L'Aurel looks at Link, "Did... did Michael make it here? Is he happy?"
Link: “I have not searched him out, L'Aurel...but unless he was a bad man, indeed, I am sure his soul rests out there, in the Kingdom of Light. He is surely at peace...it is only those of us who refuse to let go, those of us inextricably tied to the worlds below that can remain as I am...I pray that he has found more peace than I."
L’Aurel: "I have been praying that since he first left me... Just as with them all… you… you can not leave? You can not go beyond?”
Link: “I can. I have chosen not to take the final step into the life, beyond...many of us have tried to remain behind. We watched Aregonn, of course, but we also watched for Mordred. It would seem that we did not watch either close enough.”
L’Aurel: “We… you mean you and the other heroes? The Amastatian, The Apecto, and Corrion…” Getting a puzzled look on her face, “Oberon’s daughter, the priest and the builder…”
Link: "I suppose they could be called that. We wait...we watch. And we help, where we can. But from here, our help is meager, indeed. They have watched as Mordred twisted entire races into his vassals. Now, together, we have watched as Aregonn stirs in his northern prison once more. I cannot say what Tain intended when he sent so many men into the Northlands...but if you cannot defeat him, it may be that his own men will...if they can still be called men when they return."
L’Aurel: Closing her eyes and sighing, “So we are truly against both great powers. I had hoped… no just more naivety, I see now.” Looking where, I think, some from the battle are still filtering in, “We had so few to begin with. How can we hope to defeat them both?”
Link: This time, Link sighs. "I am not sure that you can hope to defeat them both...although Aregonn's intentions are not clear. The army that gathers is led by a southlander...a living southlander at that. He has not been fully tainted...and his destiny is strangely tangled..." he says, waving toward the old women with the loom. "His fate is tied to the young man's below...Archonus Arendorr."
L’Aurel: At the name her head snaps up, “What do you mean… Archonus? He has the blood of the Bluestar- of Aregonn, and he is even mark for it… but Arhconus would have nothing to do with them!” Then a light suddenly dims in her eyes as her mind remembers, “The figure on the docks… but…” Legs looking shaky, as she looks at the fates trying to will understanding just by seeing the many strands and the calm practiced way they snip and tie strands.
Link: "Somehow, it would seem your friend has created a double. It is no illusion, either. Their fates are tied...a single strand running through the fabric of time."
L’Aurel: Still seeming lost and dazed, “Why would he… how?” Almost visibly pushing other thoughts away, “And this other Ar- Archonus he… he is leading them? The bluestar’s- Aregonn’s forces?”
Link: Gravely, he says, "So it would seem. Thank the Light Aregonn remains trapped, above."
L’Aurel: “Unless Xath’s fears are true, and one of the blades are in the wall, holding the wall, but even Tain would see the advantages to keeping him trapped- contained.”
Link: "Exactly. Whatever happened above the wall could not have been as Tain intended. Thankfully, he is far from infallible."
L’Aurel: “Why couldn’t he just ki- no, there is always hope he could turn back to the light. I just feel like we are chasing after him, playing catch-up but never getting closer. We have studied everything we can… but it seems the fog just continues into more questions. And now… now I see another we may be fighting, another friend against us in the path that has been set.” Pausing, "Tain sent his forces, the falcon forces to fight Aregonn. They don't even realize they have been tricked." Looking bag to the fates, “When Xath died… in Oceanus… she told me she was given a choice, and when she chose to leave she was forbidden from returning… Did I make a choice somehow? Will I now be barred?”
Link laughs. “I think Oberon put it best--you only get one second chance at Life. If you fall again, it shall be for the last time. Most, when presented with that fact, simply choose to remain here, or pass beyond the gates to the Kingdom of Light, beyond. Should you return to life, and die, you will pass beyond. The fates are not so easily convinced, a second time.”
L’Aurel: Trying to return the smile, “No, I wouldn’t want to ever do this again… My heart still tells me I have to go back or at least give them the time to try. Even if this was my only chance at the light, I would have to go back I think… by the light, I just hope it is the right choice.” Looking at and Link and suddenly hugging him again, “Thank you. Thank you for everything you did on purpose and all you didn’t even know you did. I can never thank you enough. I am glad it was you here to greet me.”
Link: Hesitantly, he returns the hug. “It was...the least I could do?”
L’Aurel: “Sorry… I don’t feel much like my-” Stopping mid-sentence, and changing the subject by looking back to the fates, “Can I talk to them?”
Link:"Truly, they don't even listen to me. They listen only to the Light, and to his messengers. Like him." He points, and out of the fog behind them steps an enormous bearded green man. Wisdom and strength seem to flow through his every action, and a crown of golden laurel leaves sits atop his head. Oberon
L’aurel: She looks at Link confused, then to the new man, “Oberon?” Seeing Link’s obvious ease she smiles, “Yes.” Then more confidently, “Yes, you are Oberon. Lord of the Forests.” She suddenly drops to one knee flowing quickly into the stance she had when swearing fealty to Jaine, “My lord.” Waiting as she has recently been taught of the courtly ways.
Oberon: The giant king looks up from the loom, uncrossing his massive arms and slowly taking in the scene before him. As he sees the young mid-elf prostrated before him, a suddenly man-sized hand reaches down, tapping you on the well-muscled shoulder. His glance darts over his shoulder to the loom, but then he turns his ancient gaze fully upon you. "Please. Stand up.” Unsure L’Aurel looks to Link but quickly rises to stand before the green giant. As Oberon’s voice continues, ”There is no one here who deserves that kind of formality--certainly not I. Though I have been a king, in this place, I am no more than a messenger for my Master. And it is for Him that you have been given this chance...but as I am sure my friend has told you, it is not a decision to be made, lightly. A return to flesh and blood does not always end as we hope. In the end, the price for his return to life was his wife's own breath...and the knowledge of his second child," he finishes, nodding at Link's still, lithe form across the imagined landscape. "Though I know not what price you would have to pay, I do know that for every gift of the Light, Darkness exacts its fee. And with a gift of this magnitude, the price will be dire, indeed."
L’aurel: After he is done, "I meant no slight, for I would give my respect to you as Oberon lord or messenger, and without bow to hand you it is the only way I know." She looks away from the giant figure to the form of her ancestor though still addressing Oberon, “Without his return I would not be here now. Without him, we may not have had the chance to fight the darkness that is sweeping over them all.” Her green eyes flash with determination, “Let evil throw whatever vileness it wants at me it will just strengthen my resolve to obliterate it!”
Oberon: He laughs, a sound filled with a kind of jolly mirth. "You are brave, L'Aurel, dear. Brave, indeed. But be careful what you wish for...there are other powers than the Light in this world, and Darkness often has to do little more than make true what the unwise have requested...evil is often obvious. But it is not always so.”
Looking to the circles of images moving and talking near her, L’Aurel glances through the ones showing the circle, “Wishes… I have wishes for them all… but I have seen the trouble of wishes… I have no wish for pain, but I must be ready for it. I must also admit now that what happens was my choice. If darkness comes from this I have only myself to blame for it. I must accept any consequences be they good or ill. I…” her voice falters, “I can not let them go alone… I would sacrifice anything to see them safe. I will do- I will pay anything for that, but here” waving her hands slightly, “here I can do nothing. Some part of me tells me there is hope, there is always a way the light will triumph. I do not wish for suffering or pain, but I must be ready for it.” "
