, against the icy ground. She didn’t react fast enough; the wooden leg betrayed Mavka, slipping out from under her.

Mavka was falling backward into an abyss again, but nobody was there to save her this time; Helio and Caeli were nearly dead, Gossamer was who-knows-where, and Zeema and Karaa would be taking care of the wounded members of the party. Still, for a moment, Mavka thought that this scenario was better than what had happened the first time the day had played out. Karaa's screams still echoed in her mind, though several days had passed since the first attempt.

Mavka stared up at Zund’s face— her own face— as she fell, and sudden, full-blown fear erupted in her chest as she realized what would happen now.

Zund would replace her, again, flawlessly, and none of her friends would notice until it was too late for them; Zund was capable of torturing and killing her friends in any number of ways, Mavka knew it. When she finally got bored of infinite attempts, she could let the group end the time loop and then kill them all permanently.

Even when the day restarted, it would start without Mavka, unless she could make it out of the rift alone. Given the state of Helio and Caeli when they had returned, she didn't think that was likely.

When the morning came, her friends would be strangled by vines before they had the chance to fight back. Caeli, Helio, Zeema, Gossamer, Karaa— would they be forced to relive the start of the day over and over, forever dying, because she wasn’t there to help them? Or would Zund ensure that they wouldn't? She couldn’t decide which was worse.

Whatever happened, it would be Mavka's fault. She should have taken Zund out when she had the chance.

Mavka hit cold stone with a *crack*, and she felt blood begin to trickle from the back of her head. Confused and dazed, she scrambled to sit up. She was still in Baldirth. The snow resumed falling around her.

Zund had pushed her, but not into the rift. Not yet, anyway.

The doppelganger was just cackling above her, enjoying the fear in Mavka’s eyes.

“Well, this has been fun. Good luck trying to mend your broken friendships!” Zund called over her shoulder. The rogue slipped behind a fallen boulder from some unfortunate building and disappeared into the night, out of Mavka's sight.

Once she was sure that Zund was gone, Mavka gasped for breath and slumped back down to lay on the cold, damp ground. When she raised her hand to the back of her head, it came away bloody.

For some reason, Mavka was still alive, and still in this dimension. Whatever horrors Helio and Caeli had faced that had left them so scarred, she wouldn’t have to find out. Why hadn't Zund pushed her in?

Once she had recovered her breath, Mavka sat up to dust the snow and slush off of herself. Still shaking, though only partly from the cold, she carefully stood and picked her way through the debris of the tower and the new rift. The few passersby in the streets seemed to take no notice of her excruciatingly slow, careful pace as she tried to maneuver her wooden leg, hidden underneath tattered robes.

Mavka tried to scan the streets as she walked, keeping an eye out for Zund. She still needed to find the others so she could begin to treat Caeli and Helio’s wounds, and make sure they were safe.

Earlier, Karaa had sent a message that they were looking for a building to stay in where Caeli and Helio could rest, so Mavka looked for buildings that were still sturdy and had multiple floors to avoid water damage.

Eventually, she spotted Zeema leaning on one of the buildings nearby, loitering outside.

“Hey, Zeema,” Mavka called as she approached, not wanting to startle her. “Are the others inside?”

“Yeah,” Zeema said. “Karaa told me to keep watch outside. I didn’t bother correcting her— she seems really worried about Helio and Caeli.”

“That’s fair,” Mavka replied, glancing over her shoulder back the way she had come. A shudder traveled down her spine as she thought of the rift, and Zund's threatning presence.

“I ran into Zund earlier," Mavka admitted. "We... had a nice chat."

"Oh," Zeema said, looking uncomfortable. "You know, if you are Zund, and you're making some kind of rude gesture at me, I can't see it."

"I'm not—!" Mavka gave up halfway through the offended sentence, and changed her tone. "I'm not Zund. If I was, why would I have told you I ran into her?"

Zeema just shrugged.

"Alright. Well, I'm going inside," Mavka said with a sigh. "Are you coming? Don't you want to get out of the cold?"

“I’m alright,” Zeema said, sounding disinterested. “I’ll wait out here till everyone gets back.”

“Oh, uh, Gossamer actually isn’t coming back tonight. She’s staying somewhere else,” Mavka said, apologetic. She knew the two of them had grown closer over the repeating days, even if Zeema didn't remember.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Zeema asked, her brow furrowing. “The city isn’t very safe, and Zund is still out there somewhere.”

Mavka shrugged. “Gossamer can take care of herself, so I wouldn’t worry. We really should get inside though,” she added.

“Oh, I *see*,” Zeema said scathingly. “*Gossamer* can take care of herself, but I can’t?”

Mavka’s eyes widened when she realized what she’d said. “No, that’s— that's not what I meant— I just meant you shouldn’t worry about Gossamer—”

“Whatever. I think I’ll stay out here for now,” Zeema said disdainfully.

Mavka sighed. Sometimes she was glad of the chance to do the day over. Seeing no point in angering Zeema further, she entered the building and plodded glumly up the stairs.

Karaa was anxiously tending to Caeli and Helio, who were barely conscious. Mavka silently began helping Karaa dress their wounds with some herbal salves, after cleaning the oil off of their skin.

“Are you okay?” Karaa asked, side-eyeing Mavka. “You’ve been looking at me like a lost, guilty puppy all day, and I don’t know why.”

Mavka hesitated. The previous day, it had come out that Gossamer had been sensing an “unnatural presence”, and that she thought it was Karaa. Mavka still didn’t know if she believed it— Gossamer herself had said that her skills were a little rusty— so she hadn't told Karaa. The whole idea was ridiculous. Surely after spending nearly a century in Isaldul, someone would have noticed or said something? Then again, Zund had stolen an orb of potentially world-ending power right out from under them. Maybe Isalduians weren't as smart as Mavka had been led to believe growing up.

Karaa, however, had been understandably upset, and left to go on a long walk by herself. She had returned hours later, out of sorts and obviously torn up, but she didn’t want to talk about it. Mavka had decided that when they got out of this whole mess, she’d figure out a way to break the news— but for now, she didn’t want to have the same conversation every day and see Karaa’s downcast face every time.

“It’s— it’s a lot to explain,” Mavka stuttered. “I… I don’t know if I can right now. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Karaa said. “It just seemed important, so I thought you’d wanna talk about it.”

Mavka did not want to talk about it. This was an issue for another day.

For now, she was worried about Helio and Caeli; whatever they had endured had obviously done a number on them. Though she and Karaa had managed to get most of the oil off of them, their clothing was soaked, and the two genasi were freezing.

Mavka's heart skipped a beat as she realized they would have to start a fire.

Mavka quietly dug through her bag. She pulled out her flint and steel, hesitated, and handed them to Karaa.

"Could you start a fire for them? I need to finish dressing their wounds," Mavka said, not meeting Karaa's eyes.

There was dry wood in the fireplace, luckily, and the room soon grew warmer.

This distracted Mavka, and her nervousness grew as she idly toyed with some leftover herbs. When the day restarted, would her friends’ wounds still heal? Or would they still be affected by what had happened in the rift? And speaking of the rift, why hadn’t Zund pushed her in?

She shuddered to think what Zund was planning.

Eventually, tiredness pulling her down, she fell into an uneasy sleep on the floor beside Helio and Caeli's beds. Even though the fireplace was across the room, the flames taunted her; she felt their heat even in her sleep, and tossed and turned the whole night.