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"The borders are that way, at least the ones leading to the Great Betrayer. Be aware that the forest will be watching you the entire way to ensure that you won't commit any foul play that their forces are well known for!" The elder commented, her own paranoia being stoked by how smart Deva turned out to be, and with how much she had managed to fool some of their scouts, she no longer had any faith that Deva meant them no harm. "Hmph... Fair enough. The fact that you do not mind our thoughts on you shows something... But at the very same time it could just be a clever ruse meant to fool us. Were this not the current situation that we found ourselves in, we'd have merely taken you to the Queen to assess the validity of your claims." She had already figured that others would not appreciate arrows being pointed at them. "Well we had simply assumed that the trying times would discourage anyone for coming near our borders, much less appearing within a secure area seemingly out of nowhere."

"We did not ask for war, we did not seek it out nor did we invite it in any way. We secured an alliance in a time of peace, and were stabbed in the back by those we had hoped to trust. Now we use bows and swords because that was one of the arenas of war that our enemies have chosen." The elder had no love for war, and had preferred that such conflict could be avoided, especially considering how long elven lives could last, meaning that younger elves being killed was a tragedy as it meant potential centuries of life were ruined. Though when Deva presented the millions versus hundreds scenario, the elder would pause and think for a few moments. "While I would greatly regret the decision to do so, I'd sacrifice the few to save the many, even if I was personally close to those few. I must make the decisions that are best for my people, and sometimes that means making decisions that are undesirable or even cruel seeming. But sometimes we must do things that we won't be proud of." She explained, able to talk about such matters even when she was very upset with the outsider that stood before her and told her what she was supposedly doing wrong.

"If you wish to fight the Great Betrayer, then I wish you luck regardless of my personal feelings towards you. Though I doubt that you'd be able to convince Her Majesty not to return to her people... War changes many things, but it is either a change for the worse or a surrender to a far greater evil. I for one refuse to bend my knee to a tyrant that wishes nothing but to conquer the entire land. Not without a fight at the very least. I will simply tell the other elders that a single Outsider thinks that our rule is incorrect... I'm sure that will convince them to do things differently..." With that, she would turn her back to Deva, figuring that the angel had all the information that she would need, and not wanting to waste her time any further with one that she considered to be far too arrogant to stand before the elves. The other elves would start to head out as well, all of them seeming to keep an eye on Deva as they retreated into the forest, back to their duties, yet still not trusting Deva to not harm them as they attempted to retreat.

Once they started walking, and were out of earshot of the elves they had just been speaking to, Isa would sigh a bit and shrug. "As unfortunate as it is, it needs to be remembered that not all chaos is 'bad' in the sense of Her power. If the elves were meant to fall into a political struggle, then She would be getting no energy from it. Terrible as it is to see people fall into these kinds of troubles, sometimes it is merely part of the story. Besides, from the sounds of it, one of her agents got to this 'Great Betrayer' and is using them to break things down. Or they're already an agent of Her. Either way, if we stop them, the story will slowly start to balance itself out to where it is meant to be. Stories tend to try to keep themselves to a set path, and only frequent and deliberate alterations can break it completely. Usually the stories just seem to... alter minor things here and there to guide everything back to the path that was intended, allowing for slight deviations so long as things don't continue to escalate."

Eventually they'd reach the edge of the forest, passing by a larger group of elven soldiers that seemed to be holding the line, and currently there'd be no conflict on the border, just the signs of a large battle earlier. Strangely enough, there'd be no bodies strewn about as one might expect, just broken structures and maybe some armor fallen here and there. "Battlefields are rarely left without fallen soldiers... though considering Her methods I guess it's not really a surprise." Before she passed all of the guarding elves, they'd point in the direction of where the capital of the Betrayer's nation was, giving Deva a direction to work with if they needed it. "Sooooo... What's the plan? We charge in head on? Infiltrate all sneakily to try and get to them? Maybe purposely get captured and get brought straight to their lands? Or are we just gonna wing it? From what I've seen so far, I'll trust your judgement on this one."

 

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"Oh, sounds good, hello forest!" She waved at one of the trees, almost too casually, before she sighed for a moment. "Everything could be a rouse, your whole life could be a lie, implanted by a masterful mage just now, but all you got to go by is the here and now." She shook her head.

"If you do not seek war, then don't fight it. You do what your enemies want, is what you tell me." She shook her head, oddly looking like a tired parent for a moment. "I've saved the few and the many and paid dearly. But you are wrong, never do something out of cruelty or fear. There is always a better way. You just have to look hard enough." Deva chuckled briefly.

"Welp, we'll see." She flexed, continuing on. "Well by that logic, all that could be happening could be part of the story.. though I agree, it sounds as if the manipulation is happenig at.. with this betrayer person. So, face the betrayers forces it is. Lets see how that goes." She nodded, continuing her way on.

"The plan.. what is the plan? It's simple, if I have a choice... my plan is that no one dies anymore" Deva mused, reaching the forest edge, sitting down, cross leggedly. "Divine Insight." She meditated calmly, keeping two hands clasped together. "This is the ultimate of healing magic. I've seen enough war, and death. And I wont see it again." She raised her hands to the heavens, after a few minutes of chanting. "Rain of Life!" She then stood up, almost casually, walking towards the enemies fronts, with an inquisitive eye.

"Rain of life was the first spell I invented. It transforms every drop of water into healing energy. It's hard to kill anyone while you are under this rain. Wounds heal, and flowers blossom, for an entire day, all rain that will fall infuses an area with positive energy. It can turn a wasteland into an oasis." She crossed her hands behind her back. "But what matters is..theres little point to war while the spell is active. I hate war, Isa. When I was about fifteen, I was drafted into the army for my skill at healing. When I was sixteen, I was taken prisoner of war, for healing a noble of the opposing side. Sold off as slave when I was barely eighteen. I never wanted to grow powerful.. yet great power is needed to stop the harm others might do, do you understand?" She sighed, making her way onwards.

"For a century,.. no.. more. I've made it my mission to end conflict. Until I grew too powerful, realized that enforced peace is just a tyranny, if benevolent, itself. All you can do is... try and do your best to undo the harm that is done. Thats the fate of a healer and if you reach the penultimate of that ability." She exhaled, a tear glittering in the corner of her eye. "You can only lessen the pain others experience, never prevent it from happening. And in the end, it leaves you all hollow. Again and again, people make their mistakes. Stopping them means taking their freedom, so you keep lessening them, yet you advice them, but they never listen... eh, forget about it. Orange?"

 

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The elder would have nothing left to say at this point, letting Deva proceed out of the forest without any incident, as her leaving was in the best interest in both of them, so there was really no point in trying to stop her in any case. Though when she greeted the trees, she'd feel a slight shift in energy and see a tree or two shifting, almost as though they were waving at Deva in return to her kind greeting.

"Well, yeah technically anything could be a part of the story so we'd never know exactly what to stop... But I just figured that it would be good to remind you that not everything can be helped. If it's any consolation to you... Most stories tend to have a happy ending planned, a sense of closure even through the loss. Not always true, but more often than not there's something planned for the ending. I doubt just the loss of the Queen could cause such a huge issue unless that was intended." Isa shrugged, not really knowing that it was intended, but it certainly FELT like it was, after watching so many stories.

The woman would actually smile a bit as Deva said that the major element of the plan was that no one would die, figuring that if any part of a plan was important, that part was the best possible thing that could happen. "I've seen dozens of heroes... You might say that you're not one of them, but you have more resolve than any hero I've seen up to this point." She commented before watching the rain come down, smiling a bit at the cleverness behind that idea, a rain that would make fighting and war utterly useless. As she began walking towards the enemy front, she'd see less and less forest and more just quiet villages, where she wouldn't be greeted by anyone. There'd be a sign she'd run into eventually that read 'Villages in an area where combat could occur. Village evacuated to the capital for citizen protection'. The thing was, not even soldiers were stationed in these empty villages, which seemed a bit odd if there was supposedly a war being fought.

"I wish I knew how I was in my Story a little more... But from what I've seen currently, I hate war as well... people brutally fighting one another for nothing more than greedy purposes. Men and women killing one another under the orders of those far above them that might never see the battlefield... It's sickening." She agreed, looking around a bit at the evacuated village curiously, looking for any signs of what they'd be up against, but seeing absolutely nothing. "I think I understand a little... Power is not something you reach out for just for the sake of having it... It's something that should only be attained and used to protect those that can't. I'll do my best to remember that." She couldn't imagine living through something as terrible as Deva had, though technically it was absolutely possible that she had gone through something just as terrible. But from what she had been told, her life had been much better than something like that. "I'm sorry that you had to live through so much at such a young age... For what it's worth, I wish there was something that I could've done to somehow help you or prevent it or something..."

When Isa saw the tear sliding down Deva's face, she'd put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking for a few moments, looking her in the eye and just hugging her, not exactly the best with emotions, but knowing at least enough to know when someone just needed a hug. She'd hold it for a few moments before pulling away, actually blushing a little bit before speaking some more. "Err... Sorry... Just... Felt like that might help... Not sure where that came from... Just... Well... I know that sometimes it's hard to see failure after failure happen. But I've also seen everyone that you've helped make life better for, and there's so many out there in your Story alone. People that are in a much better place because of you. It's easy to wish you could do more, and it's very hard to remember that you've already done so much. Trust me... you pick up a thing or two after you watch over 40 stories..." She encouraged, smiling a bit.

Then as the two went on, they'd see a gigantic building that looked almost like a castle, however, there were stained glass windows that were a deep shade of red, causing the entire gray brick building to have a deep red glow. At the gates were two knights dressed in black and red armor, standing tall with black blades in their hands, seeming to look around for anything possibly dangerous. It fit the perfect description of 'evil fortress' as there were tall spires and nothing but red windows to give the place an evil glow all around it. "Geez... Whoever's in there loves red..." But otherwise she'd remain silent, still letting Deva take the lead on this one now that they saw the building, as well as the large amount of knights that would be patrolling the area, looking for intruders.

 

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"Well, such destruction as I've seen clearly wasn't intended, but its not an easy task indeed." Deva pondered, looking over to Isa.

"I just do whats necessary, without fear, without cowardice, without compromise. To you I may seem like a hero, demons have cursed my name." She closed her eyes for a brief moment. "As will the cloaked one. I am not a hero, for I don't fear to do things many would call wrong. Do you have something you fear, something that keeps you up at night? Well, that something fears me."

"No. It is my past. Don't change a thing, or prevent it. It has made me who I am today. Every loss, ever victory." Deva turned to Isa, a weak smile displaying just how old the angelblooded woman seemed to be, despite her apperance. "Heh. In the end, all we can do is push on, smile about the little things. And you misunderstand, as so many do. I NEVER failed. I just grew weary of succeeding. If you've watched my story in bits, then, have you ever seen anyone that stopped me?" Deva shrugged, sighing and shaking her head. "I COULD do so much more. But thats not the point. I forsook my power, intentionally. Because it made me not me anymore. Sure, I could teleport you all out of this in between world, stop the cloaked woman with far greater ease, but its through adversity that our actions gain meaning. .. this is hard to explain, but think of a river, flowing in a certain direction. You do not say, oh, it is good for it brings water to me and life to the fishes, its just a river, it just is. Thats what ultimate power is, do you understand? Thats what being a literal force of nature means, for good, or for bad. You can be a river, or even an ocean of power, but you can't stop yourself from flowing. So what if you can create an entire world full of happy people, protected, and save.. I did all of that, I created a paradise, do you understand Isa? I think its a large part of why my past was save from any stealing, this paradise is sealed from spells, protected by a power that'd take a greater deity to breach, shielded from any outwards influence, .. and its not a place for me. It was.. lonely. Boring." She shrugged slightly.

"This however, is not boring. This stealing of pasts and futures gets my blood boiling." She looked through the evacuated villages as they went on, innocently snatching an unattended broom with her.. seeming to have no qualms about.. borrowing things.

"Another example." She mused, as she approached. "These knights, to me, look little different than the elves. I mean.. obvious design flaw for hugging, but they just guard their territory. Will messing with them mess with the story?" Deva chuckled.

"Frankly I don't care though. Do you know why?" Deva pointed back. "Those emptied villages. Now then." She stepped forwards.

"Hellooo! I'm Deva. And if you're half as stubborn as the elves, you wont just let me get in and rescue the nations leaders, even if I told you it'd save all your bottoms, so instead. I'll teach you why I run around all bare footed. It's simple really, I'm a weak girl and armors are heavy. Do you hear me?" Deva shouted, making sure to get every knights attention.

"Here to rescue the folks! Everyone ready their blades and surround me. Donzo? Good. Let me tell you of the mountain that was envious of the desert then. You flow wherever you want, the mountain said, soft, yet malleable." Deva said, waving a hand to the left one to the right, involving the audience.. and marking the area of her spell. "Yes, the desert said, but people sink into me, and few wish to visit me, the only way to escape is to jump out of my quicksands..

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!" She shouted. Of course she and Isa would sink in as well, but far less than a fully armored knight would, as Deva continued, her story actually a disguised spellcasting: "Of you I should be jealous, said the desert. You are tough and strong, and upon you, people can climb as you stand proudly, unmovable..

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!" She chanted, as the engulfing mud began to harden to solid rock once more, shouldering her broom. "I'm aware that likely, some of you might have escaped this spellcasting. Be aware that this spell actually has four parts. I used no more out of kindness.. with a pickaxe and a little work you can be freed. As my rain of life spell is still active you wont need nurishment, but those armors must get awfully uncomfortable over time. You should get to digging."

 

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Isa would shake her head a bit, seeming to just not accept the idea that Deva wasn't a hero, giving her a bit of a smile. "I still think that you're a hero, because you're able to do the things that many others just wouldn't be able to. You are brave, you are strong, you are kind, and even though you do the things that so many would find to be terrible, you at least understand the gravity of what you do. Not many could even say that about what they do." Though she didn't have anything that she truly feared anymore, mostly because she couldn't remember what might have once kept her up at night from her own Story.

"And see... that right there is just more and more proof to me that you're some type of hero. You understand that everything, the good and the bad, has helped to shape you to who you are today. I hope that one day I can show at least some of that resolve in my own story." The woman complimented, seeming to be rather hard to dissuade from thinking highly of Deva. While there were all sorts of strange things that had happened already, from what she had seen from Deva already, she at least had some confidence that things were going to go better than what she had initially expected. "I didn't necessarily mean 'failure' in the terms of losing to your enemy. But more in the terms of having done some things that may not be fond or proud memories. But yes, I've never actually seen someone defeat you or any true failure. Though once again I don't know as much about your story as I do others... like you seem to have said, yours was special compared to the dozens that She had already destroyed." Otherwise she'd listen carefully to the stories and lessons that Deva wanted to impart, nodding a bit in understanding, getting a decent amount of it and trying to make sure that she remembered it in the future. It might help in this adventure, or for all she knew it would come in handy during her story if they ever got it back.

"Well, at the very least I figure that things won't be all that boring with everything we're gonna have to do. We already made a bunch of angry people mad at us, so that's interesting!" She said cheerily, looking around the village a little more as Deva took a broom. There was nothing that she saw she could use herself, admiring the fact that Deva could be so creative with just about anything that she could find. From what Serp had told her, she only relied on ice magic all the time.

"I mean... the knights look to be a little different from what they're likely meant to be anyway. Messing with them won't cause too much of a change... Like I said, the story will repair itself bit by bit on its own... Messing with a few knights, especially since they won't be killed, won't change anything." Though she did wonder how Deva was going to actually deal with this, as she hadn't seen her in combat yet, and was eager to see what she could do to make sure that no one got severely injured.

The collected knights would turn to look at Deva, but otherwise wouldn't actually rush towards her or even draw their weapons. One of them stood tall and took a step towards her, but still wouldn't draw their weapon, just looking down at her a bit. "Greetings, Deva. There is an issue with wanting to save other leaders, as we only have one leader under our custody, and currently we have no plans of releasing her. I do recommend that you not try to invade this place, as we are required to defend this place, and I really don't wish to hurt anyone unarmed such as you..." The knight said, not seeming all that worried about two unarmed girls approaching their well defended gate.

A few other knights would start to crowd around a bit, but they wouldn't draw their weapons either, seeming more curious about what was going on rather than getting worried about someone planning to harm them. Then they'd actually have some issues when Deva cast her spell, causing them to sink rather deep into some mud, looking annoyed and worried now that they realized Deva was a spellcaster. But before they could do anything more, they'd end up encased in rock, unable to move after sinking rather deep. "Arrggh... Adrian! Fetch the pickaxes so that we might get out of this mess before she has a chance to reach our Lady!" One of the very few knights that weren't encased in rock would rush off inside the building somewhere, clearly heading off to get some pickaxes.

With them all distracted, entering the main building would be no issue, and if Deva entered through the front doors, she'd see an amazing grand hall, a very high ceiling as well as many large windows with red stained glass, giving the place a red glow as well. There were a few knights inside, though nothing as oppressive as outside. There was very little in the way of furniture around the room, though there were groups of what looked like villagers, huddled together with small bags of items and sleeping bags. Once Deva and Isa entered the room, the common people would look scared and huddle closer together, seeming to avoid Deva as much as they could, and what few knights there were wouldn't charge at the angel, instead they'd move to block the villagers, standing tall and one of them would look at Deva with a scowl. "If you dare to come close to these innocents then I swear that you will regret it! Back away from them, or face my might!" The one would warn, sticking close to his group of villagers. Though if Deva didn't make any move towards them, he'd merely stand tall, holding his shield ready to guard any attacks on those that were too weak to defend themselves, essentially acting like a knight was meant to.

Meanwhile, the both of them would feel something the moment they entered the building. For the briefest moment, Deva would feel a presence watching over her, a gentle guiding feeling that made it seem as though there were someone standing right behind her. But in an instant that feeling would be replaced by a much stronger presence, a heavier feeling, more like a demanding order rather than a guiding hand. It was more like there was someone behind her telling her exactly what to do. Thankfully she'd be able to ignore it, but it'd remain in the back of her head, as though the building itself was watching her, and trying to order her around.

 

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"I understand the gravy of my situation too, but thats mostly at banquets." Deva quickly derailed, though there seemed to be a hint of a hiding of emotions there, like one who wasn't used to getting praise, for one reason or another.

"Don't dwell on the story you have lost. You have a new story, right now. And, if you don't remember your past, that means you get to make up neat things, like you being an ice queen that pew-pewed fire-demons with ice lances whilest suckling on a lolipop." Deva suggested. "Ah, .. yes, done a thing or two I am not proud of.. luckily i had people remind me of doing better back then.
The Twilight Paradise. A heaven, if you so want, a refugee, for those none other would have, angels, demons. Its been sealed with so many protective spells I'd need decades to get through them all, and I created most of them. The final spell I did was to ensure no one could ever do so though. The plane itself rejects anyone that could have the power to harm it.. like me." Deva smiled weakly. "That propably messed with the story-vampiriering. I mean."

Deva chuckled. "Elves, as I know them, are proud, free spirited and nice, but different world, different elves. Frankly, I could have invoked one of my titles as member of the court of stars and have them kneel before me.. or perhaps that title here means 'one who smells kind of icky'" Deva shrugged. "Plus, to be a member of the court you kinda have to not.. do any of that authoritative stuff. I mean, there is a queen, Morwel, The Queen of Stars, but she's just in charge cause.. thats how things are." Deva shrugged.

"I don't really have magic that kills.. though I have some magic that does worse things, if ever there is no other choice." Deva informed, ominously.

Then, encountering the knights, Deva chuckled. "Interesting, I'm starting to see more of this plot, by the by, I am armed." She presented her broom.

"Well, those guys will be busied up for a while, let's see who we can talk to in the castle." Deva nodded, shouldering her broom, but otherwise not taking any offensive action, infact, she pulled out her cup of tea, putting it infront of one of the knights.

"Keep the cup. Don't worry, its not green and bubbly, so can't be poison." She whistled, swifter than one would expect, if any tried to grab her.

Deva looked around in the grand hall, whistling appreciatively. "Very grandiose, my bet is on vampire... wait are those villagers?

Alright, time out, something is definitly amiss here. The villagers came here to be protected." She tipped her chin. "Elven leader has been captured here right? Soo many questions.." She pondered, approaching a random wall, poking it with her broom, licking it briefly even. "So, thinking time. The elves were readied for war, after their leader was taken. But the villagers are here, under protection, they are a safety hazard, I gander you can easily disguise an elf among them, means the one that took action first wasn't you. And a leader has indeed been taken here. There is a presence here too, undeniably, which means.. Ah! Framing. Potentially the leader is being manipulated. Someone is playing dirty." She crossed her arms. "Isa, we wont have an easy time getting to this castles mistress. Knights outside busy, Knights inside busy. What could stop us.. Ah, Ice mage, can you ice mage me a pair of glasses? Thin, blue, see through, I want to neutralize out all this red glow, bad for my fashion style." She hesitated, as if remembering something, calling out to the villagers: "Borrowing your broom by the by, sorry, 's for a good cause."

 

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Isa would actually hold her hand up to her mouth a bit as she giggled at Deva's little 'gravy' joke, as well as her idea of the type of story that she could now make up since she didn't know her own one. "You're also quite funny, might I add. I'll be sure to try and think up something absolutely spectacular for my 'story' while we adventure. Though I might just count this whole thing as my story now... At the very least it's something that I would really love to remember." It seemed that she barely noticed that Deva was trying to deflect away from the praise, instead just finding some humor that he companion could manage. Sure sometimes those kinds of jokes could annoy her, but sometimes they could hit and get a nice chuckle out of her...

"When I asked, Serp told me that my story didn't have any elves in it that he could see. Maybe they went extinct or maybe they just choose not to ever interact with any of us. Serp clams up quite a bit when you start asking him about your own story, he tends to not want to spoil anything for us or something like that." She explained while listening about how the elves from Deva's story were like, wondering if they were all like that. Though from this world they were clearly a bit more arrogant... maybe it had something to do with the environment around them. "Titles tend not to carry all that well from one story to another... But who knows, if you say it with enough confidence they might actually believe that it's something important from a far off land or something like that. If you could convince them that the two of us are just simple village girls, you probably could've gotten them to believe that you were someone important as well." She shrugged, apparently having at least some idea of how deception could work.

The knights would struggle desperately, trying to break out of the ground on their own in order to stop Deva as she tried to get inside their base. But without being able to get out, and with Deva moving out of their reach, they'd just sort of struggle hopelessly while one of them rushed off to get some pickaxes. Though the one would stop and just look at the tea cup curiously for a moment before returning to trying to pull himself out of the solid rock that his legs were encased in. "Aaaaargghhh... Blasted ground!" He'd shout in annoyance... clearly having found his mortal enemy in solid earth.

While Deva did her pondering, the knight would stand silently, keeping his eyes on Deva to ensure that she did nothing to harm the innocent villagers that they were keeping there. He was given orders only to defend the villagers, and was even told that if it came down to it, he should allow invaders to get further in if it ensured that no one would come to harm in this place. "These people were near the frontlines! We refused to allow them to come to any harm! Be aware that harming them will bring the full ire of our Lord and Lady, who will not tolerate such needless harm!" It seemed that he was just as dedicated to defending them as those that had given the orders, wanting nothing more than to keep them all safe. In turn, the villagers would seem to group up a little more behind the knight, seeming to trust that he would do everything that he could to keep them safe. Though they were still clearly frightened since Deva had managed to get in through the front gates without any knights stopping her. A few other knights would run into the room, but once again, rather than attacking Deva they'd rush over to the groups of civilians, creating even more of a powerful defense over those they had been charged to protect. At the very least that meant that there'd be even less security in the building that Deva would have to get around.

"Geez... Didn't expect the mighty dark knights would be stopped by something as simple as defending villagers. Oh! Right! I think I can do that... give me a second here..." She'd focus carefully, reaching into her dress and pulling out a small vial of water, opening it and freezing it almost instantly, the ice flowing out and reshaping into a pair of blue glasses as Deva had requested. They'd be cold, but they'd work to filter out all the red light as she had asked. Though once the pair of glasses were complete, she'd let out an exhausted breath, handing them to Deva for her to use. "Precision control... not all that easy..."

And even more fortunately, if Deva took a close look, there were actually engravings on the walls that seemed to be directing anyone through the building if they wished, even pointing out the path to the 'throne room' where the Lord and Lady should be at this point. The path would take her up a few flights of stairs, but otherwise it would be a simple path to take. There was also a path downwards into what was labelled a 'dungeon' and a few other directions to other areas such as 'chapel' and 'recreation chambers' and 'housing quarters'. So it'd be up to Deva which way they'd go now that no knights were coming after them.

 

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"You keep praising me. You want to mooch of some of my pudding, at a date when I aquire it, admit it." Deva again tried to derail. "The serpent thinks that your stories could be restored.. in which case, you shouldn't know your own future, personally, I can understand that.. and the curiosity, but the problem is, different worlds also subscribe to different laws of times. The cloaked woman we fight in the end, she must have a way to deal with these things, some way to contain the paradoxes she causes.. but worries for later."

"If I listed off all my titles and names, from the nice to the nasty, we'd need to pack lunch." Deva waved a hand dismissively. "But where it helps, I'm unafraid to use a title, real or false, yes.
Either way, being unimportant taught us more.. most importantly theres no point lying to two random villagers, so the elves are speaking the truth."

"This is my little rock trap spell version one.. its the nicer one, trust me there." Deva added, off handedly, at the knights struggle.

"This is why you don't wear armor for battle, far too much a liability." She chuckled, then peeked at the protective guard. "Hush, I'm busy thinking. You don't bother me on my way in, I wont harm anyone, good? Great." Deva could respect the knights dedication, though the whole valorness reminded her too much of her brother.

"Neat trick!" Deva cheered for Isa, putting the (cold) glasses on carefully. "Yep, I might have been testing your ability sneakily too. Hmnn.. This is odd. Was expecting the red light to hide something. This doesn't make sense. I'm missing something obvious. Neither seems to be the agressor, so what started this.." She adjusted her glasses. "The elves. not lying, but.. not all nations leaders were taken. These people took someone. Think differently." She pointed at Isa. "Aha! If the knights say theres only one leader here, but the elves said all leaders were troubled, then whos creating all the trouble? Lotsa effort." Deva whistled, making her way towards the dungeon. "Hooh, this is clever." She wandered down into the dungeon, whistling slightly, hands behind her back.

"Hooh there! Queen of elves! Fear not, we have slain the wicked knights capturing thee!" She shouted out. "Are you alright your highness? Have they not harmed you?" She said, though, Isa, who was closeby, saw a strange glint in Devas eyes.

 

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"Well I wouldn't say no to a bit of pudding if we ever get any..." Isa would say innocently, giving an exaggerated innocent look at that kind of accusation. "Yeah, I get it. Knowing everything about our story could be extremely dangerous and cause all sorts of problems... But it's just so hard to not be the least bit curious about it all. I don't even know if I'm supposed to be a hero, or a villain, or a rival, or something like that! But it's for the best overall." Sometimes she just had to accept that certain things weren't good no matter how much that she wanted it. "From what I've seen, that Tome does a really good job of just 'dealing with it' when all sorts of weird things happen from her destruction."

Hearing that Deva wouldn't harm anyone in the room if he left her alone made the knight sigh in relief, making sure not to make any move towards her since it would ensure that the villagers would be ok. The other knights would follow his lead, standing still, keeping a defensive position held to ensure no one was harmed. The major thing that mattered to them was that they protected others, not that they captured the invader. There was other ways to deal with that, actually, and he knew that it wasn't his job to do anything about it. The villagers would seem to calm down a little as well, not wanting to be hurt... though one old lady would look a little grumpy when she saw that Deva was using her broom... wondering if she would get it back when this whole fiasco was over.

"If you wanna see what my powers can do, just ask me and I'll show you. I'm not planning on lying to you at all, and so long as we're not somewhere important then I could tell you whatever you want about this stuff..." Isa offered, not seeing much of a need to keep secrets from Deva, especially considering that she knew almost nothing about her past, so she didn't even have all that much that she could keep secret anyway. Deva would still feel the presence following her, like there was a force trying to push into her mind, testing her resistances, pushing softly at first to feel her out. It would even feel oddly tempting... sultry... seductive... just waiting for her to let it in... Though it could still be easily kept out if she made sure to focus on doing so. Isa would feel it too, seeming to space out a little every now and then before shaking her head and focusing in on what was going on around her. With the red glow gone, there'd be nothing revealed, which meant that the windows were likely just a design choice by those in charge of this place. For people that were doing their best to protect those around them, they seemed to enjoy the dark and evil look all over the place like this.

The dungeon would seem... quite humane actually. Looking like another wing to the building rather than any sort of prison. The only difference was that the doors were made of solid iron with a few iron bars that the guards could look in to. If Deva took a look inside one of the rooms, it seemed like a normal living quarters, with a comfy looking bed, wooden floors, a table and a chair that were nailed into the floor, it seemed like a pretty fine place to stay for a dungeon. When she called out, Deva would hear a voice respond to her. "Yes?! Hello! I'm over here! You say you've dealt with the knights of the Betrayer? How?" And if Deva followed the voice, she'd find the cell where there was only one woman inside, sitting in rather plain looking clothes for a supposed queen, but those were regular bits of prison garb, her clothes were being kept in another part of the building.

"Err... Hello, I am her Royal Highness. Ellivenriel... Queen of the Elven Kingdom. Yes I am alright, and remain unharmed, they have been mostly accommodating of me, though they refuse to let me go. I did not expect anyone to be able to rescue me with this much brevity... Is this some sort of... erm... clever trick by the Betrayer in an attempt to break my hopes? Please... I would just like to return to my people... they must be extremely worried for my safety." The woman would be at the bars to her cell, looking out and seeming rather calm for a prisoner. Though... Deva wouldn't be able to completely shake the feeling that something was... off... about this elven Queen. Perhaps she was just imagining things?

 

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"Why do you have to chose? If you knew your story, would it change how you acted right now? Hmnn.. my bet is on rival though, Propably to a plucky fire-mage? But who knows, oh, you could try squeezing the cloaked one for information next time you see her, see how that goes, heh." Deva chuckled, sympathetically.. if not for the desire to aquire some of her pudding!

"My tome is napping, but I ought to ask it about that. Breaking such fundamental rules is always.. tricky." She nodded.

"You might be capable of things you didn't know yourself without trying though." Deva contered. Also, ice-glasses were really awfully cold, but she didn't want to seem ungrateful..

Meanwhile, the presence would find an easy entry into Devas mind.. though Devas mind was not a simple place to be, Rather than set up an iron fortress of a mental defense, there was a paper wall, and behind that paper wall, another, and another.. Deva wasn't one to have an iron will, but her mind was strong enough to force anyone trying to invade it to reveal something about themselfs. "Seduction humnn.. well at least its warm." She said, at no one in particular. She could be overcome.. though likely, the history-less Isa was a far easier target.

"Nice dungeon, seen worse." Deva mused, wandering on. Broom still shouldered she stepped on to the cell, staring at the elven queen, adjusting her ice-glasses, before handing them back, spreading her white wings, revealing her angelic nature. "Fear not, 'tis no deception of the wicked ones. I dealt with the knights, they wont be a threat anymore. Isa, we need some more precision ice magic, can you summon us up a key?" Deva nodded."Anyway, I am Lady Deva Everlight, High knight of the heavens. I wont let these wicked creatures imprison a beauty such as you.. brevity, for how long have you been imprisoned here?" Deva shifted, into a suprisingly skilled looking bow.

"The dark knights seem to have taken villagers captive upstairs, but of course, getting you to savety is our first priority!" She would seek to free the elven queen, taking her by the hand, and leading her back out of the dungeon, brandishing her broom like a weapon at any that dared get in the way, whilest whispering to the queen: "Excuse the mundaneity of our weapons, we needed to disguise them.. this broom is of course, in reality, a blade blessed to strike those most foul, a little bit of deception magic.. abhorrent, but to get close we had to appear as harmless villagers, you see." She explained, her voice having a calmer, more sophisticated tone now.. she could almost pass for a paladin rescuing a damsel in distress.

A damsel that had asked what she had done to the knights, despite supposedly having elfish senses. A damsel that seemed to be in distress despite some sort of beguiling influence. So either she was quite resistant to magic, or... "Let us make haste from this vile place. Vengeance is not our path today." She said, serenly.

 

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"Well, see, even if I did try to act exactly as I was supposed to, it'd still cause all sorts of problems. I'd constantly be questioning stuff like 'is this what I'd do if I knew nothing' and 'what if this is exactly where the story ISN'T supposed to go'." She explained, not wanting to mess things up too much for whenever her whole story got going. Though she didn't mind the idea of being the rival to someone else throughout a story, it would actually take a little pressure off in her mind, as she'd only have to be as good as the person that she was the rival to.

"Yeah, but Serp seems to have a good idea of my limitations, so really I should know a good deal about what I can and can not do. By the way, if those glasses are too cold, you can just go ahead and give them back, I won't mind." She said with a bit of a chuckle, not wanting her friend to feel so uncomfortable just for a pair of glasses that really didn't do anything.

The presence in the room would try to work its way into Deva's mind, trying to make its commands seem seductive, desirable, perhaps even pleasurable, but it could still be kept out with Deva's unique resistance, something that it wasn't used to breaking through. Isa would seem to be having a bit of trouble keeping focus, but she'd shake her head a few more times to concentrate and keep herself from spacing out from the presence trying to break into her mind. It seemed that whatever power the presence had, it could work on more than one person at a time, and was trying to do so to the two of them. Though there was no telling how much longer Isa would be able to last, considering that she had no experience with handling this kind of thing, though she did have enough of a strong will to push it back for now.

The elven Queen would look rather impressed once Deva revealed her white wings to her, not having expected an angel to be the one to rescue her from this place. "Oh my... I had expected that one of my people would try to rescue me this time. But an angel coming to aide me in my time of need... I don't know how I could ever repay you for something like this..." Isa shook her head at the question of if she could conjure up a key with her ice, but she did have another thing that she could do to make this work. She'd focus for a few moments, and the lock to the door would freeze solid, before suddenly shattering, breaking the lock in its entirety since she wouldn't be able to create a key with how precise certain keys could actually be. "Thank you so very much... Ah yes, I have been imprisoned here for only a month and a half I believe... I suppose that is a long time for some, but for one that has lived as long as I'm sure the both of us have, a month is nothing. I had expected my people to take so much longer to manage to get even close to this building with the forces that the Betrayer controls." The Queen would explain, before returning the bow to Deva, smiling graciously now that the door was unlocked.

"Villagers have been kidnapped? That is certainly distressing news. I know that you are here to rescue me... but I do not think I could bear it if we left those people there imprisoned..." She'd implore... which meant that she was either very benevolent and wanted those people to be saved... or she was trying to get Deva captured trying to rescue so many more people from the building. "Really? I did not sense any magical energy coming from your weapon... You must be capable of quite a lot if even I couldn't tell that your weapon was magical." That part she did honestly believe... angels could work magic that even the elves couldn't sometimes, so it was definitely possible that her rescuers had found some way to disguise their weapons without even her being able to sense it. "Ah... Well... I suppose that such trickery must have been necessary..."

"Err... Ahem... I am sorry... but my conscience would weigh on me far too much if we were to simply leave these poor villagers here to the mercy of the Betrayer... Perhaps we could work to save them first? I just couldn't bear to be away from here knowing that they were still within these walls." And the influence would agree, trying to make Deva leave the Queen where she was, trying to make her try to spend more time within the building rather than pulling the Queen out immediately as she seemed to do. "Also... I understand that vengeance is not something that we should busy ourselves with... But if this Betrayer remains in power... they will continue to cause chaos through the land... It may be better to somehow arrest them before we leave here... yes?"

 

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"Are the elves ment to go to war here, is what you wonder, right? The answer is.. don't worry about it, just do what feels right." Deva would have answered with a shrug.

Devas resistance was easy to tear through, but there was always another paper wall to push through behind, in a quite frustrating manner. Obviously Deva would be affected over short or long, but for now, she seemed.. calm. A little worried perhaps, though that was more due to seeing Isas reaction..

She also had to struggle a bit not to make an ice-pun at the lock freezing. That was the hard part. But she had to find out a little more about the queen..
"Ah, I see, yes, to many who feel the passage of time a month and a half is quite the time. You can do a lot in a month though." Deva then chuckled. "They make magic for everything .. m'lady" it was quite exhausting to stay all.. uppity and serious. Well, she didn't have to be it.

"Month and a half hmnn.. it does sound like a.. no, no.. hold on.." Deva focused for a moment, ah yes, there it was.. an influence, not her own thought.. she was fairly certain. Her own thoughts were a storm of chaotic ideas.

"Hrmnnnn..." Deva pondered. Was this the real queen under influence? A month and a half, yes, that made sense. This whole place felt off, not just the queen. "I'm afraid those villagers wont want to return, you see, its your own soldiers that threaten them. Take this." Deva chuckled, handing the queen her broom turning on her heel, too busy pondering and worrying to keep up the charade. Enough stories had been lost, lifes destroyed, entire timelines. Deva closed her eyes.. And the little paper wall closed behind the presence trying to sneak into her head.. and another wall closed. And another, Devas eyes narrowing. A way in, sure.. but for that, no way back out again. Don't think I don't notice someone poking at my mind. This is your one and only warning.

"Time for you to see I am no hero Isa." Deva shook her head, reaching out, grabbing the queens dress, pulling it open and.. taking a good look, apparently suddenly turning into a pervert, before folding her hands, mumbling a spell, her apperance changing..

"alter...self."
"Test test.. one two. There we go. I'ma go visit this great betrayer now." She adjusted her cloak a little.. still there, if invisible now. Her eyes had a slight sheen... she could never quite hide that. But if you were unsure by what rules the enemy played.. chose your own.

"The Queen will return to her people, one way or the other. Neat trick huh, I mean, an elfish elder would likely see through it, what do you think? The trick when you impersonate someone is not to think too much about it, people pay what you say less mind than you think, so if you just keep on talking, perhaps add a subtle accent, royal poise, it all comes together nicely. Of course such disguises can fail, if you lack the memories of the original, unless, like me, you can fake a good head injury and retrograde amnesia. I mean, of course they could throw me in a zone of truth spell -hate those- and ask both of us who the real queen is, wouldn't that be a bummer?"

 

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"Yeah, pretty much. It's just really confusing once I know more about my own story, to do things the way it's supposed to go. Even worse would be if I found out my story has a terrible ending. It's not always fun to get to know your fate, you know? So I'll temper that little bit of curiosity and channel it to something else!" She explained further, giving some insight to how she thought and how she made her decisions.

"Ah yes, for the short lived a month and a half is quite a bit of time. But your perception of time can be very warped by living for so very long. Even the younger races find time growing shorter and shorter as they age, where as a child they feel a year is an insurmountable time, but as you age a year passes by in what feels like so little time." The elven Queen stated, showing her poise with each and every word. It seemed that the Queen had no issue being serious, and seemed almost completely accustomed to acting like this even when being rescued from her imprisonment.

"My people are threatening those villagers? I can't believe they'd resort to something so base... I... I do not know what to say to that... Perhaps I am required home sooner than I thought, for my people have lost their way if they would do something so terrible. Thank you for bringing me this news... There will need to be some form of punishment once I return." Though in the back of her head, the Queen had actually just then completely decided that the 'Great Betrayer' was right in what they had told her... Perhaps something was needed to be done about all these sorts of things. The presence would stop suddenly, completely surprised by the amount of mental defense and control that the angel possessed, never experiencing something like that. It actually had no idea how to progress from there, and it would feel as though the presence was starting to fade after Deva gave it that warning, but in reality it was simply trying to reconsider its strategy. Isa wouldn't find it fading at all, however, and as such she'd still have to struggle to refocus herself every now and then.

The Queen would let out a small scream of surprise as her dress was torn, blushing deeply and trying to struggle out of Deva's grasp before noticing that Deva was actually taking on her appearance, making Isa's eyes go wide with surprise and seeming to upset the Queen a little bit.

"I'm uh... not really sure this is the best idea all things considered..." But otherwise she'd not complain too much, figuring that her job was to assist Deva as best she could, so long as that meant the Cloaked Woman would be stopped then she could bear with some stuff that she wasn't entirely fond of. The Queen however would frown and shake her head. "Why... Why would you do this?! Are you going to attempt to usurp my throne? I don't understand the idea behind something like this..." The confusion was genuine, as she couldn't really understand the idea behind this whole thing. "Wouldn't the entire ruse fall apart anyway the moment the Betrayer or my people saw that there were two of us? They would simply refuse to trust either of us until they had a guaranteed way to tell who is the true Queen. And once the Betrayer heard us they'd simply imprison the both of us..."

However, she'd seem to think to herself for a bit before continuing. "But you could maybe get them to bring you to the Betrayer if they saw you outside of the cell... Perhaps this plan will work out. Just... please don't forget me... I'll wait here and hide for a bit while you deal with the Betrayer." With that being said, she'd let Deva head out without any trouble, finding a spot to hide for the time being.

Once Deva left the dungeon, however, she'd run into one of the many knights that were still patrolling around the area, and they'd look at her and Isa with a raised eyebrow. "Madame... Why are you out of your room? I understand that you wish to be able to move about a little more freely... But you never know what might happen. You could be in quite a bit of danger outside of your room, especially with the many nations wishing to kidnap you for themselves..." The he'd turn to Isa, shaking his head and chuckling a little bit. "As for you... Has no one provided you with your new outfit? Sometimes this place feels like it moves slower than a snail's pace... Escort the Queen to her room... or to the recreation room or something, and then head to one of the higher ups to get your new outfit. Hopefully they'll have one for you there." With that, the knight would walk off, not even checking to make sure they went to where he had just ordered.

 

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"Yet it doesn't matter how long you live, but HOW." The elf queen-Deva argued with herself. "Why do people always think about punishment?" She shrugged, content with the presence in her mind, seemingly, fading.

"I don't like war. If the Queen doesn't return, there'll be a war, and this one seems too stubborn to do just that. I've observed her mannerisms enough to make a crude copy and, more importantly, when I'm discovered,.. I'll be blamed, not this betrayer." Deva explained. "I'll take your throne if you give me no other choice. I'd rather not, I don't like ruling, but I could." Deva raised a finger. "You assume I'm so easily imprisoned my dear. Any way. Things are.. unbalanced, and its up to you to restore the balance, I could simply teleport us all to the forest, but without actually having seen where to.. you know, bunch of trees, all looking the same and all that, thats risky. Your people are frightened and the humans are frightened and frightened people do bad things, do you understand that? Punishing them makes it only worse. If you want to punish someone, punish yourself for thinking a month and more of complacency would have no end results.. let me guess, the betrayer and a voice in the back of your head told you to just relax here? Well, punishment it is, and as punishment, you need to do better, for your people, from now on. Todelooo!" She waved, her poise actually shifting to match the queens somewhat now.

"There was a ruckus outside, I could find no rest. Recreation room sounds lovely. Oh, and tell ~you know who~ I've been pondering about what we last talked about and wish to ask a question." She nodded, then peered over to Isa, hoping she could playact the bumbling maid. "Outfit. humnn.. something is strange here." Well, at least things seemed more under control now and she could relax and play the queen, as they made their way through the hallways.

 

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The real Queen would mostly remain silent as Deva scolded her, returning to her hiding spot as Deva went out, feeling a little upset by the insults, but overall figuring that Deva would end up being defeated anyway. "Hey, whatever you think is best. You're the one with the Tome after all. Long as we manage to stop Her, I don't see anything all that wrong with this. Just remember, we got stories to fix... so I doubt you could properly rule an elven kingdom." She'd say with a bit of a chuckle, not really needing more of a reason to go along with this whole plan.

When they ran into the knight, Isa would put on the part of a slightly ditsy and bumbling maid, putting a hand behind her head before looking down apologetically for not having the proper outfit. Meanwhile, the knight would just chuckle a bit, and even reach a hand out to pat Isa on the forehead for a bit before speaking to Deva. "No harm done with either of you. Enjoy the recreation room, your Highness. If you'd like I could send your... ahem... personal favorite down there soon. And I'll be sure to let them know that you have a question." With that he'd just walk off to his duty, leaving Isa holding back her annoyance at being 'pet' like that, huffing a bit once he was out of sight. "You know... I prefer to be asked before people do stuff like that..." But otherwise, the two wouldn't run into any issues on the way to the throne room, the path being rather straightforward the entire way. Eventually they'd be before a rather ornate looking door, which was labelled the throne room. As they both approached the door, it would swing open on its own without any prompting, no one walking out from the room. It seemed that the door just opened on its own, without anyone affecting it. Inside was a supposed throne room, however it seemed to be rather humble compared to what one might imagine. There was a simple wooden throne sitting at the top of the room, and a black carpet leading up to it, as well as the same red windows down the hall. Next to the throne, a woman was kneeling as though she were in prayer, and then she'd stand and turn to face them, having already heard the door open.

The woman wore purple and red armor, with red gemstones slotted into it, as well as a long and flowing black cape. Her eyes seemed to glow a bright red that matched the light shining through the window. She'd smile a bit as she looked over the two of them. "Ah... Why hello, m'Lady an absolute pleasure to see you once again today. I trust that you are still doing well. Is there something that you wish to talk about?" The woman would begin to walk down to the two of them, looking at Isa curiously. "I do believe that we haven't actually met... Are you a new recruit? No... That can't be it. You still have the old outfit after all... So you can't be all too recent... Oh my... I have been far too wrapped up in my duties if I haven't personally met you and learned your name. Please... forgive me for my mistake. Running a nation may be difficult, but I refuse to lose touch with my own people... Thank you for bringing this mistake to light. I clearly need to take some time to once again learn the names and faces of those in my nation." She would suddenly fall to one knee and look to the ground before Isa, true regret showing in her expression. "I beg your forgiveness for this failure of mine... And I understand if you wish to leave me for this. I sincerely apologize from the very bottom of my heart." And after that, she'd stand and smile to the both of them. "It is a slightly unfortunate time for a conversation, however, as my new adviser wishes to have a meeting very soon, so my time may be short."

With that she'd smile to the both of them, letting either one of them speak if they so wished, seeming quite friendly despite the extremely evil outfit that she was wearing, and her red eyes. In fact, Deva would be able to feel an aura of almost pure darkness radiating off of this woman, and Isa would look a little nervous as she sensed quite a bit of magical energy coming from the woman. "You may wish to return to your room soon, m'Lady... Who knows when your people will attempt to 'rescue' you from my clutches. And I will put in a request to have your new uniform be made a top priority assignment. It isn't fair that you must go about with our old uniforms just because of my own failures."

 

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"Actually good point.. see, another problem with power, you forget about time.." Deva coughed, feeling a bit bad for scolding the elfess.. but, after all, likely she had had chances to escape and not taken them.

And, as it sounded, the queen had.. quite enjoyed herself. Deva simply left herself with a coquette laughter, whilest also trying to keep in mind the alter self spells limited duration.. she didn't cast one like this more than once, usually.

"Oh my, I should be off then.." She cooed, continuing on. She observed the self-opening door for a long moment, narrowing her eyes briefly, tilting her head as she entered.. the woman was dressed somewhat scandalous, even for Devas open sensibilities.
Deva was a bit bad at dealing with.. such nice people. Right about now a threatening pit-fiend or something would do wonders to help her decide whom to deal with.

"Oh, thats it! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid Deva!" The angel rubbed her forehead. "Stupid, kind and helpful and wanting to believe in the best of people. She is the centre of the disruption... ahem.
Well then. I'd love to meet with your advisor actually." Deva affirmed, pondering the matter.. usually she helped people be -good- .. not bad, but it seemed this story was missing its villain.

 

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The Betrayer would look at Deva with a bit of confusion as their meeting continued on, not entirely sure what she was talking about, right up until she had mentioned that she wanted to meet her new adviser. "Ah yes... Well if you truly wish to meet my new adviser, then I suppose I can comply with that request. Though I will warn that some of her mannerisms are... different... For example, she continues to push that I be 'more aggressive' in my planning and all sorts of other things, but I'm not entirely sure if that's the best plan. We disagree quite a bit, but her planning has led to some rather useful successes, so I have kept her on." The woman would turn and sit down upon her throne, adopting a rather relaxed posture as she waited for her adviser to return. "I must say... kidnapping you was quite the stroke of luck. I had known that abandoning my allies would bring quite a few repercussions, but I suppose that I picked quite an opportune time. It is only a matter of time before the elves fall in line as well, and then they may cease this foolish political infighting that plagued them even while you were in charge, though I suppose not as much." She'd continue to lounge for a bit, tapping her foot to the floor as she waited for her adviser to arrive. After a good amount of time, the doors would swing open once again, still with no one actually touching them to cause them to open. And a cloaked figure would walk into the room... though she looked quite different from the one that had destroyed Deva's island.

"Greetings, M'Lady... my sincerest apologies for being late. I suppose you wish to enact some sort of punishment upon me for such a mistake?" The Betrayer would simply wave her hand dismissively, smiling at the woman. "Think nothing of it at all... Being late is nothing to be ashamed of." And the adviser would actually seem rather annoyed by that answer, shaking her head. "You are far too forgiving, M'Lady. To conquer the lands, one needs a stone heart to face the issues before them." Then she'd look down and seem to mutter to herself. "It's been a struggle to break the story THIS far... Why on earth won't she just let it go further?" Deva would be able to recognize the voice as one of the people that she had heard through the barriers between worlds. "You continue to be far too trusting as well... For example... you allow the Queen to roam the building, and even enter the chamber with you without a single bit of supervision. I know you have confidence in your own skills, but this is a bit too much danger for no real purpose." "It is a non-issue. She is perfectly fine where she is."

"Perhaps the elves could make a better use of my advice then. They seem to at least understand the importance of being careful. They'll do a far better job of things in the end." The adviser threatened, causing the 'Betrayer' to stand up and look a bit more worried than anything else. "Wait! Please! I apologize for that... The Queen is here because she wished to meet you herself. I can return her to her ro- err... her cell without issue." The adviser would remain silent for a few moments before immediately stepping over to Deva, looking over her closely, somehow keeping her face completely concealed beneath her hood. "And WHY would you wish to meet me, Your Highness? I did not think that my duties included meeting political prisoners..." Deva would feel an otherworldly power emanating from the adviser, which would likely clue her in to the fact that the adviser was one of the agents that she had to keep an eye out for. And if she looked over towards the door, she'd actually see two purple slimes like the ones that had attacked her village, just waiting there, indicating that this woman was definitely a part of the Cloaked Woman's army.

"Hmph... Very well... I can continue to advise you as I have been. But you need to LISTEN to my advice far more often from now on..."

 

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"Aggressive?" Elf-Deva raised a brow. So, a decoy of niceties, unite the world, and I have to stop it? What a nuisance.
Deva thought to herself, whilest subtly stepping to the side.

"Well, first of all, I want to explain a misunderstanding." She extended a hand, patting the advisor on the shoulder. "I gave you all a warning. Now, you will be the example. Dear host, this advisor plans to tear your world asunder, feeding upon the strive and conflict she hopes you will create. Dismiss."

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her gentle patting on the shoulder had turned into an iron grip.

"You rob people of their pasts and futures. You destroy worlds without care, because you think you can do so without reprecussion." Deva said, camly pulling out the tome hidden in her dress, her other hand pushing out to the right, holding the woman steady, her eyes having grown ice cold, piercing the woman from under her hat.

"But no more. Do you want to run?,.. oh yes, you can't just teleport away as long as I'm in physical contact with you, can you? Perhaps you'll try to bend the laws? By all means, I need to see that trick a few more times to make sure I can deal with it. But I think we both know.." Deva flipped open her tome.. in a way that hid that the thing was mostly empty. "How that'd go. So instead.. Kneel. Confess and beg for forgiveness. Because heres what I should do, for who and what you are, I should tear your soul to shreds, until merely a spectre of pain and regret escapes to haunt your mistress and warn her of my coming. Sadly, I'm too forgiving for my own good... but you shouldn't tempt me right now."

 

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The 'Great Betrayer' would look more confused than anything when Deva said that her adviser wanted to absolutely destroy their world and try to use it for some sort of power. "That's quite an accusation coming from one that has already deceived me once with a false guise of one of my political prisoners! My adviser has been the key to many of my recent victories, and has proven themselves to be very helpful to me... Why should I trust you?" And yet... unlike some might expect, the woman wouldn't immediately try to apprehend Deva, as though she were actually willing to listen to her case rather than simply dismiss it outright. She was not one to just dismiss a view without at least hearing it first, even if that might possibly put her in a bit of danger. "Oh for goodness sake... Just have her arrested already! Such accusations are insulting!" The adviser exclaimed, seeming even more annoyed that the woman would be willing to listen even now.

Though once she got a proper view of the angel, the adviser would grow even more concerned. "You?! How have you even gotten here... you have a TOME?! What on earth are you?!" That wasn't something that she expected to see on a simple mission to destabilize another story.

She'd actually smirk a little bit when Deva asked about her teleporting away, seeming to find that concept quite amusing. "Well I can't exactly leave this land with you holding on to me... but perhaps you've not learned that we all have our own little set of powers... And funny thing about this wonderful remodel I requested... we've got quite a bit of darkness in just about every room... Maybe you'd think that was almost intentional?" Suddenly the woman would fade into the shadows, as though they were absorbing her completely, at an incredible rate for even powerful shadow magic. Perhaps she wasn't completely human? "Mistress will likely reward me if I bring you before her... A Tome bearer under her command... she might even give me my own world to rule..." Well, that made it more unlikely that the woman would run, if she wanted to control Deva and bring her to the cloaked woman, she'd at least stick around to try and make that come to fruition.

"Hmph! I may not have the best idea of what is going on here... but from the sounds of it, my adviser isn't someone that I should be trusting like this... Alright then..." She'd draw her sword, preparing for battle before the adviser would laugh, still part of the shadows around the room. "Oh please... I've been preparing you day by day for a month now! You think that you have any chance of defeating me? You practically ARE me at this point!" Suddenly shadows would envelop the woman, filling her, drawing themselves in through her mouth like smoke... causing her to fall to the ground for a few moments, standing back up with her sword in hand. Then when she spoke, it would be two voices overlapped, the voice of the 'Great Betrayer' and the voice of the adviser. "Ahhhhh... Much better. Now let's have a proper fight... shall we? I've been corrupting her very soul for weeks, and now her darkness is a perfect vessel to combine both of our powers... Prepare yourself, foolish angel, to see the type of power that Mistress can bestow!"

Isa, for her part got ready to try and stop her, preparing a spell to encase the woman's legs in ice... before suddenly the Betrayer would turn to look at Isa and smirk. "You haven't even noticed what this building has done to you... HA! KNEEL!" She'd shout out, pure authority filling her voice, emanating out as though it were a physical force, making Isa freeze in place, her eyes growing blank as she slowly began to fall into a kneeling position, her body struggling against it a little, but eventually falling down to properly kneel. "You see that, little angel? We can both order others to kneel... but only one of us attains results. THAT is power. You try to make me fear you... well... I am not afraid of one such as you..." That was actually a lie... the moment that Deva had revealed herself, the adviser had been terrified, as she knew that Deva was one to actually be worried about, someone powerful enough to actually stand up to Mistress. But she wasn't going to just let that fear show, not now, not when she had a chance to take Deva in. "This story has so many wonderful tools that can be properly used... MASTURBATE!" She'd shout over to Isa, causing the young woman to start to open her dress, revealing her soft and smooth skin, before starting to furiously finger herself under the commands of the Adviser controlling the Betrayer. "The power to command others... right down to their very wills... Very little will convince me that is not absolute power..."

Shadows would start to dance along the Betrayer's blade, and the Adviser would make her take a combat stance, holding the sword at the ready to face Deva. "Now then... I believe it's time I remove you from this equation and ensure that Mistress' plans can go off without a hitch... I wonder if you can stand up to my knowledge of magic, and this
ones years and years of knight training! FACE ME" And with that she'd start rushing forward to try and strike Deva with the sword, hoping to disable her rather than kill her.

 

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"I've decieved you to help you. She has decieved you with knowledge stolen from your own future. That she shows familiarity with me should tell you that something more is going on here, no?" Deva said, swiftly, to pacify 'The Betrayer'

"I'm Deva, as I've told you before. Also.. that you all have powers just means you all have weaknesses I need to find."

"Ah, you are a posessor type, weak on your own, a parasite like your mistress. The shadow movement you just used is likely limited, so you hide to recover?" Deva observed, knowing she couldn't stop the process now. "My dear Isa, could you ice those goo-things and watch my back?" Deva requested of the icemage, as she took a certain step forward.

".. well, so much for my back-watching. Ah, now I get what I was missing. I though it was the light, but the light was hiding the shadows, you used the buildings shadows to manipulate others, that was what I felt." Deva closed her tome, putting it in her dress.

"You've ignored my final warning. So be it then. Whatever happens now is on you." She watched the blade, actually jumping forwards slightly, letting it impale her, gripping the advisor, smirking ever so slightly, calm, blue eyes staring into the posessed red ones.

"Apologies if you feel like I don't act apropriately intimidated. Been an arena fighter for a short while.. Ugh.. Blade to the gut. Quite painful. Second time I had this actually. Let me.. ugh.. tell you about power." She groaned, as blood dripped from her lip, holding onto the posessed betrayer.. was she trying to blow the two of them up? That'd just hurt the host body.. a drawback for her plans for certain.

In reality, the attack that had hurt Deva so badly had triggered her power, morphea, the once a day evasion spell she set up should any serious harm befall her. That she had to use it so early annoyed her quite a bit, but, with two quasi hostages, this was her best option to get everyone out save.. and punish the evildoer.
Her spell turned the injury, all that was going on right now into a powerful illusion, as Deva stood there, observing her opponents powers, her technique, whilest at the same time casting

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A perfectly healthy looking Deva chuckling ever so slightly, appearing a few feet behind the impaled one looking at her foe, raising her hands, and chanting a spell, seeming to cast.. "The truth about power is that the gap between the two of us is so vast, you likely don't even fully understand whats happening.. Divine smite!!" But, as soon as the next attack struck her, the blade cut straight through the illusion, Deva laughing ever so slightly, from the other side of her foe.
Morphea was designed to trick her opponent and attack from a blind spot, but, with a posessor.. she could not do this. She'd have to use up a fair amount of spellpower here.. and, worse, give the enemy intel about how she fought.

"

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" She intonated, and now there were.. a total of Eight Devas around her foe.

"Now, you have a one in eight chance, of course, but with every attack, I learn more about the technique your borrowed body haphazardly uses. So the next step, is at the same time protecting me further from your attacks and disabling your little shadow trickery.. it will cost me some of my strength if thats a consolation.

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" Deva intonated, now clad in an armor of glowing light, each of them that was, making it harder to hit the angel.. if the right one was found! To make matters worse, at least for the shadow-user, now the entire room was illuminated in a glowing light, for as long as the spell persisted. As Deva finally went on the offensive, each illusion simultaneously extending a hand, pointing at her foe, grasping a necklace each. "Posession, a powerful ability. Any attack I use will just harm her, but there are swords that can cut a wicked spirit. Normally, tough gal like you, you might be able to resist it, but with part of your willforce already busy supressing her.. what will happen if I attack your spirit at the same time?

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"

Deva chanted, a blade designed to dig not into the flesh, but into the conscience, even, no, exspecially for those that had thought themselfs past such things, as Deva taunted. "Come on, little leech, is your own ability not enough to cut down a few illusions? Perhaps you want to risk spending the time to cast a Truesight spell or disspel my illusions, hoping your little oozes can busy me? Or perhaps you realize that after showing me how you attack a few times, your sloppy bladework is not gonna cut it. Well, perhaps if you dig deeper for some proper techniques, but as is, seems you're nothing but a failure, a disappointment. ha ha haha haaah!" Deva laughed condescendingly. She was not a person to gloat, however, she wanted to provoke this.. advisor into trying to pull more abilities from the betrayer personality, making her opponent draw out the supressed personality just a little more..
Though, in the end, Deva too was predictable, just a little bit, if her foe was experienced enough. Each strike made one illusion disappear, were a disspell could actually get rid of them all at once and the real Deva.. stood infront of the helpless Isa, had been, for a while now.

Spoiler

Short note on D&D Stats, as Deva paid strength and damaged charisma and wisdom.. you know the basics, but each stat usually also has a range, for Deva, she has strong wisdom, and thus a strong will, as well as good charisma, force of personality, necessary for her spellcasting, which is also what she attacks, because, well, in D&D terms, those stats also determine how effectively you can posess someone.
Deva is actually weak in all three physical stats, strength, dexterity and constitution, but shhh!