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The Mother of Dreams - Episode 5 (updated February 1st, 2005)
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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 1978125" data-attributes="member: 63"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Episode Five: The Bigger Man, Part I, Section I</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Sails cracked in the crisp breeze, sweeping their ship along Seaquen’s Grand Canal. The others were crowded along the railing, watching with awe as the twin shores glided past, arrayed with the grandest city in the world.</p><p></p><p>But Lacy stood apart from them, as always watching, smiling faintly. </p><p></p><p>They passed beneath the first of the seven arching bridges that spanned Seaquen’s mile-wide canal, and a shadow fell upon them, blocking the intense heat of a Seaquen summer. They had sailed three thousand miles from Tennas to Seaquen, and the journey had not been joyous.</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni, the dark-skinned Elf girl who, when they first had met her, had been constantly happy and excited to see the surface world, now held a long robe tight around herself, sheltering from an inner cold. She mostly only talked to Babb now, not understanding that all of them had been betrayed by Seekan. The young woman had lost more than the rest of them, though – Seekan had stolen a dream of her father, and all their efforts to help her remember a man none of them had met had failed.</p><p></p><p>Babb stood protectively near Tri’ni. His concern was simple and unwavering, the way he used to care for Lacy. The trip, three different ships and a dozen ports, had been lonely for Lacy, and she longed now for the brotherly care Babb used to keep for her.</p><p></p><p>David she worried for, though she wondered if any of the others were aware of his troubles. His pride at their victory in recovering the soul gem for Seekan had been sabotaged, and she could practically feel in his every look that he was coming to hate the life of an ‘adventurer.’</p><p></p><p>Allar glanced at her, and smiled.</p><p></p><p>“Why are you hanging back?” he asked, walking over to her. “I know you’ve been to Seaquen before, but is it possible that someone wouldn’t be impressed by this place?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy smiled. She always smiled when Allar talked to her.</p><p></p><p>“I was just trying to stay in the shade of the sails,” she lied. “We should be docking soon. What do we do then?”</p><p></p><p>Allar shrugged. “Well, we’re still planning to stay together until Elstrice, so we should find a ship headed that way. Here, talk with me over here.”</p><p></p><p>Allar headed for the opposite side of the ship, and Lacy followed, eager to hear what the beautiful half-Elf man wanted to tell her in private.</p><p></p><p>“We need to do something about the dark Elf,” he said quietly, slumping his arms on the railing.</p><p></p><p>“Tri’ni,” Lacy said, frustrated.</p><p></p><p>Allar nodded.</p><p></p><p>Lacy sighed and cast aside her previous eagerness. “We can’t track down Seekan, even if he’s still alive. We barely have enough money left to afford passage for five to Elstrice. I mean, I want to help her, but . . . she stays up as late as she can every night, until she’s too exhausted to cry herself to sleep. I don’t know what to do.”</p><p></p><p>Allar grimaced, pained. “I didn’t know about that. I’m sorry. But, David has an idea, and I wanted to get everyone’s approval before we do this.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy waited, curious.</p><p></p><p>“Alright,” Allar sighed. “Obviously being stuck on a ship with all of us isn’t helping. She needs something to take her mind off what she’s lost. David was thinking, and I agree, that it would really help her if she could have some actual magical training. As far as I know, it’s the only thing she was really interested in.”</p><p></p><p>“You want to leave her here?” Lacy shook her head. “We can’t abandon her.”</p><p></p><p>Allar put up a hand. “We won’t. We won’t. But, well, I don’t really see our group staying together after we get back to Elstrice anyway. David wants to go home, and he won’t go without me. Even if Harlan did hire us again, we can’t bring her along. She’d just get hurt. </p><p></p><p>“Dammit,” he cursed at himself. “I was irresponsible to bring her along.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy almost put a hand on Allar’s shoulder to comfort him, then stopped. If she touched him, his half-Elvish aura would interfere with her magic, stinging painfully the next time she tried to cast a spell.</p><p></p><p>“You’re wrong,” she said instead. “It was one of the noblest things we’ve done. I mean, compared to looting tombs and killing monsters that weren’t threatening anyone anyway, really what’s more important? We saved her life, and we have been her friends when she had no one else. We just have to stay her friends now, and not try to foist her off on someone else.”</p><p></p><p>Allar looked down. “Damn. And I thought Babb was going to be the hardest one to convince.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy laughed weakly. “He puts on a show that he’s being strong, but he’d probably appreciate it if someone else could handle his ‘problem.’”</p><p></p><p>“Well, then, Lacy, I still think this is something we should try. Maybe just telling her we’re going to teach her magic will help her.”</p><p></p><p>“There’s another problem,” Lacy said. “Who’s going to pay for her teacher?”</p><p></p><p>Allar shrugged, then winked. “We’ll work it out. And don’t worry. If she wants to stay with us, she can.”</p><p></p><p>Allar started to turn away, but Lacy reached out and nervously touched his arm.</p><p></p><p>“Wait, Allar. Is that all?”</p><p></p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy started to say something, then she hesitated. “Will you do me a favor? Um . . . call her Tri’ni, not ‘the dark Elf,’ alright?”</p><p></p><p>Allar did not speak for a moment, surprised. “I thought I did. Hunh. Well, I’ll pay closer attention to it in the future. Anything else?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy smiled weakly, shaking her head.</p><p></p><p>“Get your stuff, then,” Allar said. “We’re docking soon.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy nodded and started to look away, when from the other side of the ship David called out, “Look. That’s the Wayfarer’s Theater.”</p><p></p><p>They all turned to see a gorgeous five-masted ship docked at one of the massive stone legs supporting Seaquen’s Bridge of Bards. The side of the ship was painted gold and red in beautiful swirling patterns, and banners streamed from the tops of its masts where sails would normally hang. The ship was low in the water, meaning a performance was going on, and the ship’s massive hold was packed with an audience.</p><p></p><p>Intrigued, Lacy came over to the rest of the group.</p><p></p><p>“What is it?” Tri’ni was asking with only mild interest. She wasn’t wearing her necklace, but for the past two months she had had little to do other than study. Lacy was glad of that, at least, if they did have to leave her behind.</p><p></p><p>“The Wayfarers are a group of traveling, performing mages,” David explained. “They know all kinds of secret magic involving movement. Their ship there: it can teleport.”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni cocked her head to the side. “What is that?”</p><p></p><p>“They can move from one place to another,” David said, “in an instant, without having to actually travel. I never managed to see any of their performances when they were in Elstrice or Nozama.”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni was tying her necklace back on, looking confused.</p><p></p><p>Babb leaned over David. “So we could have saved two months on boats if you knew how to teleport? Dammit, gnome, pull your weight around here.”</p><p></p><p>David smirked to Babb. “I intend to. I’m going to visit them and see if I can join. Tri’ni, do you want to come along?”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni, just having finished tying on the necklace, looked up in shock. “What? What for?”</p><p></p><p>“Two reasons.” David held up two fingers with a grin. “First, you’re the first dark Elf to come to this city in years, probably, so they’ll want to talk to you even if they don’t want to talk to me. And second, if you’re going to learn magic, we need to show you a lot of different types, so you find the sort you like best.”</p><p></p><p>“You’re joking,” Tri’ni said, “aren’t you?”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah,” Babb said with a glower. “You <em>are</em> joking, right?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy stepped up then, and said, “I think it’s an excellent idea. We’ll be here for at least a few days. You can see the Wayfarers with David and Babb. I’ll show you to a school for priestesses at a Vanessi temple on the southern shore, and I know a few taskmages who have their own specialties.”</p><p></p><p>Babb shook his head. “Wait, you’re <em>joking</em>, right?”</p><p></p><p>Allar shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Why not?”</p><p></p><p>“Hey,” Babb said, “it’d be fun and <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />, but we’re nearly broke. Who will be paying to teach her, and how long do we plan to be here?”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni’s gaze shifted from them to a nearby ship. “What about him? He’s an Elf.”</p><p></p><p>They looked, and Lacy spotted who Tri’ni was looking at. The ship was trying to sail free from the dock, but anyone with even mild sailing experience could see that it was aligned against the prevailing wind, so it could not get out to the deep canal without a tug. But its sails were turned around, and the wind seemed to be blowing in the opposite direction across the ship, driving it to deeper water.</p><p></p><p>High above the deck a man floated in the air, winds whipping his long white robes about him. His white hair was thin, and when she squinted Lacy thought she could see his pointed ears. He must have been ancient for Elf, and a memory in Lacy’s mind came to the surface.</p><p></p><p>“Is that Salsiere?” she whispered.</p><p></p><p>“Who?” asked several voices.</p><p></p><p>“I think that’s Tierodunne Salsiere. He’s head of the Elemental Guardians, and an air elementalist, obviously.”</p><p></p><p>David said, “Now I remember. He teaches at the Lyceum in Nozama sometimes. Isn’t he something like eight-hundred years old?”</p><p></p><p>“Nine,” Lacy said.</p><p></p><p>“Slow down,” Tri’ni said. “What are the Elemental Guardians?”</p><p></p><p>David rubbed his hands together and smiled. “We’ll explain . . . when we go visit them.”</p><p></p><p>“David,” Allar said nervously, “I’m not sure an Elf that old would really be interested in teaching a dark-. Um, teaching Tri’ni.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy smiled and laughed softly.</p><p></p><p>Still staring at the flying mage, Tri’ni sighed. “I suppose it would be interesting.”</p><p></p><p>“You’ll love it,” David said, a little too eagerly. “Any free time we have, we’ll be seeing the city. I’m sure there are dozens of mages you could talk to. But we should start with the Wayfarers, I think.”</p><p></p><p>“I wish I could be so eager,” Lacy said. “I like the Wayfarers, and their shows are very nice, but it’s not like they would want me to join them.”</p><p></p><p>“You kidding?” Allar laughed. “You’re gorgeous, and you have more practical experience with magic than any of them, I’m sure. In fact, I think we should go.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy stammered, “What? You want to take me to . . . to a show?”</p><p></p><p>Allar grinned, ignoring the sudden glare from Babb. Lacy saw Babb’s look as well, and smiled inwardly.</p><p></p><p>“You said you like their shows,” Allar said. “If I have to sell my armor to afford it, we can go while we’re here. Well, as long as they don’t teleport away, first.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy laughed, beaming. “I’d . . . I’d love to.”</p><p></p><p>Babb leaned forward and slapped Allar and Lacy on their backs. “Yeah, should be fun. I think Trin would get a kick out of it. Well, I gotta get my stuff. We’re about to dock.”</p><p></p><p>Babb cast Allar a smug scowl as he walked away, and Allar hesitantly nodded to Lacy. She smiled back to him. Allar stepped back awkwardly, hesitant to look away from Lacy, finally bumping into Tri’ni. He apologized, then headed below deck.</p><p></p><p>David cast one final eager look to the Wayfarer’s Theater, then also headed below deck, leaving Lacy and Tri’ni together.</p><p></p><p>“He likes you,” Tri’ni said, smiling, a hint of pain still in her expression.</p><p></p><p>“I hope so,” Lacy replied. Then she sighed. “Are you going to be alright? You . . . we’re worried about you. We want you to be like you were before. We were hoping you’d . . . we hoped you’d cheer up if you could learn magic. I’m ready to teach, though it’d be better if we could find an Elvish or Jispin tutor.”</p><p></p><p>“Thank you.” Tri’ni looked down. After a moment, she looked back up and asked, “Are the . . . Wayfarers? Are they entertaining?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy smiled widely. “You’ll love them. That air mage, Salsiere, he flies with magic, but the Wayfarers, they move like they can fly on their own.”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni smiled. “What do they speak here?”</p><p></p><p>“Oh.” Lacy chuckled. “You’re right. Most people speak some Lyceian, but the main language is Cavalesh. I can adjust your necklace so you can understand that too. Maybe you can learn the language once you’ve gotten better at Lyceian.”</p><p></p><p>“I’ll learn whatever you can teach me,” Tri’ni said. “Even if you can’t find me a teacher for magic, I’d love to learn from you and David. Better with friends than masters, they say.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy felt her voice catch in her throat for a moment, but then she nodded. “Yes. Yes. But . . . we should get our things. There’s a lot of city for you to see.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 1978125, member: 63"] [size=3][b]Episode Five: The Bigger Man, Part I, Section I[/b][/size] Sails cracked in the crisp breeze, sweeping their ship along Seaquen’s Grand Canal. The others were crowded along the railing, watching with awe as the twin shores glided past, arrayed with the grandest city in the world. But Lacy stood apart from them, as always watching, smiling faintly. They passed beneath the first of the seven arching bridges that spanned Seaquen’s mile-wide canal, and a shadow fell upon them, blocking the intense heat of a Seaquen summer. They had sailed three thousand miles from Tennas to Seaquen, and the journey had not been joyous. Tri’ni, the dark-skinned Elf girl who, when they first had met her, had been constantly happy and excited to see the surface world, now held a long robe tight around herself, sheltering from an inner cold. She mostly only talked to Babb now, not understanding that all of them had been betrayed by Seekan. The young woman had lost more than the rest of them, though – Seekan had stolen a dream of her father, and all their efforts to help her remember a man none of them had met had failed. Babb stood protectively near Tri’ni. His concern was simple and unwavering, the way he used to care for Lacy. The trip, three different ships and a dozen ports, had been lonely for Lacy, and she longed now for the brotherly care Babb used to keep for her. David she worried for, though she wondered if any of the others were aware of his troubles. His pride at their victory in recovering the soul gem for Seekan had been sabotaged, and she could practically feel in his every look that he was coming to hate the life of an ‘adventurer.’ Allar glanced at her, and smiled. “Why are you hanging back?” he asked, walking over to her. “I know you’ve been to Seaquen before, but is it possible that someone wouldn’t be impressed by this place?” Lacy smiled. She always smiled when Allar talked to her. “I was just trying to stay in the shade of the sails,” she lied. “We should be docking soon. What do we do then?” Allar shrugged. “Well, we’re still planning to stay together until Elstrice, so we should find a ship headed that way. Here, talk with me over here.” Allar headed for the opposite side of the ship, and Lacy followed, eager to hear what the beautiful half-Elf man wanted to tell her in private. “We need to do something about the dark Elf,” he said quietly, slumping his arms on the railing. “Tri’ni,” Lacy said, frustrated. Allar nodded. Lacy sighed and cast aside her previous eagerness. “We can’t track down Seekan, even if he’s still alive. We barely have enough money left to afford passage for five to Elstrice. I mean, I want to help her, but . . . she stays up as late as she can every night, until she’s too exhausted to cry herself to sleep. I don’t know what to do.” Allar grimaced, pained. “I didn’t know about that. I’m sorry. But, David has an idea, and I wanted to get everyone’s approval before we do this.” Lacy waited, curious. “Alright,” Allar sighed. “Obviously being stuck on a ship with all of us isn’t helping. She needs something to take her mind off what she’s lost. David was thinking, and I agree, that it would really help her if she could have some actual magical training. As far as I know, it’s the only thing she was really interested in.” “You want to leave her here?” Lacy shook her head. “We can’t abandon her.” Allar put up a hand. “We won’t. We won’t. But, well, I don’t really see our group staying together after we get back to Elstrice anyway. David wants to go home, and he won’t go without me. Even if Harlan did hire us again, we can’t bring her along. She’d just get hurt. “Dammit,” he cursed at himself. “I was irresponsible to bring her along.” Lacy almost put a hand on Allar’s shoulder to comfort him, then stopped. If she touched him, his half-Elvish aura would interfere with her magic, stinging painfully the next time she tried to cast a spell. “You’re wrong,” she said instead. “It was one of the noblest things we’ve done. I mean, compared to looting tombs and killing monsters that weren’t threatening anyone anyway, really what’s more important? We saved her life, and we have been her friends when she had no one else. We just have to stay her friends now, and not try to foist her off on someone else.” Allar looked down. “Damn. And I thought Babb was going to be the hardest one to convince.” Lacy laughed weakly. “He puts on a show that he’s being strong, but he’d probably appreciate it if someone else could handle his ‘problem.’” “Well, then, Lacy, I still think this is something we should try. Maybe just telling her we’re going to teach her magic will help her.” “There’s another problem,” Lacy said. “Who’s going to pay for her teacher?” Allar shrugged, then winked. “We’ll work it out. And don’t worry. If she wants to stay with us, she can.” Allar started to turn away, but Lacy reached out and nervously touched his arm. “Wait, Allar. Is that all?” “What do you mean?” Lacy started to say something, then she hesitated. “Will you do me a favor? Um . . . call her Tri’ni, not ‘the dark Elf,’ alright?” Allar did not speak for a moment, surprised. “I thought I did. Hunh. Well, I’ll pay closer attention to it in the future. Anything else?” Lacy smiled weakly, shaking her head. “Get your stuff, then,” Allar said. “We’re docking soon.” Lacy nodded and started to look away, when from the other side of the ship David called out, “Look. That’s the Wayfarer’s Theater.” They all turned to see a gorgeous five-masted ship docked at one of the massive stone legs supporting Seaquen’s Bridge of Bards. The side of the ship was painted gold and red in beautiful swirling patterns, and banners streamed from the tops of its masts where sails would normally hang. The ship was low in the water, meaning a performance was going on, and the ship’s massive hold was packed with an audience. Intrigued, Lacy came over to the rest of the group. “What is it?” Tri’ni was asking with only mild interest. She wasn’t wearing her necklace, but for the past two months she had had little to do other than study. Lacy was glad of that, at least, if they did have to leave her behind. “The Wayfarers are a group of traveling, performing mages,” David explained. “They know all kinds of secret magic involving movement. Their ship there: it can teleport.” Tri’ni cocked her head to the side. “What is that?” “They can move from one place to another,” David said, “in an instant, without having to actually travel. I never managed to see any of their performances when they were in Elstrice or Nozama.” Tri’ni was tying her necklace back on, looking confused. Babb leaned over David. “So we could have saved two months on boats if you knew how to teleport? Dammit, gnome, pull your weight around here.” David smirked to Babb. “I intend to. I’m going to visit them and see if I can join. Tri’ni, do you want to come along?” Tri’ni, just having finished tying on the necklace, looked up in shock. “What? What for?” “Two reasons.” David held up two fingers with a grin. “First, you’re the first dark Elf to come to this city in years, probably, so they’ll want to talk to you even if they don’t want to talk to me. And second, if you’re going to learn magic, we need to show you a lot of different types, so you find the sort you like best.” “You’re joking,” Tri’ni said, “aren’t you?” “Yeah,” Babb said with a glower. “You [i]are[/i] joking, right?” Lacy stepped up then, and said, “I think it’s an excellent idea. We’ll be here for at least a few days. You can see the Wayfarers with David and Babb. I’ll show you to a school for priestesses at a Vanessi temple on the southern shore, and I know a few taskmages who have their own specialties.” Babb shook his head. “Wait, you’re [i]joking[/i], right?” Allar shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Why not?” “Hey,” Babb said, “it’d be fun and :):):):), but we’re nearly broke. Who will be paying to teach her, and how long do we plan to be here?” Tri’ni’s gaze shifted from them to a nearby ship. “What about him? He’s an Elf.” They looked, and Lacy spotted who Tri’ni was looking at. The ship was trying to sail free from the dock, but anyone with even mild sailing experience could see that it was aligned against the prevailing wind, so it could not get out to the deep canal without a tug. But its sails were turned around, and the wind seemed to be blowing in the opposite direction across the ship, driving it to deeper water. High above the deck a man floated in the air, winds whipping his long white robes about him. His white hair was thin, and when she squinted Lacy thought she could see his pointed ears. He must have been ancient for Elf, and a memory in Lacy’s mind came to the surface. “Is that Salsiere?” she whispered. “Who?” asked several voices. “I think that’s Tierodunne Salsiere. He’s head of the Elemental Guardians, and an air elementalist, obviously.” David said, “Now I remember. He teaches at the Lyceum in Nozama sometimes. Isn’t he something like eight-hundred years old?” “Nine,” Lacy said. “Slow down,” Tri’ni said. “What are the Elemental Guardians?” David rubbed his hands together and smiled. “We’ll explain . . . when we go visit them.” “David,” Allar said nervously, “I’m not sure an Elf that old would really be interested in teaching a dark-. Um, teaching Tri’ni.” Lacy smiled and laughed softly. Still staring at the flying mage, Tri’ni sighed. “I suppose it would be interesting.” “You’ll love it,” David said, a little too eagerly. “Any free time we have, we’ll be seeing the city. I’m sure there are dozens of mages you could talk to. But we should start with the Wayfarers, I think.” “I wish I could be so eager,” Lacy said. “I like the Wayfarers, and their shows are very nice, but it’s not like they would want me to join them.” “You kidding?” Allar laughed. “You’re gorgeous, and you have more practical experience with magic than any of them, I’m sure. In fact, I think we should go.” Lacy stammered, “What? You want to take me to . . . to a show?” Allar grinned, ignoring the sudden glare from Babb. Lacy saw Babb’s look as well, and smiled inwardly. “You said you like their shows,” Allar said. “If I have to sell my armor to afford it, we can go while we’re here. Well, as long as they don’t teleport away, first.” Lacy laughed, beaming. “I’d . . . I’d love to.” Babb leaned forward and slapped Allar and Lacy on their backs. “Yeah, should be fun. I think Trin would get a kick out of it. Well, I gotta get my stuff. We’re about to dock.” Babb cast Allar a smug scowl as he walked away, and Allar hesitantly nodded to Lacy. She smiled back to him. Allar stepped back awkwardly, hesitant to look away from Lacy, finally bumping into Tri’ni. He apologized, then headed below deck. David cast one final eager look to the Wayfarer’s Theater, then also headed below deck, leaving Lacy and Tri’ni together. “He likes you,” Tri’ni said, smiling, a hint of pain still in her expression. “I hope so,” Lacy replied. Then she sighed. “Are you going to be alright? You . . . we’re worried about you. We want you to be like you were before. We were hoping you’d . . . we hoped you’d cheer up if you could learn magic. I’m ready to teach, though it’d be better if we could find an Elvish or Jispin tutor.” “Thank you.” Tri’ni looked down. After a moment, she looked back up and asked, “Are the . . . Wayfarers? Are they entertaining?” Lacy smiled widely. “You’ll love them. That air mage, Salsiere, he flies with magic, but the Wayfarers, they move like they can fly on their own.” Tri’ni smiled. “What do they speak here?” “Oh.” Lacy chuckled. “You’re right. Most people speak some Lyceian, but the main language is Cavalesh. I can adjust your necklace so you can understand that too. Maybe you can learn the language once you’ve gotten better at Lyceian.” “I’ll learn whatever you can teach me,” Tri’ni said. “Even if you can’t find me a teacher for magic, I’d love to learn from you and David. Better with friends than masters, they say.” Lacy felt her voice catch in her throat for a moment, but then she nodded. “Yes. Yes. But . . . we should get our things. There’s a lot of city for you to see.” [/QUOTE]
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The Mother of Dreams - Episode 5 (updated February 1st, 2005)
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