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Bai wandered through the blasted ruins of Marsember. In the distance fire still raged, the stench of the canals for once smothered by the smoke. The bridges and walkways had been destroyed, but toppled buildings and the blasted earth itself provided passage enough the lavender waters that now snaked through the city. At last Bai came to a jumbled heap of stones, only its unusual orientation compared to the neighboring buildings left to provide a hint to its past. And there she was, weeping into her black gloved hands atop the rubble, her crystal staff lying forgotten in the street, her black skirt and red bodice untouched by the devastation that had consumed the city. The devastation she had released...Here. "What happened Yb?" Yb looked up, clambering down the rumble and throwing herself into Bai's arms, "Make it stop Bai, make it stop. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore." Yb cried inconsolably into Bai's chest. Bai wrapped his arms around her slight form, "I'm sorry Yb. There's nothing I can do for you. I'm so sorry." Yb's tears quieted and she looked up at Bai pleadingly, "There is Bai. I know a place. If you take me there then this will never happen again. He won't be able to control me anymore." "Where Yb?" Bai spoke absently, his eyes tracing something he'd seen in the rubble. A broken blade, still held in someone's hand. Someone's black hand. *But I didn't feel her die.* Bai sat up in bed, throwing the covers back, his eyes ablaze with the power of Mirgianne. "I'm impressed Bai. I was certain that dream would trap even the Saint of Truth. If I might ask, what gave it away?" "Go the Hell Archon. I want nothing of your plots." Bai's eyes evaluated the room and his uninvited guest, his mind furiously developing tactics. "Really Bai? I would give you your hearts desire and all I'll ask for in return is for you to take Yb to a place of my choosing at a time I'll specify." Archon stepped forward, his dark form seeming to dominate the room. "What do you know of my desire's Archon? You seek only to spread fear and misery to every corner of every world. Why would I ever help you?" Archon produced a dagger and cut open his palm, the dark blood smoking as it hit the floor, "A pact. Take Yb to the place I will name, at the time I will name, and I'll give you your dark elf lover of her own free will, with no harm befalling her current lover." Bai teleported behind Archon, grabbing his staff as both were engulfed in a corona of blue flame, "Leave Ancient One!" Archon flicked his wrist negligently, a black lance of power piercing Bai's shoulder and pinning him to the wall. "That was a warning Bai. I do not fear Chaos as the others do. I have seen the coming and passing of Chaos more often than your tiny mind is capable of conceiving, and I will continue to outlive him. Take arms against me again and I will destroy you. I bargain with you to use Chaos for my own ends, but I care little if she destroys the world at random as has happened so many times before. My plans will proceed uninhibited if you perish." Archon stepped back into the shadows, fading from sight. A moment later the lance vanished and Bai collapsed to the floor, clutching his bleeding shoulder, "Thank you Lini'leah." |
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