The Twofold Houses 5: Rebuilding

[Murkus]

[Not So Quiet Night]

Adir is a second behind Sakura. He stoops a little, hair and eyes still rumpled with sleep. He feels Laurana's forehead and then places his hand gently on her cheek as though to catch a stray tear. "What'sa matter? Nightmare?" Geez, it sure must have been a bad one. "It's okay..."

The stag turns to the other of the pair, giving a small, slightly tense smile. "Of course you're up too. Half the house probably is now." He crosses the room with a long suffering sigh and leans down to tuck Cassie in a little better. "It's okay. Your sister just had a bad dream."

[Spooky Encounters]

Made of soot and fire or not, Auntie Cessie is Auntie Cessie. Lucy runs to her, tries to grab her if she's not dangerous to touch. "Auntie! Where are my mom and dad? Are they coming?" Please say yes. "The monster's in there! Did you see Laela or Cora or Bastion? They went outside and didn't come back!" Oh gosh, Lucy's close to panic now. She was probably thinking about that the whole time they were waiting in the hiding place. Even with Jillian's reassurances, her worry is only mounting.

Molerat Wranglin'

"A fine name for a fine frog. Now I know you won't want to hear this, but you should probably put him back and get yourselves - and David - cleaned up for lunch. You too, Lucy!" She says with a glittering smile. "Go on, then."

Of course, while she is happy to hustle all the children along, Vivi's currently preoccupied thinking about Lucy. She would need to talk with Sakura and Adir about this.

[Gullara]

[Not So Quiet Night]

Cassie nods, her eyes drooping with sleepiness even as daddy talks to her. She turns her head and looks at Kitty, where he always lays next to her. She untucks her arm and shoves the plush onto the floor.

It takes a moment for Laurana to calm down enough to explain. "A monster!" She wails. "There's a monster under Cassie's bed!" She clutches at her mom. Sakura looks over to Adir. It'll be up to him to dispel Laurana's fears. Cassie's too; she looks worried at the mention of monsters.

[Spooky Encounters]

Jillian clamors out of the hiding spot after Lucy and rushes up to her moment. Normally she'd want to be picked up, but that'll have to wait. "The ghost is in the living room. An' another ghost followed Cora, Bastion, and Laela outside." She explains, her words overlapping with Lucy's in her rush.

[Murkus]

[Not So Quiet Night]

Adir has to keep a small smile off his face. This would be adorable if the poor little girl wasn't so frightened. It was just like fatherhood in every movie he'd ever seen. The other kids hadn't given him too much trouble yet with fears of monsters.

Well, he doesn't mind the trouble. He likes being a dad... being the protector. And with a face like Laurana has, you just wanna dispel those fears as quickly as you can.

"Let me look," Adir says, getting himself low. Presumably there's nothing much. "Just dust bunnies here now, baby. Did you hear anything, Cassie?" He picks up her kitty and puts it back on the bed without even thinking about it. Picking up their toys wasn't just a habit, it was second nature. He hadn't noticed the directness with which it was pushed away.

[Gullara]

[Not So Quiet Night]

"No, I was sleeping." Until Laurana woke her up! She settles her head back on her pillow, immediately reassured by her dad. When he puts her toy back up on her bed, though, her face scrunches up and she pushes it on the floor again. "No. Kitty stays on the floor." She insists.

Laurana, meanwhile, seems to be calming down after Adir's checked the bed. She's just sniffling now, the tears stopping. Sakura keeps rocking her and kisses the top of her head. "See? It was just a nightmare. Everything's alright."

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooky Encounters]

It's perfectly harmless to touch the sorceress even in this form. She just feels oddly fuzzy and warm to touch.
Cessie looks between the girls, seemingly having some difficulty hearing what they're saying as they're almost talking over one another. Cessie kneels down and gives them both a quick hug. "They're coming, Lucy. Dad is in the car right now." She promises, only getting snippets of what the girls were saying. "Just get back to hiding and I'll deal with the ghost." Then she had to find the others. But one thing at the time, no matter how much she wanted to get out there and look she had to make sure Jillian and Lucy were safe first. "I'll come back once I'm done. It will just be a few minutes."

[Sweet Dreams]

"I want to understand the other you. The influence you carry. And I know you don't really understand it either. Since if you did, I know you would tell me right away." Cessie attempts to explain as they walk. "Or maybe that's just me not understanding what you've been trying to tell me."

[The Mithar Keep]

The sorceress closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath once Ilpholin finishes speaking. She shouldn't have allowed her to just continue on her accusatory rant for so long but there had been little she could do to stop it.

There even was a hint of fear in her eyes when Ilpholin started laughing but so far the worst hadn't come to past. Ilpholin hadn't tried to leave or gotten violent. Yet these accusations stung nontheless. A part of her wished that the nymph would have just left instead.

"Let me start with something we agree on." She starts as she opens her eyes again. "Daemons and demons are essentially the same thing. But what I was trying to say was that Jezebel isn't either of them. She have dealt with them, yes, but she isn't one. Again, this has been confirmed by other people than just Jezebel and her group. I have a many contacts that help me doublecheck these things, Ilpholin." She gestures at the nymph. "As for Becky, you make that situation sound far less complex than it actually was. I don't remember in detail what happened at the time, but I recall that it was around the time AMEN invaded Riverside and VIGIL was keeping a close eye on AMEN at that time. From descriptions, it sounded like the 'devotion' Becky had to you was anything but normal. She wasn't the only one that you were involved with at that time either. So for someone to accuse Jezebel of 'sex-magic', you could easily be believed to practiced that yourself at the time." She takes another deep breath, her throat feeling dry. She couldn't stop to take a glass of water though so she simply had to continue.

"I'm not going to do that however. As you said, that's all in the past now and considering how things turned out, whatever you did back in AMEN worked. My point is that you have changed a lot over time and so have Jezebel. I know that I couldn't stand either of you once, but look where we all are now. I value your competence and intelligence, Ilpholin. Just like I value the same traits in Jezebel. You have done things you aren't proud of and so have Jezebel, yet I choose to believe that you're both better people now." Another pause and the sorceress puts her hands together as if in a prayer.

"Now, if you still want to disagree with all the friends, experts and VIGIL-members I've talked to regarding Jezebel, you need to provide proof. I admit that I'm more than a little worried about her connection to otherworldly forces though now quite for the same reasons you are. So if you believe her to be charming me with 'sex-magic' without anyone noticing then I need something to base that on that isn't just her looks and past. As I already said, I believe that people can change and I have seen plenty of evidence that Jezebel has. So you would have to find something that controdicts that."

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

Sakura is silent for a moment, but then she simply shakes her head. Before Cessie can question further, Sakura is gone and Cessie has entered a clearing. All around the clearing the trees grow thick and strong, towering over the trees she's moved through prior. They look to be encroaching on the clearing, new growth creeping in on what was once empty space.

In the center of the clearing is the remnants of a tree. It must have been huge. It's stump still has roots that span the whole clearing, each thicker around than several of the trees all around. She can only guess how tall it must have been, because now there's nothing left but the stump. It doesn't look like it was chopped down violently, but it must have been removed somehow.

Far to her left and right two powerful rivers flow. They come from the tree, their white waters pouring endlessly from that source. Here the encroaching trees seem energized, pushing much further into the clearing than the rest.

The path continues in front of Cessie's feet. It leads toward the remnants of the great tree.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sweet Dreams]

The sorceress blinks as her friend suddenly disappears. That had been unnerving, especially as it was replaced with this... ruin. She had no idea what it could symbolize but considering the wastness of the tree it felt like something important. But in the context of Sakura she had no idea what it could be.

Cessie had read that trees could symbolize many things, in particular fertility. Not only were they filled with life but some species of trees could also be seen as phalic. After seeing that it was difficult not to read into it with everything else she knew about trees.

Still, the only way she would know for sure was to continue forward and continue down the path. Towards the great stump.

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

The path leads right up to the tree. The walk seems much quicker than it should have. Standing where she is now at its base, she was quite far off to have seen it in full. Here it consumes her vision.

The rushing of water is louder this close up. The water pours from up above, two waterfalls flanking her on either side. She can see now that the water is not just white because of its quick motion, but the water itself is actually white.

There are steps worn into the side of the stump and nothing stops her from ascending. Looking out from the side of the stump itself she can see quite clearly how the trees ringing it are creeping in on the empty space. In fact they seem to be growing before her eyes, thriving like no trees anywhere else in the forest. Maybe if she stayed here long enough she could watch the clearing fill in entirely.

But that's not why she's here. She ascends the last few steps and comes out on top of the great stump. A ways in front of her sits Sakura, though not as Cessie saw her before. The dryad is seated upon a throne. She is nude, but proud, like a queen looking over her domain. She's huge with child, larger than Cessie has ever seen her. From each of her breasts flows a continuous trickle of milk that fall down her body, her throne, and into channels in the wood of the stump. It flows away from her, down into the twin raging rivers below them.

"Cessie." She greets, her smile familiar despite everything else.

[Murkus]

[Not So Quiet Night]

"...Oh. Okay, baby," Adir was starting to pick Kitty up again purely on reflex, but he plops it back down. He tries to take one of her small hands and look at her, his large eyebrows climbing his head a little. "What's wrong? Did you and Kitty get into a disagreement?" He almost says 'fight', but he feels like 'disagreement' is a little more kid-friendly.

[Spooky Encounters]

"...Okay, Auntie," she says. She almost wants to go check on the other kids now that Cessie's here, but she isn't feeling brave or scared enough to disobey Cessie. She will hop back in the little cabinet, helping Jillian in after her. Just a beat, then, "Your mom is so cool." Seriously. She kind of wishes her mom could make magic ghosts too.

[Morty]

[Molerat Wranglin']

"Nooo, it's Styx, not Sticks. It's a goblin word," Tuskfang protests, as he lets Styx the frog down on the ground, where he (or she) will presumably hurry back to the pond. The woblin then will follow his friends and their grandma to get cleaned up. "But I don't remember what it means. I'll have to ask mom."

[Gullara]

[Not So Quiet Night]

"I don't want him on my bed." Cassie says firmly, her mouth set in a determined frown.

Sakura, meanwhile starts tucking Laurana back into bed. Adir can just make out her murmuring more comforting words to their daughter.

[Spooky Encounters]

"Tell the ghost stealing is bad, mommy." Jillian suggests before tucking herself away in the hidey hole with Lucy again. "Mommy is the best." Jillian agrees with great pride. No one tell Sakura, but Jillian has the best mom.

[Molerat Wranglin']

"Maybe it means 'sticks'." Lucy suggests and her brothers laugh. The three of them go along with Tuskfang back to the house, off to find another activity before their moms inevitably make them clean up first.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sweet Dreams]

Oh.

While she had expected something like this, to actually see it with her own eyes was something quite different. She had secretly hoped for a more chaste representation, or at least one that wore clothes of any kind or wasn't-

It didn't matter. The monstorous size and other bizarre elements made this Sakura easier to separate from the friend she knew. This was a part of Sakura but it wasn't the whole of her.

Cessie nods. "Sakura." She replies in kind as her eyes focused on the giant dryads eyes for a moment, only to eventually settle on her feet. "You're don't quite look like the friend I know. You're different. Why is that?" She inquires in a soft tone.

[Spooky Encounters]

"I will, ladybug." Cessie promises before heading off.
They can't hear her footsteps as she's floating through the air but they can hear the ghost suddenly stop muching as she raises her voice.

They can't quite make out what she's saying from their hiding place but it's fair to say that Jillian recognize the tone from when mommy is really upset. She doesn't sound angry per say, it's just as if all emotion have drained out of her voice. Making her sound cold and uncaring.

The can't hear the ghosts response but they will be able to hear Cessie's as it comes with what feels like the force of a volcanic erruption.

"GET OUT!"

They can then hear what sounds like the ghost cry out before everything goes silent.
Soon, Cessie returns and knocks out the door to the hiding place. "It's safe. You can come out now, the ghost is gone." Her voice sounds a bit hoarse but she looks none the worse to wear.

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

"Am I that different? I think you came here expecting me to be different." Sakura gets to her feet and steps down from her throne until she's level with and not so far from Cessie. "You've seen me naked before, Cessie. Don't be so shy and take another look."

Should Cessie look up again she'll see her friend. She's no less nude and pregnant than she was a moment ago, but is that so strange? Cessie's never seen her belly quite so large, but it's within the realm of reason. She's no giant towering over the land; Cessie still has to tilt her head down to meet her eye. "So?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Sweet Dreams]

"You're expecting." Cessie observes with a gesture at her belly. "And you know how I feel about nudity, Sakura." The less of it, the better!

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

"You're the one that wanted to see the 'other me'. This is what's left." She steps out to the edge and gestures all around them. "This and me." She turns back to her friend, but now she's more clothed. A long skirt is draped from her hips and a wrap covers her breasts. Her belly remains exposed, however.

[Reinholdt]

[The Mithar Keep]

Ilpholin narrows her eyes. "Oh no. You don't get to back-handedly accuse me of something using my own gorram reports and then say the past doesn't matter." She hesitates, uncertain how to proceed, or rather desiring not to. "Because it is true. Was true," She admits. A part of her opens her mouth to say something, anything, to defend herself or explain her reasons. The rest of her decides that would cause too much loss in the focus of this conversation. "So you have to believe me when I say I know exactly what it took to counter-convert Becky like that. The type of skills required. This is my expertise," Ilpholin pleads.

"I could give you proof, but it would require me doing things with you you wouldn't want to do. You wanna gamble with your mind as is. Fine." Ilpholin crosses her arms. "But I think the burden of proof here falls on you, not me. Forgoing the question of being charmed, you've offered no convincing proof whatsoever that she isn't a demon. You've admitted that she's dealing with otherworldly forces, you've admitted she's dealing with demons, and she has very clearly turned into something that looks exactly like a demon. So what exactly are these supposed experts saying that somehow prove she isn't a demon? Where's your evidence?" Ilpholin demands, almost certain Cessie doesn't have any.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sweet Dreams]

"What's left?" Cessie inquires as she looks around. Was the seemingly "removed" tree somehow connected to all this? "Was there more?" Her attention is turned to the landscape Sakura is gesturing at. Wasn't the dreamworld a part of her too? "And what is 'this'? I don't understand."

[The Mithar Keep]

The sorceress takes a moment to adress Ilpholin's first statement first. She doesn't even seem surprised at her admission of guilt. In fact, she seemed more relived that her first accusation didn't turn into anything more. "As I said, I don't care what you did Ilpholin. It worked, so I'm not going to ask questions. Anything involving AMEN will involve questionability."

The next argument would likely cause things to boil over to so she closes her eyes for a moment and nods, though it's unclear to what it's suppose to be a response to. "A lot happened while you were gone, Ilpholin. Jezebel have helped out both VIGIL and me a great deal. Including supporting our fight against the demons. I didn't just suddenly start to trust her one day. This is something that has been built up over many years. Furthermore, I didn't lie about the experts I asked regarding her current status. Those are the proof I'm offering you Ilpholin and I'm honestly not sure what else you need. You're not going to take her, my or people knowledgeable about the subject's word for it. So I'm not sure what kind of evidence you're asking me for here. I will refer you to Arik Mithar in Riverside and Ambrosia Ithil, a scholar who have helped VIGIL out with other demon-related problems in the past. Not to mention my own tests which have confirmed the same thing." She puts her hand together once more as she briefly pauses. "But if those aren't enough. Just what kind of evidence that would convince you that Jezebel isn't a demon working to undermine us?"

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

Sakura just shakes her head. "There used to be." Cessie blinks and Sakura's vanished once more, but she doesn't have to look far to find her again.

The dryad sits upon the throne once more, much like Cessie found her here in the first place. This time she does seem less like herself. Her body is fuller, her flowers grown enormous. While Sakura's figure normally be what one could call 'fertile', now she looks more like a symbol of fertility.

Before her eyes, the tree springs up behind Sakura. They're upon a small shelf on a tree that's rapidly towering over them. The canopy blooms above them, casting it's shade over the entirely of the huge clearing. The trees that were encroaching on the empty space fall back, held at bay by the colossus.

"There was so much more. I was so hungry, eager to grow. I-" She pauses and looks at Cessie. Like this she has an intense presence about her. Though she's no more tall than she was before, Cessie feels like she's towering over her. In that moment Cessie feels her hunger. It's an intense emptiness at the core of her, and accompanying it a hungry, aching heat radiating outward. She instantly understands what could sate this feeling; she's felt what 'full' is twice before.

[Reinholdt]

[The Mithar Keep]

"I don't know Cessie. I haven't exactly spent time thinking about what could justify such a position." Ilpholin scowls. "But, I want more than 'we checked, she's not'. I want to know why she's not. What you used to determine this. The details behind this conclusion you're so set on. If you took notes, I'll read those. Anything. Because no, I'm not just taking anyone's word on it. It's bad enough I'm even entertaining the ludicrous possibility to this extent." Cessie's lucky Ilpholin's too pregnant to storm out of here and solve Jezebel right now. "The references are a start," She concedes, willing to at least hear them out.

"But Cessie, it doesn't matter if she's been building up trust for years, if you've been convinced she was the next Saint of Nil. When you transform with demon energy or daemon or whatever, when you turn and merge, you change so deeply Cessie. You become something wrong and do things you never thought you would. Whoever you thought Jezebel was is gone Cessie. The template's still there, but it's twisted, rotten. I'm sorry, I know you don't want to hear it, but it's true."

[Murkus]

[Not So Quiet Night]

"...You feeling okay, kid?" He reaches out to feel Cassie's head with the back of his hand. He remembers taking care of his little siblings, and he remembers a fever could make them awfully cranky. "Anything I can get ya? I won't let Kitty back up here, promise." Very amused.

And provided she doesn't need more, he'll kiss Cassie goodnight and go to Laurana's side. She was the one who got really scared here, after all. "Better now?" He asks, voice soft.

[Spooky Encounters]

"...Wow," says Lucy, once they're out of the cupboard. "...Thanks, Auntie. What'd you do? Did you blow'd him up?" At some point or another Lucy got it in her head that Cessie blows things up.

[Gullara]

[Not So Quiet Night]

Cassie feels totally fine as far as he can tell. Totally normal. "I'm tired." She pulls her blanket of to her chin and blinks sleepily. Looks like she's fine.

Laurana nods, her tears already dry on her cheeks. "If the monster comes back you'll get him?" She asks.

[Spooky Encounters]

"Noooo. Mommy chased him away. Right mommy?" Jillian protests. The ghost wasn't that bad.

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooky Encounters]

Cessie nods to her daughter. "Yes, I just told it firmly to leave and it left. There was no need for 'blasting'." She smiles at them both, but especially at Lucy. "We're going to need to find your sliblings now though, do you have any idea where they went? I couldn't see them outside the building."

[Sweet Dreams]

Cessie understands more than that, she also understood why things had changed. "Yes, you met a spirit out in the woods that somehow caused you to become like this, didn't you?"
She observes after a moment of hesitation. She could not let this version of Sakura think that she had influenced her in any way. "We still don't know what happened then exactly."

[The Mithar Keep]

"You claim that Ilpholin yet you haven't even met or even seen Jezebel since the invasion. So excuse me for being skeptical of all the conclusions you drawing based the notion that we're seeing one another. I'm not even given a chance to answer your questions before you're making several declarations of how things are. I'm still going to attempt to entertain your questions though even if it feels rather redundant at this point." The sorceress takes a deep breath before she starts.

"Ambrosia is a scholar of otherworldy entities and Arik regularly destroys them. They're both in tune with the aether, making them able to detect and analyze spirits and their ilk. The way they've explained Jezebel's current condition is that her mind has been opened, which I assume you're going to take as 'corrupted', but that it haven't been influenced. Demons and other creatures leave a trace in the people they touch and while it's true that Jezebel's body have been changed, her mind still remain hers. The way they're able to make the distinction between her body and mind is that the kami, eh... as in the essence of her mind remains untouched while the essence of her body have been altered. Think of it as a scar that can't be fully healed. It leaves an ugly mark on the body but it doesn't actually change who you are." Cessie pauses for a moment as she seem to consider something.

"A opened mind is actually quite common among non-humans in my homeworld. Many races there are more attuned to the spirits around them and can communicate with them almost as if they were talking to another person. A bit like how you are more attuned to animals and can communicate with them easier. However, this is a double edged sword as while you easier can spot spirits they can also influence you in turn. This does mean that Jezebel is in more danger of being influenced but that so far it hasn't happened." She gestures at Ilpholin. "What I had hoped was that you might have been able to help me stop that somehow. Instead of killing Jezebel I want to save her from actually becoming what you think she are right now. If I can use the scar anologue again, it's like a opened wound that could become infected if she isn't careful and I want to stop that from happening."

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

The feeling is only fleeting. Cessie won't feel that it fades, but instead vanishes like it was never even there. Nothing but a memory.

"She went... inside." Sakura frowns. The next time Cessie blinks she'll find Sakura just as she was a moment earlier. More regularly proportioned, if still pregnant, and mercifully clothed. Above them cherry blossoms start to rain down, filling the air with pink petals. The canopy fades away gradually, and then the mighty trunk behind her. Soon enough the clearing will return to the state it was in when Cessie first arrived.

"She's not gone. I can feel her everywhere. But..." Sakura shrugs helplessly. "Maybe I can show..." There's much more uncertainty about her now.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sweet Dreams]

"Show? You're hesitating. Is the spirit dangerous somehow?" Cessie inquires with concern in her voice. "I had no idea it was still inside of you, that sounds like quite a concern." Or maybe the spirit was actually keeping this aspect of Sakura in check? She would need to investigate further.

[Reinholdt]

[The Mithar Keep]

"Your answers certainly aren't redundant," Ilpholin sharply points out. "So excuse me for being concerned for a friend going through what I've already lived through. I don't want you ending up like-" Ilpholin cuts herself off and carries on. "Besides, you're the one drawing conclusions. I've been wary of Jezebel for a long time now for several reasons, not just your phone pic. The first time I met her cult, those Masks of hers, one of them went mad. Lost their mind right in the street and physically transformed into a tentacled monstrosity of chaos. The others weren't even that surprised. Like they all knew it could happen at any moment and were just waiting for whoever was next." That left a real impression.

"So fine. She's half a step away from that and you're right to be concerned. And you don't currently have a plan. Fine." Ilpholin paces, frustrated at Cessie's tone since the nymph's already conceding ground and the only one doing so. "The best option would obviously be to rip her apart from whatever she merged with, but that might only be a temporary solution to a larger problem. We need to make her less attuned... like I am now, actually. It wouldn't hurt to consider a visit to Tauron." That would be ideal actually.

"Another option is a common slave trick we were warned about growing up. If someone is under contract or service of someone else, any further contracts they sign are null and void. Deceptions. Often punished by death, sure, but deceptions all the same. So it isn't a matter of waiting for the other shoe to drop trying to stop all influences on Jezebel. It's a matter of finding a benevolent, non-demon influence to lay claim on her first and utilizing that to ward off all others."

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

"No, I just can't explain..." Sakura stands up from her seat. She frowns deeply. "I'll show you." She holds out her hand for Cessie to take.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Mithar Keep]

Ilpholin's garden story causes a raised eyebrow. That did sound concerning.
"I... I've heard of wizards using that last trick you suggested. Once they open their minds up to the other world, they bind themselves to an entity that they know is benevolent." Cessie nods thoughfully. "It could definitely work. The question is what entity that could act as such a liason and how I'd convince her to do it. The obvious answer would be my own god, but Artaris don't perform such ties to others. But there are probably any other number of entities that could work within the nexus." The sorceress looks to Ilpholin. "Do you have any suggestions?"

[Sweet Dreams]

Well, this is what she was here for. Cessie will take Sakura's hand without hesitation. She had to find out.

[Reinholdt]

[The Mithar Keep]

"Me? You're talking way outside my expertise here. I mean, I know an Oni that's possible, but they're so very neutral in these matters." Ilpholin shakes her head.

"I know of a snake God who is great enemies with the demons and has been historically for many years. His temples are almost abandoned, the one I saw anyways, so I'm guessing he's been losing the fight for a while. I don't know anything else about him though." Could be evil on his days off.

"The only other one I could think of would be Eilistraee. Pretty sure my father has been worshipping her for a long while. It's an insult to Lolth is what it is." Ilpholin scowls and folds her arms over her belly. "But Lolth is misguided at the moment, so I couldn't recommend her. Eilistraee's the one you'd want."

[Shadowcaller]

[The Mithar Keep]

Cessie blinks. That first one, oni?!
No, Ilpholin couldn't mean what she was thinking of. They weren't gods, and least of all neutral. They were just pure monsters. She had to be talking about something else. Besides, how in the world would Ilpholin even know about them? Even in her world few even knew the name and even fewer truly understood what they were.

It was ridicolous, and she wasn't even familiar with the other examples she was given. Though she believe she read a report by Wenomir mentioning Anika's sister worshipping some kind of unnamed serpent diety. Was Ilpholin talking about the same one?
"I would need to research each one and probably go to an expert on the matter. Jezebel is not especially trusting of dieties considering how awful they are in her homeworld. But if I find one good enough I think she'll accept." Or at least she hoped she would. "There are many dieties in the nexus so it shouldn't be much of a problem." She nods to Ilpholin. "But I'll be sure to check out the one you recommended first of course."

[Gullara]

[Sweet Dreams]

Sakura takes her hand and suddenly they're away from the clearing. Sakura hasn't changed in appearance this time, however. Instead they're on the edge of an entirely different clearing. What's notable is that much of it is dominated by a large pond. The pond has a mirror reflection on its surface. From here she can see the trees on the edge of the clearing reflected in it. They're just the same as she's seen anywhere else in this place. Oddly past them she also sees a night sky full of stars reflected, while over their heads is the same sunny, cheery day it's been the whole time.

"She went into there." Sakura gestures at the pond. They're still a ways back from it yet.