Anarchy Reins

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Hotoke and Fey had taken shelter 'neath a pair of make-shift tents in the midst of the Crimson Desert. Sun bearing down fiercely upon them, the red sand scorching to the touch, its color and hue unnatural. In any other occasion, he might have been astounded. Found it to be a most beautiful sight, if not a bit twisted with its alleged history. But such things were not for them to enjoy at the moment. Such things were impossible to enjoy with the knowledge that the monster he had been hunting for decades were still around here somewhere. He would find her, and he would make sure she met an end, once and for all. For everyone's sake.

"It is remarkable, is it not?" Hotoke asked Feray, trying to still his racing thoughts with idle conversation, his arms crossed over his chest. "A desert forever stained red by the deeds of their forefathers. Wouldn't be the craziest thing I've ever hear of." He joked before he looked back into the distance. There, riding upon the back of a drake, came one of the two women he was still anticipating. Gwen had arrived at last. But to his surprise, Carwen was not with her. A strange thing, he thought to himself. As she got closer he threw his arms wide as if to embrace her from a distance. "Gwen! Dear niece of mine, glad to see you arriving with such punctual accuracy, as always," he said with a bright smile before lowering his arms, not exactly expecting a hug from the young woman. "I hope the day finds you well... As well as it can at the very least."

Gwen looked to her uncle, not related by blood but close enough to her mother that he'd been designated the title since their younger years regardless of their father's feelings toward the man. She dismounted from the Drake, running her hand along the thick blue scales that made up the neck of the creature that somehow seemed no worse for wear despite their trek through the open desert. She pulled her hood from atop her head, the sweltering sun immediately shining down upon her long black hair like a magnifying glass had been placed over her. "Day or not, it seems the sun has found me just fine. It is good to see you again, Hotoke. Mother will be along soon enough, she sent me ahead while she got the finer details of her dispatchment worked out with the Toranku, you know they can't simply have a Beast Saint let loose without it causing trouble." Gwen explained the tardiness of her mother, far from defending her rather simply stating the reason for her current absence.

Gwen's red eyes, far darker than the red sand that formed the vast desert they were in, flickered over to Hotoke's guest. Giving the unknown woman a once over before returning back to Hotoke. "Aside from Mother and your friend, will there be any others joining us on this expedition?"

"Indeed, yet I am afraid that she might just be necessary for the task at hand." Hotoke replied before looking to the woman beside him. "This is Feray. Feray, meet Gwen Vroman, daughter of that 'sister' of mine that I keep mentioning." He said with a chuckle. "I am grateful to have you here, Gwen. Your power is sure to be invaluable for this mission should things get a bit hairy. I hope it won't come to that, but all the same." He said with absolute calm. "And no, there will be no others. Increasing our numbers only runs the risk of revealing us to our target. If it can be helped, then we are to not engage them in any way."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Gwen. As Hotoke said, my name is Feray but you may call me Fey if you'd like. It is what I would prefer as well." Fey introduced herself with a crooked smile as she extended her hand to the pale, raven-haired Gwen.

Gwen took the offered hand out of politeness toward a colleague of her uncle's rather than any true desire to form any kind of friendship or bond with the ever so slightly shorter woman. "A pleasure indeed," Gwen nodded, the two shaking hands for a moment before letting go and ending their greeting. She was quick to note the large black cloak that Fey wore, knowing that it must have been burning up to wear such a thing. But that was not her business so long as it didn't interfere with their ability to complete the mission. She returned her attention back to Hotoke, "Who exactly are you expecting we might face? Or at least, what we might face that would require three... skilled individuals and your assistant?" Gwen asked, not fully aware of the details of their mission or what these Anarchic Saints might truly be.

"I-" Hotoke began before a grand shadow swooped above them. Looking up, the glimmer of bright silvery scales made it abundantly clear of who it was. It dove down towards them before transforming from colossal draconic beast into a short and petite woman. Porceline like skin and raven dark hair, it was the woman of the hour. The Beast Saint whom had been granted permission to join them. "Carwen!" Hotoke exclaimed to her. Carwen wordlessly approached him and embraced her honorary brother with a wide smile on her face. She then looked to Gwen, her smile faltering just a tiny bit before turning back to Hotoke, asking: "Is it really wise to bring her with us? I don't want her harmed."

Hotoke nodded. "I think it is a good thing to do. She is strong and powerful enough to handle herself. It is also for the best to prepare her for what might come to us." He explained. He took a few steps away so that he could look at all three of them at the same time. "We are in search of a member of an organization I have all but dedicated my life to find and neutralize. The Anarchic Saints. The saints is a group of powerful and monstrous individuals who stand in service of some horror unknown. They are not simply powerful, they have garnered a following over the years." He explained to the best of his ability. "I cannot say for sure, but their troops might number in the thousands by this point. I've fought each and every single one of them over my years. All of them have been a narrow escape. I've kept them at bay before but... But this one..." He said trailing off. "This one scares me."

"I haven't known you to be scared before, friend." Carwen replied with arms crossed. "You never flinched for even a second against me in the past." She joked cockily, still knowing that it was an empty boast. After all, she had never won any fight against him.

"May so be, but all the same." He waved off. "I need you here now for two simple purposes: Ward her off if it comes down to it. And to help me mark her for future purposes. I fear that something worse might be on the horizon, and if that comes to be, I want to know exactly where and when. And Toranku shares my concern on that front."

Fey had never seen a fully formed Dragon up close, surprised by the speed in which they can transform. However, she knew from the woman's status and what Hotoke had told of her that it was unwise to try and attribute anything about her abilities to what might be expected from the average dragon, or mage for that matter. Judging by the way they spoke, as well as the relation in both blood and appearance to the Beast Saint before her she could only imagine that the girl close in age to herself also shared such abilities. Perhaps, with only her cloak and dagger, she was a bit ill-equipped to face whatever it is that they might encounter on this expedition.

"Do not treat me like a child, Mother. You forget that I was the first among the small circle of my friends to master my draconic transformation and I have only continued to excel since then. I'm sure that I can handle anything that we encounter today." Gwen spat her words at her mother like a cobra spitting venom, refusing to be spoken about as though she was not there and much less to be talked down to as though she were a child.

Carwen sighed as she turned around to face her daughter, an apologetic look on her face, yet all the same, not one that said that she regretted what she had said. Only how. "I didn't mean to downplay your own skills, dear. But If Hotoke is right, then this is something the likes of which that neither of us have met ever before." Carwen tried to excuse herself. "I just don't want you to come to harm. We are cooperating mages in this mission, but I am your mother first and foremost."

A hint of annoyance appeared on Fey's face in the form of a bludging vein in her temple, watching the family drama play out. Strong or not, they we're carrying baggage that would make them a liability in a truly dangerous situation. However, she did not speak up, keeping her mouth shut and head low. Her mission did not require her to meddle in the affairs of others at the moment. She would merely need to make sure that their drama did not endanger her own goals.

Gwen raised an eyebrow at her mother's words. Having been made uncomfortable by what she'd said, feeling a cold chill up her spine at the tone her mother took. It felt odd, to see her mother concerned about anything beyond petty little things. Gwen crossed her arms, digging her feet into the dirt as though to plant them as if a sign of her unwavering resolve. "Then you should trust that you and father raised me to be capable of handling myself. We are among the best the Toranku has to offer, I've little doubt we won't be able to protect one another even if none of us are quite enough on our own. Besides, our goal is not to engage according to Uncle Hotoke."

"That's not-" Carwen was about to protest before Hotoke called her back. "Carwen, enough." He said calmly, getting back her attention. "She is right. We are among the best and finest. If we can't do it, then I am almost ready to have doubts for our future." He said seriously. Carwen reacted to this. He was rarely this serious about... Well, anything. He was always so easy going.

Looking to her daughter again before looking back to Hotoke she simply muttered: "What do you need us to do?"

"Keep yourselves at all times within visible range. Don't stray away from at the very least one person's field of vision. We may have some help with 'eagle vision', but that doesn't mean that there can't be clues on the ground, out of sight of Fey's birds. If it will ease your mind though, Carwen..." He trailed off as he walked up and towards Gwen, offering her a mischevious wink, one asking for her to trust him on this, before turning around to face Carwen while standing right next to the young woman. "I will form a small team group with her. I will keep an eye on her at all times. She will be as safe as can be. Also gives me a chance to catch up a bit with her." He said with a bright smile.

"I-!" She interrupted herself at the sound of Hotoke's reasoning. "Fine. Just stay close to her. I don't want her jumped on." Carwen ordered her friend. "Of course. I am always a pleaser." He said merrily.

"Hotoke, now that all parties have arrived I believe it best that we get a move on with this expedition. The longer we remain here the more likely we are to draw attention, do you disagree." Fey spoke, her tone more serious than she'd normally put on. Though, it was more out of impatience than genuine worry for their safety.

"I agree, navigating the desert at night would be difficult as well. It might very well be better to at the least reach our destination before the sun sets. What exactly are we looking for, Hotoke? Ruins? Caves? something of the like?" Gwen spoke up, wanting a better briefing of their mission than the one that had been coated in classified black marker had told her.

"None of the above. That would be too easy." Hotoke stated simply as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small crystal tablet. With a scratch on top of its surface, an image took form. It appeared like a grand upside down pyramid that floated. An impossible construction by normal means, an even more impossible one to be allowed to continuously exist. Its exterior was littered with all manners of sadistic, decadent and perverse depictions and carvings. It was repulsing to even look at. "This is our target's home. This ziggurat is one of two sources to our target's power. Not really our intent to do anything with it, however." He said as he put it away. "Our target will not be seen by normal means, and they will not be so easily discovered even by more magical means. What we need to do is find it through the subtlest of ways. Small inaccuracies with reality. Anomalies of magic. When we have found the ziggurat by these means, she shouldn't be far away after that. After we find her, we mark her, and we hope that she and her kind will never approach us in any capacity." He said with stone cold seriousness.

Gwen nodded along as he spoke without emotion on her face when he was done speaking she remained silent for a moment as she went over the information that he was telling her. "Hotoke, who is this 'she' you keep talking about?" Gwen asked, keeping up her poker face but a hint of confused curiosity in her eyes would likely not go unnoticed by her former teacher.

Hotoke stroked his chin, thinking about how to broach the topic. He had no intention of lying about what they were facing, he simply hoped to explain it in a more easily digestible way. Eventually just throwing caution to the wind, he opened up about her. "Her name is Y'leria. Formerly a crippled Xybron, she sold her soul to an eldritch god in order to bypass her plight. She is something more akin to a more twisted and dangerous Vampire these days." He began to explain. "She is extremely powerful. She even has the 'god-given' gift of a magic called Warp. With this magic she can outright reshape reality in her near vicinty. She can also create fighters from thin air to wage battle on her behalf for a period of time. She is quite literally a one-woman army. She can also cause psychic trauma and terrify her opponents to the point of causing them nightmares, anxiety and eventually madness if not treated."

"AND YOU THOUGHT IT WISE TO BRING MY GIRL TO SUCH A FOE?!" Carwen instinctively shouted at Hotoke, taking him aback. "Carwen, I told you, it won't come to tha-"

"And what if it does!? You expect me to just accept my daughter might turn insane if it goes south?!" She hissed, walking up to Hotoke, looking up at the considerably taller man, yet it didn't do anything against making Hotoke feel smaller.

Fey's eyes narrowed onto Carwen when she approached Hotoke yelling like a madwoman, moving her hand to grip the dagger concealed under her cloak if things went south. She needed Hotoke for now and while she didn't like her own chances against a dragon, poison was poison and if nothing else it might slow her down. She couldn't very well let an emotional mother with anger issues put her mission in jeopardy.

Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose as her mother went off, "Mother!" Gwen shouted to get her attention, "The only one going to make me lose my sanity is you and your incessant yelling." Gwen snapped before letting out a sigh, Though, Gwen knew her mother was not entirely wrong, Hotoke's description had indeed sent a chill up her spine. *"Some sort of Eldritch God? What in the realms does Hotoke plan to do against something like that?"* Gwen thought before she spoke up, "If you have no faith in Hotoke then you should not have come. I have little doubt that Lady Alice would gladly have taken your place for no other reason than to gain some knowledge from this ancient pyramid."

Carwen's heart stung fiercely. "It has nothing to do with lack of faith." Carwen nearly spat back before restraining herself. "It is a matter of concern to me. Concern for you. I just don't want-!"

"Then feel confident that I will do anything to keep her safe. You know me well, Carwen. Do you really think I'd haphazzardly throw a family member into the lions den like that? You two are here because you will be invaluable in tracking her down. Your powers are not for fighting now, it is a matter of deterring." Hotoke explained, and unknowingly to Carwen, Hotoke shot a strange look at Gwen. Looking back to Carwen, he placed a hand on her shoulder and another one over his heart. "No harm will come to her. I swear it on my honor."

Carwen looked like she wanted to protest again, but realizing that she was outnumbered on the matter, she nodded and began walking away. "I've picked up a strange scent. I'll take a look at it." She said with an almost hollow voice as she put more and more distance between them.

Hotoke shook his head, not in disappointment or disbelief, but in dismay. Taking a deep breath, Hotoke motioned to Fey. "Send a single Raven into the sky to scout. Keep yourself on the ground beyond that."

Once Feray had left them, he turned to Gwen, motioning for her to follow him. After a bit of distance from everyone, he spoke up: "Sorry for everything back there. I didn't manage to tune it down as well as I had hoped. I could have handled that better." He spoke, yet his tone did imply that he wasn't quite done speaking yet. "All the same, I hope it wasn't your intent to hurt her." He said simply.

Gwen stayed quiet for a few minutes after Hotoke finished speak, simply walking behind him with eyes on the horizon. "If she didn't want me to face danger then she should not have allowed me to join a Combat Branch. I could easily have been convinced to join a Research or Trade branch." Gwen spoke coldly, her tone distant and muted until a bit of anger showed through with a single sound, "Tch." She clenched her teeth, "She wants to treat me like I'm still a child but yet she expects me to marry? What sense does that make to you, Hotoke? How can you strangle your child with one hand and place that sort of responsibility on them with the other?"

Hotoke listened intentively to Gwen's words, not wanting to interrupt or get the wrong idea. When she was done, he waited a bit to see if she had more to say before proceeding. "She isn't treating you like a child for as far as I see. She is treating you as *her* child. She is nothing more than a concerned mother who wants to look out for you. She doesn't have the most appropriate way of expressing that of course, but still..." He trailed off as he got a whiff of the scent in the air. Probably the very smell Carwen had been following. One that he didn't think more of, if she was already on it. If it got more important, she would report on it. "Every parent wants their child to marry. She does not want to force this on you however. She thinks you might make a good match with your current friend, but that is as far as it goes. Should you turn around tomorrow and say that it is off the table, she would not object... Without trying to move away from the topic, did you realize that you hurt her quite a bit back there? Even more so if she heard you now? 'Strangle your child with one hand and place that sort of responsibility on them with the other'? I do not want to devalue your feelings. You have every right to feel that way, but I must still ask; Is that what you have felt she has been doing?"

"I don't know..." Gwen responded almost instantly. Hotoke's word vomit had been hard to follow and broached many different topics, far more than she could respond to without mirroring the long speech he'd given and perhaps going on even longer. "I never said she wanted to force this on me. But it came out of the blue all the same. The choice to go through with it was my own but I'd be lying if the pressure to do so was not there to begin with. Not necessarily from mother herself but from what is expected of me as the heir to the Vroman family. There are things that I'm expected to do just because I was born first." Gwen spoke quickly but did not trip over her word or vomit them out. They were clear and concise, as though she'd thought them plenty of times.

"As for that last bit... Maybe I'm being hyperbolic, but I just feel like she doesn't have any faith in me. I've always tried so hard, advanced, and excelled in everything not because I'm talented or because my mother is a Beast Saint, no! I worked hard and I'm still working hard. But even as a kid she always bombarded me with these worries. Worried that Alice was a bad influence, that I wasn't like normal kids. Well, maybe I wasn't? But I was me..." Gwen's voice started to crack and then she fell silent again and didn't continue.

Hotoke nodded. "I can understand the way you feel that. I can also understand why Carwen might be worried for you to become like Alice. I swear, that woman always gave me chills." He said. In any other situation that could be written off as a joke, but not in this moment. "But I think there is a difference between worrying about it and actually believing it. She most certainly did not... She has always been proud of you, confident in you, you know? Even when you can act ever so cold to her and others some times."

"Well I guess you'd know her better than I do since she was barely around when I was a child. Always off doing this and that for the Toranku while you and aunt Theia took over my training, while father looked after us, while Lady Alice taught me how to fit into the shoes I was born into." Gwen spoke with a bit of hiss in her voice, not directed at Hotoke but rather just the emotions that her words brought out in her. "I don't hate her, Uncle Hotoke... I don't. I just don't know how to feel...."

"And that is more than justified." he replied in turn with utmost seriousness. "I am more than aware of her lack of presence and awareness of the lives you lived in the early years. I berated her for that more than once." He said with great sadness at the memory of those times. "All the same, it could never be doubted that she loved you, your sisters and your father with all her being. It was a poor explanation, but in the hushed presence in my library she would often speak of her reasons. She wanted you all to be proud of her. 'The great Beast Saint mom'. 'The greatest saint'. 'The most powerful woman alive'. Those were all titles she wanted to have, all for the sake of you being able to feel absolute pride over her. She wanted you to feel something about her that she could never feel for her own parent. She just wanted you to love her. For you to be proud to call her mom. She just went about it the wrong way."

Gwen stopped in her tracks upon hearing Hotoke's words, the ever so slight breeze rolling through the desert being the only sound between them. Gwen shook her head in disbelief, unable to fully process the words that he'd said to her as though accepting them as truth brought upon a whole new perspective on things and not for the better. "You're joking, right?" Gwen snapped at him without meaning to but far too emotional to catch herself. "It wasn't just work keeping her away? She chose to abandon us?! It was a choice?!" She clenched her fist tight enough that the already pale hand become an almost snow-white only offset by the faint red as her nails dug into her palm. "All for some... some stupid, egotistical reason? She left us for that?" Her words were a mix of anger and disbelief though it was clear to any who might hear her that anger was indeed the primary emotion.

Hotoke halted in his own tracks as well, not having the strength of heart to look at Gwen's face when he heard the tone she took. He knew how this would and is affecting her, but he deemed it best that she knew the full truth of her mother's absense. "At the very begining it was, yes. I wouldn't call it abandonment by then, but as it turned out in the end... Yes." he said. "It was a choice to do these things at first. Then as she showed herself to be a dependent member in the Toranku's eyes it suddenly turned into something she was afraid to escape. She thought it was inescapable. Then that mission happened and she stopped giving a damn about any of that. I was always afraid that she might have been a bit too late to it by then." He said solemnly. "She hurt with her choices, but it is true that the sting of abandonment is most keenly felt by those left behind..." Hotoke spoke as he trailed off.

He turned around to meet Gwen, not wanting to hide away from her emotions. Whether rage, sorrow, hate, or whatever else, he would take all of it. "She loves you Gwen. But I think we both understand that such feelings may not be reciprocated after all these years. Especially now." he said in such a way as to make it clear to her that he would stand by her feelings, that he wasn't trying to guilt trip her.

Gwen's lips quivered, brow furrowed, an almost glow behind her crimson eyes, and her jaw was clenched tight. But with a single exhale, it all went away. Her muscles and face seemed to relax and the light behind her eyes disappeared as though it had been killed. What was once anger was replaced by an equally if not far more unsettling emotion, pure apathy. "Uncle Hotoke, I would like to retract my former statement. I know exactly how to feel now." She spoke ominously before motioning for him to keep moving. Her walls were up and she was done talking.

Hotoke understood the damage that had been dealt to their relationship. He shook his head in regret, feeling that he may have put strain on a family, yet again. With a nod he gestured his head for her to follow once more. There was a deafening silence in their immediate area. He looked up to the skies to see the raven of his intern, and he found the sight...Not as glaring as he had thought... He stared straight at the sun yet his retinas did not burn. The raven was slowly, as it would seem, flickering out of existence for him. He knew for a fact that it was still up there, and yet...

In their area, something both Gwen and Hotoke took note of, was that it seemed as if the sun transformed before their very eyes. It turned from bright whiteness to a milder orange and eventually a blazing red, which in turn slowly turned smooth and less bright. It now appeared before them as a moon. Hotoke looked to the distance for Feray and Carwen, but seeing how they had not reacted to this "change", he assumed it only appeared so for them. "Gwen!" He hissed silently. "Come!" he whispered again as he crept down the sandy hillside until they reached a small cavern entrance, and around its rim, grew strange, thorned, black and red Orchids. "She's close... Go get Carwen and Feray immediately. I will examine a bit closer:" He said as he cloaked himself in an aura of magic before carefully treading into the cave.

Gwen gave a silent nod before turning in the direction that her mother and Hotoke's assistant had traveled in. She took a breath before disappearing into thin air, blinking back into existence beside Fey and startling the poor woman. Gwen saw her hand immediately grip a dagger on her belt, *"Jumpy thing, huh?"* She thought before speaking, "Calm yourself, Hotoke requests our presence. Please use your Raven to alert my mother and follow me. It seems we're close."

"You'd do well not to sneak up on people," Fey spoke in a monotone voice mirroring Gwen's as she sent off a Raven to alert Carwen to the situation.

"And you'd do well to lose your itchy trigger finger, Feray."

**...**
Less than a minute after being given its task the dark feathered bird landed on Carwen's shoulder, "Hotoke requests our presence. Follow me." The bird spoke before taking to the air, flying around Carwen's head a few times and repeating its command before flying in the direction of its master.

Carwen simply nodded to the bird as she sprinted after it. Once she had reached Hotoke's location, she found both Feray and Gwen in position. Walking up she gave them a casual nod, yet also took note of Gwen's look. It was... almost disturbing to her. Almost as much as the sudden appearance of the bright red moon above. Before she had the chance to ask anything, Hotoke returned from the cave entrance. He appeared a bit troubled, but no injuries. "And here we have it. Y'leria is somewhere in here... Remember, do not engage. Make a tracker mark on her with these," He ordered as he pulled forth something that looked like a gun.

"These will project a piece of your magical power into them. You will lose a sliver of your might in exchange, but you will also be able to track her no matter where. From there we retreat and I'll handle the rest... There will be trials ahead. Haunting nightmares of your worst memories and fears. Her Madness magic is affecting everything near her vicinity, without her knowledge. We will form teams so that we can ensure that neither member of the party falls to despair or madness."

He said, waiting until everyone nodded their heads to confirm that they understood. "Good. Fey, you are with me. Gwen, Carwen, you will form a team of your own. There are two snaking paths. There are likely protection crystals in both paths, and we need to break all of them, and as soon as possible. Keep an eye on eachother, keep eachother sane, and be careful for anything that might happen. A clear hint of the madness and effects setting in will be blackened eyes. Purify and work against those visions as well as you can before your partner returns you to reality. Doing this too many times in a short period of time might alert her to our presence."

"Worry not, Hotoke. I won't let illusions nightmarish or otherwise stray us from our goal," Fey assured him as she studied the odd gun-like device she'd been given.

Gwen nodded to Hotoke in response before taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. It was clear to her that Hotoke had intentionally placed her and her mother together. A foolish idea in Gwen's opinion, to start a fire and then place it directly next to the oil. But this was not the place to argue and if it meant leaving here as fast as possible she would bite her tongue for a bit longer. "You heard him, Carwen. We have our objective," Gwen spoke before beginning to talk down the opposite path of the other group.

Carwen was taken aback by that order. Not from Hotoke, but from her child. She was about to make a remark on that before Hotoke leaned in to whisper something in her ear. She looked up at him and then Gwen before steeling herself and venturing inside. As the two groups approached the splitting point, Hotoke and Fey took the left turn while Carwen and Gwen moved to the right. She wanted to speak. She wanted to speak and reprimand her so badly, but that was probably to be adviced against in their current predicament. As they walked on in complete silence, eventually the visions that Hotoke had warned them about started to manifest. Carwen's eyes strayed to all manner of areas, as if there were sights all around her that were taunting her. She still pressed on all the same. For Gwen, there was a simple vision manifesting for her: A sight of Osmund expressing his hatred for the young woman. But not into thin air, but to potential suitors, revealing vile secrets and lies about her, with a most paritucular woman standing amongst the lot. Soon enough, they began to walk away one by one, leaving only *her*, but soon enough, she too made her leave.

Gwen's jaw clenched tightly, her teeth bared and sharp like daggers as they walked through the caverns. She hated it, being here with her mother, some unknown being having access to her mind, and playing these hateful illusions for her to inescapably witness. She knew they weren't real, that was clear to her from the start. Osmund was an idiot but he knew better than to cross her, that she was sure of. Still, It didn't make it any easier to watch.

Carwen so dearly wanted to have something said, especially with all the visions coming her way, but she didn't. She didn't for a simple reason: She would only make it worse. After some time of walking, through a corner turn to the left did she notice a medium sized crystal in the shape of a dodecahedron. Walking up to it, she put it between her palms and crushed the gem in her hands. She figured that magic might not be the most subtle of ways to break them if using magic to break illusions were enough of a hint that shit might be going down. The shattering of the crystal sent out a new vision for the two of them. In Carwen's eyes, she saw something horrific, something she had hoped to never see, but she also pressed on all the same. She would not be deterred no matter what.

In the meantime, Gwen received a new vision as well after its shattering. This time it was of OIivia. It was her laughing scornfully at the mention of Gwen's name and recent deeds, remarking that 'of course that is something she would do!'. The laughter seemed to echo, to resonate within the cave, ringing in her ears like tinnitus even long after if she overcame the vision. The end of the vision would show revelations of these cryptic deeds reaching the ear of Alice.

A hissing growl began to escape from between Gwen's tightly clenched teeth, she told herself over and over again in her head that it was all a lie, an illusion cast by some demon of a witch knowingly or otherwise. Had she known that this would happen she would not have come, she'd take on a hundred Cinders before letting some monster play with her head. Gwen placed her hand on the wall of the cave, needing a connection to something real to keep her sanity from beginning to sleep away. Her nails scratching into it as they continued through their mission. "You'd better not be slipping..." She spoke aloud, her voice clearly directed toward her mother but she'd spoke up for her own sake, wanting to hear her own voice. To know that she was still herself in all of this madness.

Carwen sauntered on for a bit, the horrific sights before her, seemingly unaffected by them. She only snapped back into reality in full when she heard the sound of her daughter's voice. She stopped, turned around and saw her eyes darken, slowly turning into a pitchy black. Her fingers against the wall, nails clawing at its surface. Reason told her to make her endure it just a tiny bit longer, as to not reveal themselves more clearly to whatever fiend lurked within these chasms. But that was overruled by her motherly instincts. She walked up to her and tapped her three times on her spine in different locations. After just a few seconds, she snapped her fingers and the magic gathered within the marks surged through Gwen's body, keeping away the maddening aspect of the magic, though it did little to remove the visions. "Don't let up." Was all she said in a stony monotone, not wanting to get too emotional during a situation such as this. Meanwhile, the corners of Carwen's eyes had begun to turn black, though, it appeared as if frozen. Black tendrils of dark magic creeping at her peripherals, squirming to gain another inch, but they could not. That look was all that was offered to Gwen before she walked on.

Gwen glared at her mother, only partly aware of what she'd just done. Regardless, she knew she had helped and Gwen was grateful even if it was a far cry in settling her feelings in any meaningful way. Silence fell between the two of them once again as they continued making their way through the cavern that opened and closed at random intervals as though giving them a slight reprieve from the claustrophobic, jagged walls that seemed to reach out toward them as though the very cave were alive, a carnivorous being eagerly awaiting the moment that it would swallow them in its inky dark abyss. The visions returned, twisted yet familiar faces stared into her eyes, distorted yet ever so clear voices clawed their way into her ears despite her desperate attempts to block them out. Part of her wanted to steal the light from her eyes, to reach into her ears and deafen herself. The illusions could not affect her if she could neither hear nor see after all. But despite how appealing such a tactic might have felt in that moment she was no fool, temporary or not, she would not resort to such things as her mother seemed almost unaffected by the horrors the cave put on full display.

They pressed on until they found a second gemstone of similar size and form as the last one. Carwen quickly went up to it and crushed it just like the other one. This act, like the previous one, unleashed a new vision for the two of them. What Carwen saw was a mystery to Gwen, unlike her own sights. It showed an image of the previous visions culminating in Alice finding out about all of them, and starting to grow conflicted. Then came the sight that broke the camel's back. Lumi walked by Gwen. Not an image of her, but the real one. With her back turned against her, Lumi said something to her. It was in a tongue she could not interpret, but its meaning was clear to her: This was a mistake. Gwen could never be the one to fill her heart.

This statement was all that was said before she seemed to walk away from her and through some sort of gateway. The words kept resonating in her head, a meaning she understood while not understanding the language itself. Mistake. Mistake. Mistake. An endless repetition of feelings. That was when Alice found out about her failed mission to bring the Au Raza's into the fold. Alice manifested herself before Gwen, speaking plain and clearly: "You are a failure as inheritor. One error I could forgive. Even two. But all this is unacceptable. Lumi is gone, you have betrayed all we stand for, and you have apparently almost torn someone beloved by Triss from her arms. Lumi was right to abandon you for that alone. How can you ever expect to be trusted?" Alice said, her voice still calculating and eyes devoid of emotions. "You are henceforth stripped of your title of Heir. Lyn shall fill your place." Alice said, and maybe for the first time in Gwen's life, did she see a hint of spite in Alice.

But that was not the end. If only it were. Next up was something that defied the reality she knew. Carwen was on her way to go back to the area from whence they came, but by account of Gwen's sight, she was instead walking towards Gwen herself. Hand raised, she slapped Gwen across the cheek, a sensation that felt all too real for the young woman, the mighty sting of it lingering long after the blow had been delivered. "You were a mistake. If only I had never birthed you." Carwen hissed before walking away, 'rejoined' with the true Carwen as she kept walking.

Gwen's body shook and shivered like a lamb pulled from an icy sea but her movement came not from fear or cold. No, what Gwen felt was a rage she'd never felt before, primal and guttural that caused acid to burn at the back of her throat, bile to be tasted on her tongue. She threw her hand to the side and smashed through a naturally formed stone pillar, sending its pieces scattering across the cave floor. But despite the release of breaking something she felt no better. "I am not a mistake!" She roared from the depths of her throat in a voice half human and half draconic before she began to shoot off light magic in random directions. Her often calm and cool demeanor shattered as she all but rampaged about. Her magic cut deep into the walls, floor, and ceiling. Shooting toward Carwen and back down the path they'd come from with no regard for where the magical missiles might end up. "I'm not! None of you have the right to call me that!" Her roars began to lean more toward draconic than human now.

Carwen spun on the spot at the sound of that sentence: 'I am not a mistake'. *Where would she get such an idea fro-*Carwen thought before it dawned on her. The magical missiles were hurled in every direction, cracking the surface of the rocks, and some stray ones even being thrown her direction. Running up to the daughter, safety be damned, she threw her arms around her considerably taller daughter, tapping her in various spots with her marks. She held her close, whispering words of comfort. "Gwen, please, calm down." She pleaded, not yelling, wanting to be a calming presence, not a commanding one. The magic pummled against her frame, hammering against her body with a fierce level of power. Her body was bruising, her bones were creaking 'neath that degree of magic. "Gwen, please. You are not a mistake. You are our most precious treasure. We all love you. Calm down." She said. She poured more of her own magical power into Gwen's runes, before igniting them, sending a strong surge of cleansing light into her daughter. She saw the darkness that infected her eyes fade away, but that did not mean her feelings had. She kept holding her close, whispering words of comfort until such a time where Gwen would either push her or pull away from her.

"I'm not... You don't have the right... I'm not..." Gwen wearily spoke out in a dazed state with only her mother as support to keep her shivering body upright. Her red eyes, now void of darkness, held an almost drunken glaze over them as she blinked. Even so, and despite her weakened appearance, Gwen held a death-grip on her mother's shoulder, squeezing down with inhuman strength for some time before it slipped away and the light returned to her eyes. She looked down at her mother, remembering almost nothing of the incident that had just occurred but despite this, she felt a traumatic sense of grief and sadness that for but a moment showed on her face before she pushed her mother away. Her body continued to shiver and shake but strength and senses returned. "I-I'm fine... I'm fine." She got out, her first time fumbling over her words but correcting herself with a more calm and collected repeat of her words.

Carwen could no longer be quiet. Even if things turned for the worse, she couldn't let it be anymore. Besides, it couldn't possibly get more obvious that they were around by now. "Gwen, stop." Carwen all but ordered. "What is the matter? What did you see? You looked like an absolute wreck. Tell me what is going on, I want to help."

Gwen shook her head, "Nothing real. It doesn't matter, it's all lies, bullshit made up by whatever is in this cave. This isn't the place for idle chit-chat." She responded, not snapping but clearly irritated and wanting to move on. "The sooner we get this done with the sooner these visions become nothing more than nightmares we once had." She held the bridge of her nose between the thumb and index finger of her right hand, rubbing it gently as though fighting off a headache.

"But apparently the place to throw a tantrum of cataclysmic proportions," Carwen remarked as she followed, hoping to get a reaction from Gwen. Carwen's eyes still crept with dark tendrils, yet as always, they remained fixed in place. The visions continued to creep upon them, even as Gwen's resilience for the maddening effects had risen in no small part to Carwen's interventions. Now the visions manifested to Gwen as a different form of betrayal. One which didn't simply apply to herself, but to her whole family. She saw Carwen spitting at the feet of the ones she claimed to love, her father on the ground pleading as she did so, Gwen and her sisters behind her. Carwen made notions of how much she disdained the family she had made. How she had used so many valuable years for nothing. With those words, dripping with enough venom to poison a whole army, Carwen turned and walked away. By the time of that event, they were close to returning to the crossroads where the two groups had parted, yet Hotoke and Feray were yet to be seen.

Gwen looked away from the sight, repeating in her head that none of it was real. She'd thought that would help much more than it really did. Knowing it was fake didn't take away the sting of hearing her mother's voice say those things. But the blow was lessened a bit by the already negative feelings she carried for her mother. After all, in Gwen's eyes, Carwen had already left them before. "Go on then... we don't need you." She said under her breath, eyes cast down toward the floor. She wasn't entirely sure if she'd meant those words or not but they made her feel more in control of the situation and how she could feel about it. She wiped away the tears forming in her eyes, feelings of angst tearing through her heart and mind. She'd always done so well to keep her feeling on the inside, to hide them where no one else could ever see them and yet this place three them out of her like wringing out a soaked towel. "Why'd you leave us?" Gwen spoke out loud. She didn't doubt Hotoke, but she needed to hear it from her mother's mouth.

Carwen's heart ached at the sound of Gwen's voice, at the words she had uttered. There was no doubt about it then. The tendrils receeded further, now only like small flickers of evil in the corner of her eyes, desperately clawing to gain further ground, but none was gained. When Gwen then turned the question to Carwen, she almost felt like she was being put on the spot. Not entirely unwarrented, but also not entirely fitting a situation. But she had asked, and Carwen would not leave her to dry. Carwen looked to the ground, shaking her head. "Because I thought I had to... I know what Hotoke told you... it is the truth, but only as far as he perceived." Carwen said confidently as she looked back up to Gwen. "Clever as he may be, perceptive as he might be, he is still no mind reader. When I birthed you and your sisters, after some spare years of mothering to ensure your health, I was requested back into service. Hotoke? He wasn't simply a confidant during those times when I worked my ass off as a Saint. He was my supervisor." She explained with her arms crossed. "The Toranku wanted to evaluate whether I was still fit to remain a Saint, and Hotoke was meant to take notes and pass them on. With that in mind, do you really think I would share with me the full extent of my heart at that point?"

"By the time he stopped his task, I was so knee deep in the dirt and muck of the tape and internal politics of Toranku to think it was possible to get out. Toranku started to see how 'dependable' I was and kept sending me on bigger and logner missions. Missions they would rarely spare for anyone else." She said with a growl, aggrevated by the mere memory. "I thought there was no getting out. I started by trying to do my best just to keep the position. When I learned that half-measures wouldn't do, I fought harder for it. Hotoke, bless him, was still unreliable at those times. Loyal as he is, he is also excessively honest. I couldn't put faith that he would keep away my honest thoughts from Toranku. So I told him that this was all to make you proud... A part of it is honesty, because I want you to feel proud of me. But I also desperately wanted to be part of your life. I was also afraid that Alice would reject me in the family if I lost my title. I have respect for the woman. I just don't like her, and I often think the feeling is quite mutual. I thought that she would separate our family... Then 'that' mission happened and I realized that I was already being torn apart from you by the mere thought of her..." Carwen explained. "It was then that I realized that I had two choices: Stay where I was and keep the family officially together but tear a cliff between us. Or I could stand my ground and risk a lot for the chance to rebuild something with my husband and daughters. In the end I feared something else more than Alice's disapproval. The hatred of my children."

After she had said this, she saw Hotoke and Feray running around the corner towards them. "But I guess it doesn't matter anymore, does it?" She said as she walked by Gwen, passing a final comment before they met up with Hotoke: "My fear is already a reality."

Hotoke hissed at the two draconic women, fear and rage mixed in his face. "What happened!? What have you done?!"

"I used a spell to break the final stone. Seems it had a negative reaction to my magic that I didn't predict."

"Damn it, Carwen! You need to be careful!" He almost shouted before turning to the wall beside them. "If she didn't know we were coming before, she most certainly is now." He said as he clenched his fist against the wall, cracking it wide open. Behind it led a tunnel down into the cave. "Best hope that she hasn't escaped us." He said before dashing down the cave. Carwen stayed behind, the dark almost completely gone from her eyes as she gestured for Gwen to go before her. Her eyes, once filled with sorrow and worry, just seemed empty now.

Gwen stared at her mother for a moment, their eyes locked as she considered what her mother had told her. It was the first time she'd been told of any sort of mistrust toward Hotoke and thus she didn't know if her mother was lying or not. She didn't want to leave it there, she wanted to talk about it, she wanted to figure this out. But as she'd said before: This was neither the time nor place. She opened her mouth to say something, to tell her mother that she did not hate her, but the words caught in her throat. She bit her tongue and turned from Carwen before following Hotoke and Fey deeper into the caves.

Carwen followed shortly after Gwen's entrance. Hotoke took the fore, keeping an eye out for anything through the narrow tunnels, roof and walls littered by the vile blooms and thorns from the entrance of the cave. Everyone took absolute caution to make as little sound as possible while also moving as fast as they could. After a bit of time, Carwen called out: "Hoto!" She spoke calmly and casually.

"Shh!" Hotoke hissed. "What is it?" He asked with some slight frustration before he saw how Carwen pointed up to the roof. They looked up, and there were the flowers of the corrupted vines, but they looked even more eerie now than before. There were the stalks, the petals, but in the middle, rather than pistils, were now pupils, iris' and whites. Baleful eyes glared upon the lot of them, following them in their tracks. "Well... Shit." Hotoke muttered. "We must press on. We cannot miss this chance."

"As you say, Hoto." Carwen replied as they all continued to press on, now with considerably less caution. Finally reaching the end of the tunnel, they came to face the creature responsible for this maddening experience. Her back was turned to them, her skin grey as ash with unsettling dark markings across her body. She did not move to look at them even in the slightest. Not missing his chance, Hotoke scrambled for his "gun" and aimed it at her. With a push of the trigger, he imbued a piece of his magical power in her, something which seemed to make her shudder. "That felt nice..." She whispered with a mixture of sensuality and dreadful glee, her voice resonating with a multitude of voice all at once.

Gwen felt a sense of fear rising in her coming up from her gut and a chill that run up her spine. Readying a spell, Gwen hesitated as Hotoke had said that engagement was to be avoided if possible. But how could that possibly be avoided if they were meant to shoot the damn thing? "What now, Hotoke?" Gwen asked, ready to let loose if he gave her the go-ahead. Despite Hotoke's warnings, she would rather deal with it now than let the creature that messed with her mind in such horrific ways to getaway.

The creature turned its head around to face them, twisting into an angle that her body should no allow, now looking straight at them. Tilting her head, she spoke in a soft and grim voice while looking right at Gwen. "Yes, what now? Do you plan to fight me?" She inquired. Before having waited for a reply from the girl, she switched her attention towards Hotoke, as if Gwen didn't even matter anymore, or even if she had adressed her to begin with. "Well? Will you? Are you going to fight me, Butcher of Gour'Phann?"

Hotoke metaphorically shook in his boots at the sight of the woman and her voice. He steeled his nerves to the best of his abilities. "We both know our best chance at that is to get the jump on you. Such an advantage is long gone now, wouldn't you say?"

"So... You are not going to fight?"

"Possibly not."

"Clever man." She hummed as she got up on her legs and slowly turned her body while her head remained still, making it so that her neck once more cracked unnaturally as she readjusted her body to its proper shape. "I want to ask!" She said, her tune suddenly turning giddy. "Why did you bring fighters greener than your magic?" She said jokingly, gesturing to both Gwen and Feray, aiming a glare specifically against Gwen, her eyes widening: "Ohhhhh... Maybe not so green afterall... You have very powerful company back home, don't you? That little spirit of yours? Would you say you have tamed it?" She asked with a twisted grin.

Gwen gritted her teeth, she wanted to respond with a scoff and a witty phrase but she did not. Or could not? She couldn't truly tell, but the way the creature moved, spoke, and addressed them so casually put her on edge. "The company I keep is of no concern to you, Monster!" Gwen managed to put on a defiant front, a mask of bravery that she'd do her best to hold onto.

She tilted her head curiously, her neck cracking as if it broke as she did. "Any threat to my existence is my concern. As it should be for you. I do hope that you learn to tame it before it is too late for either of us." She spoke sweetly.

"I do not know what is going on or even what you are talking about, but I suggest that we all take our leave now before we all do something we will regret." Carwen spoke up, placing a hand against Gwen's forearm, trying to communicate to lower her spellwork. "We are not here for battle, if we may, we ca-"

"Brightie." Came a resonating and deeply masculine voice in an almost musical tone. Carwen froze in place. The voice echoed from all around, but that was clearly not its source. It came from the woman. "Brightie... Brightie..." She kept hissing. Carwen started to shake, her knees almost buckling. "Why must you hurt me so, Brightie?"

With those words Carwen wailed out for about a second before falling to her knees, trembling. She shook and shivered, her hands clasped over her face as tears threatened to flee her eyes. "Oh... Did I take it too far, Brightie?" She said again in her ordinary voice once more. By now, Hotoke had put his hand against his rapier. Y'leria looked past Carwen, Gwen and Hotoke before focusing on Feray. "And you, sweetie?" She asked with an unnatural coldness. "What would hurt you, I wonder?"

"ENOUGH!" Hotoke shouted as he put himself between the saint and Feray. "You will not harm them anymore... Please." He spoke, his at first demanding tone making way for a plea.

Fey pinched the back of Hotoke's coat to get his attention, "Help your friend. Her tricks and illusions cannot harm me in any way that matters."

Meanwhile, Gwen looked to her mother in shock at the state that she'd been reduced to. She dropped to a knee beside her and placed a hand onto Carwen's back. "Mother! Mother! Get ahold of yourself. Don't let the witch bring you to your knees!" Gwen raised her voice in case getting through to her would take more than a calming voice could achieve.

Carwen quivered and shook, Hotoke rushing over to ensure her that everything was well. He projected some spores for her to breathe to restabalize her mental state and calm her breathing. Even so, it took some time for Carwen to come down. Her darkened eyes receeded to her original state. "Poor little saint. Just a wee girl, still running from daddy." Y'leria taunted.

Meanwhile, the saint looked at Feray, a look of intrigue and fascination on her face. "It can't? Let's put that to a test." She said, conjuring a small orb of red and black energy at the tip of her finger which she then flicked towards Feray, striking her like a bullet. But rather than causing injury, it did something more twisted. The world faded away for Feray, a mere image of it left behind and soon after, not even that. Before her manifested the image of a most familiar place. Her old hometown in Vroldafn. She saw everything that she could remember from the days of old. The sandstone buildings, her father, her fellow slaves and her friends from the days long gone by. Her father walked with her, no injuries or machinery to keep him stable, just her father keeping her company.

The vision changed. They were now in the hall where everything changed. The poison in the cups were being drunk from, the known sting of the acid against her palm as she tried to keep her father from drinking it. This time, with the true knowledge of what would happen, she warned everyone in the hall from the toxin. Some made it off free of injuries, many were harmed but none fell to the noble's foul tricks. The noble was infuriated by the sight, and then instead went on to a new and more wicked deed. He had every guard in the mansion round the people up, and with his magicians and twisted chemists they hurled a gas-like substance at them. The gas felt like it made their bodies into jelly. If only that had been the end of it.

After this, the mages went on to craft them. Not control them. Craft them. With their dark and twisted magic, not only did they reshape the bodies of the people gathered, but that of Feray too, her body breaking and twisting, reforming to their whims, the pain of such deeds surging through her whole frame, a pain most real even with the knowledge of this not being a reality. Their bodies kept breaking and reshaping. Before Fey's very eyes, she saw the men and women she had worked with, the friends she had made and her dear father all being turned into the most obscene objects. Not creatures. Objects.

Things and trophies, moaning and groaning husks of their former selves, twisted beyond recognition. Some of them appeared as some warped mind's interpretation of furniture, some of them like statues in the most absurd shapes and sizes. All this while yet alive, feeling, thinking, and breathing. Feray was no exception. She stood as one of them, a twisted manifestation made in her master's mind, helpless to avoid the sight as that which once was her father, screaming at the slightest change in the breeze then started to break apart from the force applied by the noble's chemists as they prodded and tested their craft. At some point, the screams became unrecognizable, if he was even able to scream from the sheer anguish he was experiencing.

Feray stood still and stiff before the warped world she'd been thrust into. Not due to any sort of will or resolve to stand up to this monster but rather her body playing its part in the new horror she'd been crafted into. Her head felt muddled and cloudy, but the pain was minuscule and ignorable as equally horrific magic had dulled her body's reaction to such negative stimuli. The screams were the worst part for her, the inescapable sound of screaming was seeped into her eardrums and seemed to echo in her skull. Even so, her expression remained blank and seemingly unaffected by all of it. "You think you can break me with horrors of what could have been? Childish fears of pain and torment? I saw the monster the caused me so much pain and grief hung from a tree like a dog! You should be so lucky to one day meet an end half as peaceful as that." Feray spoke through gritted teeth even as the screams continued to echo. Unlike so many others, she had come to terms with her past, her regrets, her former pains and sorrows. All that existed for her now was the mission and how to best accomplish it. There was no place for fear in her mind.

Y'leria didn't seem surprised. Not angry. Not shocked. She just looked at the young woman with a contradictory gleeful apathy. "The mistake is mine then. For thinking you to be a person rather than the tool you really are." She giggled.

"Fey is many things. But a tool is not one of them. I've seen it. She is just abundantly determined." Hotoke scoffed at the creature as Carwen started to come back to once more. They all now stood before the monstrous woman, a look of determination on the saint and her 'brother', not to speak of Feray.

"Ah yes, such a fun gathering of people." She laughed. "The Buther of Gour'Phann. The frightened child who still runs from her dad. The woman broken down to a tool for the use of greater men." She spoke as her gaze trailed by each and everyone of them. Her gaze then turned away from them and looked at the cave wall as if trying to look through it towards the horizon. "The liar."

"Who are you speaking of?" Carwen hissed.

"Who indeed... She goes by Lumi now, I think?"

Carwen flinched at that. "What about her?"

"That one knows me. As I know her. The killer of her own kind and kin." She whispered sinisterly. Before Carwen had the chance to speak anymore, Y'leria looked to Gwen and continued. "Oh! And who can forget this one. The one who builds walls doomed to crumble and break her underneath. The valiant child. The one who shall die, so very soon."

Carwen's eyes flared at that. "What do you mean..?" Carwen hissed. "What does that mean!?" She shouted, hand ablaze with magic.

"You will die... And we will live."

Carwen didn't waste any time. Before Hotoke had the chance to stop her, she dashed forward, a mighty fist of magic around her hand as she went for the blow. "Not if you die first!" She cried out as she delivered her punch to the saint's chest, hurling her backwards toward the wall. Without creating a crater, she flew through the mountain and stone, vanishing from sight. "Until next time then." Y'leria's voice resonated for the last time before everything of her influence withered and died as she disappeared.

Fey slipped down to a knee, needing a moment to let the sounds of screaming fade away. She took several deep breaths, sounding almost labored. But after that, she rose again with a slight look of relief on her face before moving toward Hotoke, "Are you well, Hotoke? Was our goal here completed?"

Meanwhile, Gwen walked toward her mother, unsure whether to call her actions courageous or stupid. Perhaps the actual determining factor for that would be how it all turned out. In which case, Gwen would not consider her stupid. But reckless was an entirely different story. "Mother, don't dwell on the words of a monster that had access to our minds. Our fears and worries were hers to toy with. Don't let her affect you beyond the reaches of her magic." Gwen tried to offer her some comforting words, something which had never been her strong suit.

"I know... I know..." Carwen muttered, her voice shaky, but whether it was for the lingering fear or rage, it was hard to tell. "It's just... That was something I would've prefered to have remained forgotten." She said softly. After a few moments of breathing, she walked by Gwen with a quick tap on her shoulder with her hand, turning to Hotoke. "Yes, it would be good to know if everything has gone to plan."

Hotoke chuckled softly, clearly shaken. "Yes... Not entirely to plan, but our mission was a success... We should leave, before things have a chance to take a turn." He muttered, using his roots to widen and clear the path out of the tunnel. As they began to leave, there was a rumbling in the earth. "What is that?" Carwen hissed.

"Probably her just moving the Ziggurat... It should be good for now. We know where to find her now, and that is what matters most." Hotoke explained.

Nodding, they continued further ahead, everyone still in a line until Carwen spoke up. "What was that about a spirit and Lumi?" She asked Gwen as they ventured. "You know her best. I don't want to press, but her words were... Worrying." She continued as they got out of the cave. Carwen made a motion with her head for Gwen to come to the side with her as Hotoke and Feray took a few steps away. "Who is Lumi? Who is she really?" She asked, and despite the question, she did not come across as demanding, but rather just concerned.

"That... thing, it used Lumi's image to try and get to me while we were destroying those crystals. I still don't know a lot about Lumi, and I think that creature was just trying to use that lack of knowledge to sow fear into me. We mustn't let it turn us against one another. Not with vague words and troubling thoughts." Gwen in a calm but shaken tone, going silent for a few minutes before deciding to say what was on her mind. "What's more, I'd like to apologize... for treating you coldly. I have not forgiven you for your absence in my childhood, nor do I think I will any time soon if at all. But I do not hate you, Mother."

Carwen nodded, choosing to accept Gwen's words regarding Lumi. Even if she didn't quite buy it in its entirety, she didn't want to argue with her right now. When Gwen apologized to her, she was a bit stumped. "I... Thank you, but..." Carwen muttered before waving Gwen down. Once Gwen was a bit more crouched down to her level, she gave her a warm hug for a couple of seconds before letting go, thinking that Gwen wouldn't like to be that close for too long. "I don't expect you to forgive me. Honestly, you don't even have to forgive it." She said softly. "I know I did wrong. With or without my paranoia, I did leave you. I missed out on so many years of your lives, so many important moments I should have been there for. Your first steps, your first hobbies... No matter my explanation, I did to you that which my father did and I swore to not repeat. I failed. I love you, Gwen. I love all of you. But I severely failed at showing it. I just want to try and be a mom again. For all of you, however late I may be."

Gwen took in a deep breath, the dry desert air filling her lungs to the max before she exhaled through her nose in a sigh. She'd wished her mother would just learn to accept an apology and leave it be. But of course, things were never easy. "Then I suppose we'll have to see about that." She spoke curtly, ready to let her mother take that however she wanted.

Fey stood beside Hotoke her eyes staring out over the vast red sanded desert that surrounded them. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky, as though more time had passed in that cavern than they'd originally believed. "Hotoke, I understand the desire to keep track of such a being... but I don't imagine that's all that you have in mind. You don't intend to hunt it, do you?"

Hotoke fastened his equipment, making sure that everything was still there when Fey approached him. He didn't even look at her by that point, too occupied with his check to see if all was still attached. "Not yet. But one day, yes. I cannot chase after her now, not after she's already taken off in her construct. Too many enemies in there." He explained, and once he had confirmed his items, only then did he look at her. "I need to go to Skaedi now. Gotta see an old friend, see that his end of the mission is going well."

"An old friend?" Feray asked, curious about what sort of person he might be meeting and what exactly their end of the mission would entail.

Before Hotoke had the chance to speak, Carwen stepped in. "You speak of Ushorou, don't you?" She asked cautiously.

"I do." He said, looking at the two women. "He has been assembling an army in Skaedi. With his help we might just be able to beat back the Saints. The saint's numbers are relatively few when compared to Ashvattah's forces, but they are far from lacking in strength. We are gonna need his host."

Carwen's eyes were wide and her jaw was bordering on slacking. She then started to chuckle emptily. "Um, Hoto, you fucking lemon, you do realize that he is a Strigoi, right? That his 'army' could turn on us at any moment?"

"It won't come to that. He has absolute control. With due luck, he might have unified the 'kingdoms' and 'courts'. If that is so, we have a bigger chance of winning."

"A bigger chance of getting eaten too." She remarked. "Hoto... Are you sure about this? Is this threat really so considerable to invoke such dark forces?"

"Worse than you seem to think." He said simply.

Fey's eyes flickered to and fro between the two people in front of her as she tried to keep up with what they were saying. Keep up she did but even when put together all their words didn't really add up to anything she could fully comprehend. "I apologize, Hotoke, but I don't follow what you both are talking about. Would you be so kind as to enlighten me? Or perhaps it is not for my ears to begin with?"

Hotoke and Carwen looked to Feray when she spoke up. Hotoke considered it for but a moment until he spoke up. "The fact that you do not know of them tells me that both of them are doing their job well." He spoke cryptically before continuing, knowing that such a response wouldn't suffice for them. "I have a friend in the north who are gathering the strigoi: A corrupted people from the ancient times of Skaedi before it was known as Skaedi." He explained as he motioned for them to accompany him away from the location.

"The Strigoi are cannibals, defiled creatures who teeter on the line between life and unlife. Their origin has been a mystery to many, however, with the appearance of a certain person, I have come to understand from where they originate and why. They have formed underground kingdoms and courts in their madness, having forsaken their minds as the truth of what they are was too horrifying, governed by a particular breed of Vampires: Strigoi, the source of the lesser and wretched creature's name, having taken it up for simplicities sake. They were beaten back by the people of Skaedi long ago, kept at bay by their might. More or less the reason why they remain in those cursed lands. I have a friend. He has been gathering the courts and kingdoms of that race at my orders. I have a feeling we will need that army if we are to win against the Saints with minimal casualties. Or, at the very least, human casualties."

"There is a risk to it however," Carwen interjected. "They are unreliable. Even under the strictest of commands, there is a risk that they will lash out against their allies and start to eat them mid-battle. I understand their usefulness, but also the dangers of them. I can't imagine that Skaedi will be too happy with letting them pass their borders either."

"We are working on a plan for that too. It is a long shot, but it is required." Hotoke said with not further comments on the matter. "For the sake of everyone's safety, for the sake of our future victory, for the sake of everyone being able to continue living a normal life for some time longer, I ask that you do not share this knowledge with anyone else."

Fey listened attentively with a tilt of her head as they spoke. Personally, she did not like what it was that she was hearing. But it did not matter nor was it her place to challenge it even if it did matter. "I dislike unreliable things but I have faith in your judgment, Hotoke. I will not speak of this to anyone." Feray promised him, giving a short nod of her head to further confirm said promise.

"Then it is done. Our mission is complete, and we can all return back home. Well, half of us." Hotoke concluded, feeling still quite anxious about their encounter. "But do not let your guard down. With this knowledge, I will expect you to not let down on your training. We are still leagues behind them, and any advantage and strength we can attain, we should. Feray, I want you to follow me to Skaedi and see him."

Carwen nodded to this. "If that is what you advice, I shall follow suit." She said, turning to Gwen after. "We should go then. Good luck, Hoto. Just... Just be careful, alright?"

Hotoke simply nodded and headed in the opposite direction from Carwen and Gwen, urging Feray to follow. Carwen stayed to look after the two before walking back towards the nearest bifrost in the town Gwen had come from. "I would like to talk to you a bit, Gwen. About Lumi, if you will indulge me."

Gwen was hesitant, after all, though she had more pieces of the puzzle than her mother did she did not know everything about Lumi. The being's words had not worried her, however, as she had more faith in Lumi than she did the manipulative taunts of some she-witch. "I see no issue with that, things are going well. What would you like to know?" She asked, turning her head slightly to see her mother in the peripheral of her vision.

"Do not think that I wish to impose on you. If you feel that there is something you don't want to talk about, you don't need to." Carwen began before taking a deep breath. "With that said: What do you make of the woman? I know this wasn't really something you were excited about, but how do you feel about her? Not as a partner necessarily, but as a person? Is she someone to be trusted, you think?"

The wind shifted, kicking up red sand as Gwen's cloak fluttered to her side. She gripped the collar of her cloak in response just in case the wind caused it to attempt to fly from her body. "She's kind-hearted and insecure. You'd think she wasn't the type for the political world she wishes to marry into, but there's a spunk about her and a mischievousness that cannot be denied. Though, I do not believe that mischievousness to be of malicious intent. I trust her, but I will say that she has lied to me before. We spoke about it and came to an understanding. I just felt it was important to let you know that things are not perfect between us as things in this world rarely are." Gwen explained as though giving a report to her mother before she fell silent for a moment with the clear look on her face of the desire to continue. After a few moments, she did, "Lumi concerns you, Mother. Does she not? Why?"

Carwen looked up to the skies before giving her reply. "Call it a mother's intuition, call it a dragons senses, call it whatever you like, but... There is this... Aura to her." She explained to the best of her abilities regarding what she was feeling. "I just have always had this feeling that there is far more to her than appearances may imply. A concern mirrored by your father... I have also heard from small talk with the woman that she is capable of quite some feats. Like... feats I didn't even consider possible at first. And here she is, doing it like it is nobodies business... Not to mention the fact that this realm she is traversing might be an afterlife rather than a pocket reality." She continued, her voice firm. "I do not necessarily distrust the girl. She seems quite sweet and kind. I think she is a wonderful one. I am just concerned that there might be far more to her than any of us might anticipate."

"Like being a dragon?' Gwen asked, almost jokingly as she remembered her father telling her and her siblings about when he'd found out about their mother's draconic form. The shock he'd felt despite how composed he'd remained. At least, within the story that he told. "There is much about that land she hails from that I find strange. Their culture is rather brutal and it revolves around a pantheon of Gods they call Loa. She seems rather disillusioned with all of that however. I suppose that trying to create relations with a foreign land we know little to nothing about will always come with its fair share of oddities."

"I suppose that you are right." Carwen spoke with a slight chuckle. "I have had her talk to me a bit about that matter too. How one can hurl ones child in a pit with the risk of being crushed by roots is beyond me." Carwen spoke with a slight chuckle. "Well, if you trust her, then I suppose I shall follow suit... If it comes to that you wed her, do try to make us grandparents before your dad hits sixty, alright?" She giggled softly, hoping to get some reaction, any reaction out of her child.

Gwen responded with silence, no in anger or nervous feelings but rather due to the fact that she did not know how she should respond or why it was her mother had asked her about it. "I'll try." She spoke curtly before falling silent again. Gwen bit her lip, a thought popping into her head. One that she hadn't really thought about until now even though she knew it was her duty to eventually provide their family with an heir. "I don't think I would make a good mother..." She revealed to Carwen with some level of hesitance to do so.

Carwen didn't expect this. Not her fear, that was something she had considered she already thought, but rather that of her opening up on that to her. Carwen had an inclination of what made Gwen think this, why she would say such a thing, and to some extent, she could agree with such a sentiment, but she did know better than to judge like that or say such a thing when it wasn't painted in full. "What makes you say that?" Carwen asked softly, not condescendingly or unknowingly, just, sympathetically.

She did not answer at first, instead allowing them to walk in silence for a bit longer. She needed to gather her thoughts, to choose her words carefully. The first thought that had come to her mind was a curt and simple, *I don't know what a Good mother is like.* But she knew that would only hurt her mother in ways she couldn't really begin to comprehend. Since that was not her intention, even if it was true to some extent, she bit her tongue and thought of a better way to go about this. "I do not think I possess the kind and nurturing nature that is required to raise a healthy child. Even if the child were to receive that from one of their parents if they were not to receive some level of love and affection from both then I do not believe that child will turn out... correct..." She spoke, her final word biting into her, a self-inflicted wound on her own emotions. "Like a machine with a part missing."

Carwen knew exactly what she wanted said, even if she didn't outright say it. "I think you are forgetting that I used to be a sociopath in my life before I met your father. I am however certain that when the time comes when you have a child of your own, holding that little bundle in your arms, you will know nothing but love for it." Carwen half-joked, pained to relive those memories, followed by words of hopefully greater comfort. "And I may just be overstepping here, and I beg your forgiveness if I do, but do you perceive your sisters as such? Having a piece missing? Or do you perhaps feel that way about yourself? Because if you do, regarding either option, then I fear I have failed far more than I could ever have imagined."

"I do not know." She responded in truth without hesitation, she certainly had her opinions on her sisters but she would not go so far as to say they were missing something. At least, she could not say if whatever they might be missing came from the environment in which they had been raised. She was too cold, Lyn had little backbone, and Triss was too simpleminded. "Everyone has things that make them who they are, good and bad things. Whether what is good or bad is simply a product of how they were raised I cannot be sure." Gwen spoke calmly, slowly, as she pondered her own ideas. "If you have failed then does that not make me simply a product of that failure?"

"You are not a product of failure." Carwen answered quite immediately. "Nor a product of success. Nor a product of mediocrity." Carwen continued. "I have little liking for the term. You are a woman. A lady born from love and affection. You have your flaws, as we all do. Some of them will be attributed to your dad. Some of them will be attributed to me. Some of them to your enviroment. Some of them are squarely of your own making. My failures are mine, and I carry the blame for those. Same reasoning falls to Alistair. Same falls to your sisters. Same falls to Hotoke. Same falls to you. All we can do is to chose to do better. Which is something I am sure you will do."

Gwen took in a deep breath of hot, dry desert air before letting out a disappointed sigh. They reached the crest of one of the dunes, putting them within line of sight of the village they'd arrived from Hylion to via Bifrost. "I'm tired... let's go home."