Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 3

Radiance grimaces a bit at the pain. "Sorry Circi. Not used to how you sound yet."

"Flying won't be an option and fleeing will likely get us stabbed or blasted via spell in the back." He lowers his voice "Let's do what we do best and talk our way out of this. Work that rustic group charm"

"None of that Rogue, no one gets left behind!" Ursula called through the racket of battle:

"We have 5 party members still able to fly" she continued: "Me, Johan, Kaylee, Rain and Twilight.
And 3 party members who are unable to, for the moment: "Circi, Radiance and you" she said to Rogue:


"The only question is, do we retreat upwards or sideways? The mist likely stretches on for kilometers in every direction, so we won't be able to clear it quickly, if we move along the ground.

If we move upward however, we can escape the mist, but the opponent will not be able to follow at all. We'll be able to flee though, if nothing el-"



A sprawl of dark tendons suddenly sprung out of the ground, grabbing Ursula by her legs and firmly gluing themselves to their armor:

"EEEH!" She screamed, reflexively grabbing a tighter hold of Rogue, afraid to drop him and tried to fly up.
The tendons grasp became harder and they suddenly and violently hurled Ursula to the ground:


CircIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-" Ursula's high pitched shriek almost made Rogue go deaf, before both he and Ursula violently impacted the ground. Falling from a height of almost 5 meters, all wind was knocked out of your lungs, as you suddenly found yourself laying flat on the ground.

You might have heard the bones in Ursula's legs crack, but it could have been the breaking branches she fell on, when the impact happened. Ursula was laying beside you, unmoving. The dark, tendons firmly pinning her legs to the ground.



(Rogue suffered -2 HP from the fall, 22 HP remaining)


(Ursula suffered -2 HP from the fall, 22 HP remaining)




Johan was about to take off towards Radiance, when Circi's spinal cord suddenly caught his torso and enveloped his body, squeezing him hard:

"F-FRIENDLY FIRE!!" Johan shrieked, as he was whisked off his feet. His eyes widened in shock and he tired to lift his hands to protect his face, but he was a second too late. Circi landed a powerful kick right into his chin.


Johan's head got wiped backwards and he passed out from the impact, a moment before his body was thrown right next to Circi, carried on by her spinal chain.



(Johan suffered -5 HP, 16 HP remaining)

(Johan has been stunned for 1 round of combat)




"Oh my god!!" Kaylee screamed out in horror: "What the hell is happening?!"



"HAHAHAHAHAHAH!! A ringing laugh came out of the mist. The notes of the opening hum finally came to a close and the King of Rakshata began to sing.
Her song was on Soren, loosely translated from Nifel, you thought. She sang it from the bottom of her heart, with only a slight hint of an accent, enjoying every moment of it. And that's what made a cold chill run down your spine.



"Mmmm, hmhmmm, hmmhmmm hmmm mmm


Blood, blood, blood,
All it wants is blooood

Give the Guillotine,
A blood offeriiiing

Blood - to - slake - it's thiiiiiirst,



So the blood that's for
The Guillotineeee's thirst is never queeeenched

Only thiiing it wants-"



A purple flame shot out of the mist and hit Kaylee square in the chest, sending her flying a few meters backwards, hitting the snow.

(Kaylee has suffered -20 HP paralysis damage, 0 HP remaining)

(Kaylee has been knocked out and paralyzed)




"Blood,
Blood,
Blooooooooood." the woman's voice finished the verse, twirled and jumped out of the mist. In one fell swoop she slashed her scythe over Rogue and Ursula's backs, who were still laying down on the ground.


Even at this speed and poor visibility, the hit was surgical. The base of Ursula's wings was cut. For Rogue, the slash went horizontally over his back, leaving a very deep cut, bruising two ribs but not damaging the spine.



(Rogue suffered -4 HP damage, 18 HP remaining)

(Ursula suffered -4 HP damage, 18 HP remaining)



The purple blur giggled and leaped back into the mist. You can still vaguely see her outline, as she continued to twirl in a circle around you, continuing her ringing song:












(Radiance is still afflicted with an unidentified Status Effect.)

(Circi is still afflicted with an unidentified Status Effect.)

"Radiance, Circi, stop all attacking, you're hitting allies!" Rogue shouts out as soon as he catches his breath, "Ursula, you okay?!"

He shuffles around so that his back's to the ground and his shield's in front of him, analysing the situation as it stands. "Alright, different approach.

Blood,
Blood,
Blooood." he begins singing back to the Witcher King, in fluent Nifel, but a bit tone-deaf

"For the guillotine,
To drink the blood of brothers,
And sisters would be wrong

For the guillotine,
It longs for the day,
When peace reigns,
And all its foes have gone?

Blood,
Blood,
Blooooooooood.""

At the sound of the screams, Twilight looked at the recent damage to the party. She looked shocked at who caused the damage in the first place.

“The hell are you guys doing?! I’m not one to talk, but seriously?! You know who the enemy is, right?!”

Then she seemed surprised, realizing what transpired.

“That girl is setting us up against ourselves! Those who have been hit by that blast, hold fire! You’ll injure allies by accident!”

She then looks into the direction of the singer, with a slight smile.
“You’re really doing this quite well, playing us all like fiddles. The singing is a bit much, but you both grew up strong.”

She prepares an ice spell to slow her opponent. “I’m proud of you both, my childeren. I’m sorry we have to meet like this.”

Rain focuses in on the silouette moving and dancing around the main party. Above the mist, Rain cocks back her poleaxe and lands near Ursula and Rouge, she places a finger to her lips and steps just out of sight, she watches the fastest moving shadow in the mist, waiting for them to take their free shot at Ursula. Rains fingers open and close against the handle of her axe her eyes never straying from her target as she prepares to clothesline the king with the hammer of her poleaxe.

Circi sighs, and her head turns to Twilight, "There's nothing I can do here. I need to get closer." She croaks dragging Johan back sheilding him with her spiderlegs.

"I'm okay but.." Ursula grimaced in pain, looking over her shoulder: "My wings... they won't move"
She looked back at the silhouette and scowled:

"...she won't let us retreat easily."



Her eyes slightly widened, as she heard Twilight's call:

"Setting us up against ourselves?... Of course! Its the 'Confuse' Status Effect!
Those afflicted become unable to distinguish friend from foe, due to visual or auditory hallucinations.

Twilight! You're the only one with a 'Dispel' equipped! You're the only one who can remove Status Effects! Without a Dispel, the Status Effects will run their full course and only vanish after 5 rounds of combat!"






The king of Rakshata stopped singing. She actually stopped entirely and looked in your direction. Her green scythe burned, the blade raised and hanging just over her shoulder:









"...you're Nifelheim is superb" she said to Rogue: "...impressive"

Her sight shifted to Twilight:

"Mm. You're still beating that drum? Even after your cover was blown?" the figure shrugged:
"I guess I'll give you points for consistency."


She turned, now directly looking at Twilight. Her stance became more threatening:
"...you should not have come to this planet, Assassin. Pretending to be my biological mother will not save you.
You have encroached upon my territory and will now pay the price. I will not allow you to finish your mission" She spoke in Soren, with a notable accent.

Her gaze shifted to Rain and she grinned, beginning to duck low, as if ready to pounce.




At that moment, a second shadow fell down from a tree, just over Rain head, in her blind spot and pierced her skull clean with a long, glowing katana.


(Rain suffered -20 HP critical damage and stunned for 1 round of combat, 11 HP remaining)



The first figure immediately threw her hand outward and unleashed a large sphere of purple flame, that arced through the field and hit Rain in the chest, just as the second figure dissipated his sword and leaped backwards, pushing Rain further towards the sphere.

When the sphere hit Rain, a wave of purple energy washed over her body and she fell into the snow, unmoving.


(Rain suffered -20 HP paralysis damage, 0 HP remaining)

(Rain has been knocked out and paralyzed)




Both shadows emitted an eerily similar sounding giggle and leaped back into the mist, disappearing from sight in the opposite directions.
From the brief moment you saw them, they looked completely identical. From the clothes they wore, to the color of their pelt and hair, to their hairstyle. They were completely identical. And before their silhouettes vanished inside the mist entirely, completely fading from view, you subconsciously noted that you couldn't tell them apart.

Their different weapons were the only distinguishing features.




Johan stirred and woke up, looking up at Circi with a hazed, disoriented expression.

Radiance felt a painful tingling return to his wings, as they regenerated enough to support his own weight once again.





(Radiance is still afflicted with the 'Confuse' Status Effect.)

(Circi is still afflicted with the 'Confuse' Status Effect.)

She stopped preparing the ice magic in favor of dispel magic. First casting it at the sinner, then at the pegasus. After those spells, she looked back where she last saw them.

“Call it dedication to the lie all you want, I know you two are my childeren! I had the two of you inside me for 9 months, you think I forget that?! That I wouldn’t remember the first time I held your small frames?! How the girl was born first, and the boy second?!”

She swallowed some tears back. “Tell me your names! Dusk tome, Blazing Scroll, tell me by what you go by these days!”

Casting the spells in rapid fire, instead of cooking them, resulted in a diminished effect, reducing the Status Effects active timer, but not necessarily removing them.


(Circi's Status Effect' timer was reduced by 1 round)
(Circi's Status Effect was removed)


(Radiance's Status Effect' timer was reduced by 1 round)
(Radiance is still afflicted with 'Confuse')




"...........s-..stop talking" a young girls voice came out of the mist. It sounded like it broke, halfway through the middle:

"Stop trying to humanize yourself. It will not help you.
Those names are completely foreign to me. Don't pretend not to know my real name...



You even knew what I looked like, before you set foot on this planet. You altered your real appearance, just subtly enough, to pass for my relative.



You came here... specifically to masquerade as my biological mother..." the girls voice turned to venom:

"...for just long enough... to get juuust close enough, for me to lower my guard around you... so you can finally shove a dagger in my neck."



The girl audibly bared her teeth in hatred and disgust:
"Pretending to be my biological mother... trying to play on my emotions, just to get close enough to assassinate me.

Does the Depravity of the Machine Folk, know no bounds?..."




Her voice turned cold, detached:
"Originally, I planned to paralyze and interrogate you... but if you continue to push me..." her purple eyes briefly glowed in the mist:

"I'll kill you"

Kaylee Brown wrote:You came here... specifically to masquerade as my biological mother..." the girls voice turned to venom:

"...for just long enough... to get juuust close enough, for me to lower my guard around you... so you can finally shove a dagger in my neck."



The girl audibly bared her teeth in hatred and disgust:
"Pretending to be my biological mother... trying to play on my emotions, just to get close enough to assassinate me.

Does the Depravity of the Machine Folk, know no bounds?..."

"We are not Machine Folk, I can assure you" Rogue continues in Nifel, "Yes, we are ashamed to come from the same world as them, we will freely admit that. But they are as much our enemy as they are yours, if you would only listen to our explanation.

You do not need to attack or interrogate us, we come in peace, and will gladly provide you with any information you need to prove that we speak the truth. If the Machine Folk are truly your enemy, then you would be wise not to dismiss us without at least hearing what we have to say."

Circi ruffles Johan's hair, "You took it like a champ. You'll be fine." She croaks as she gets back up listening to the conversation, "I doubt a natives word matters to you currently. I've seen their plan and it's hopelessly stupid but these machine folk are very different from your regular death squad. One of them have already found their child, I am confident that this party is truthful in their objective." She takes another fighting stance. She brings her spider legs above her head her arms lower, protecting her sides, "I think we should stop fighting and listen to one another for a moment." She watches and waits for either ones attack, the veins in her hands writhe as she prepares to cast her final tendons grasp as soon as one comes near.

“Listen to yourself! Do you really think we would go so far as to trick adopted witchers that we’re their parents?! What is their to gain from there?!”

She put her hand to her face, a noise like a chuckle comes out, but mixed with tears. “This stubbornness, heh, it really is my own.”

She dismisses her weapon. “I ask of you both, lower your weapons. Let’s talk, there must be ways I can prove my honesty.” She clenches her fist, it’s shaking. “One proper talk, it’s all I ask. If it doesn’t please you, then you are free... To take my life.”

Radiance dismisses his own weapon. Flexing his wings then goes to check on his unconcious party members. Simply making sure they're still breathing.

Upon inspection, both Kaylee and Rain appear to be still alive. You can hear their breathing and feel their weak pulse. Their wounds were very slowly regenerating, but they weren't waking up.


Johan slowly rose to one knee and nodded to Circi, briefly indicating that he is okay. Before collecting his hands together and summoning a ghostly light. He's cooking something.

Ursula stood straight and began cooking something as well.





"What you have to say - are carefully fabricated lies." The king's voice came from the mist:
"I already know who you are and why you came here" she audibly smirked:

"Heeeeh... you still don't understand, where you made a mistake.
How exactly you showed me your hand.
That's why you keep pushing this spectacle so persistently...


You've been busted before you even set foot on my ships." She sighed.



"Well. It doesn't matter.

I am a King of a Castle Town. My decisions affect thousands of lives. I simply have no right to endanger them.
...maybe you're right. Maybe you're not my enemies... but I have strong indications that tells me otherwise. Thus, I am simply forbidden to trust you... regardless of my personal feelings."



The girl released a small, neurotic giggle: "...it is quite simple really.

Our worlds are at war.
You banished my people and tried to exterminate us, over and over. Each time, like a mad bull, you pushed your way through the Machina Portal. And each time, we grinded you into dust.


Even a foolish commander would realize that this strategy isn't working. He'd try to find a different approach to exterminate us... a more subtle one.

And what is more subtle than implanting enemy infiltrators into our world, from a different portal?.... The Ashra portal."



The girl angrily called: "Your job was to infiltrate our society.
Look how far you've already come. You've become Witchers, you're already speaking our language. Appearing to assist our people, on the surface. Winning their hearts... gaining their trust and their loyalty.


But in truth?... you are no more than enemy infiltrators. Assassins, tasked with getting close and removing the Kings of Nifelheim... in an attempt to destabilize our government, in preparation for your Grand Invasion.


Will you still deny this? Even after your cover was blown?" The voice came from the mist and went silent.


You can't see either of them.




(Radiance's Status Effect affliction ran its course and ended on its own)

She was silent. The weight of the conversation, along with who was spearheading it, was affecting her a lot. She let out a sigh of resignment.

“You’re right, we are machine folks. We did become witchers, gaining that power despite being outsiders. And most of us did come here for the healing of the machine world. But that’s where your deductions go astray.”

She took a deep breath, composing herself. “Dusk Tome, Blazing Scroll, I do not doubt that the position of Witcher king is tied to many responsibilities, especially to the many people that fall under your protection. Believe me, I know. I’m a politician making decisions for millions of humans. However, that’s exactly why we must end this fight now. If we work together, we can make the crossing possible even easier, keeping the citizens of both our countries safe from a clash.”

She wiped a tear away. “Let’s work together, as political forces. As fellow witchers. As mother and child. My two precious foals...”

"We deny your accusations because they are wrong, our two worlds are not at war. Our people do not even know you and this world exist, yet alone the conflict being perpertrated falsly in our name" Rogue continues,

"The people who sent you here are not trying to invade, they don't even care about your people, you're just in their way. They seek the Dark Machine, and they already bypassed your defence lines perhaps hundreds of years ago to get it, we have a memory orb which proves this much.

Killing us will gain you nothing and lose you everything. You do not have to trust us, lock us up if it makes you feel more comfortable, but the fate of the very people you profess to protect lies in the balance here."

"If these Mechanica are assassin's then I'm the king of all the Sinners on Nifelhime." She shakes her head, "I have seen what these dummys are looking for. As the king it is your duty to protect your people and have an idea on the situation, It sounds to me like your grasping at straws, missing the bigger picture. The information we have available is... Irrefutable to say the least and it paints a very different, much more menacing picture then a bunch of obvious spy's."

C̷O̴N̴S̶U̸M̵E̵ wrote:"If these Mechanica are assassin's then I'm the king of all the Sinners on Nifelhime." She shakes her head, "I have seen what these dummys are looking for. As the king it is your duty to protect your people and have an idea on the situation, It sounds to me like your grasping at straws, missing the bigger picture. The information we have available is... Irrefutable to say the least and it paints a very different, much more menacing picture then a bunch of obvious spy's."

"Plus, if I WERE a spy, I'd be a brilliant one" Rogue adds.

"If you only follow the path of war and anger then only death and sorrow will find you," Radiance adds in

The mist was shrouded in silence for almost a full minute. Then you began to see an outline of one of them, as it walked slowly towards you.


"Viktoria.." a voice called in Nifel, from the opposite direction: "Viktoria what are you doing"


The outline briefly stopped her approach and called back:
"I.. I just want to get a better look at her" she replied, clearly looking at Twilight.




The sound of a faint puff echoed somewhere over the treeline. It reminded you of the sound of a flare.
"Viktoria you have become emonionally compromised" the voice rang from the mist again.



"Hey! Just wait a minute!" The girl called, taking another step towards Twilight and looking somewhere above and behind her.



"Its already done" the voice firmly replied: "Take a walk"

"Whatever" The girl crossed her arms and walked off into the mist, disappering from sight again.




Maybe a few seconds passed before the entire mist came alive and a tight circle of men suddenly stepped into view.

There were maybe thirty of them. Black ceremonial leather armor and white shirts of chainmail. A large insignia of a brilliant white lotus adored their entire chests, depicted as if the petals themselves were fire.


They had you completely surrounded in a very tight circle. Maybe a second ticked by, before they raised hands in unison and the entire field lit up with a barrage of purple fire.




(Twilight suffered -80 HP paralysis damage. Twilight has been paralyzed)

(Rogue suffered -80 HP paralysis damage. Rogue has been paralyzed)

(Circi suffered -80 HP paralysis damage. Circi has been paralyzed)

(Radiance suffered -80 HP paralysis damage. Radiance has been paralyzed)

(Johan suffered -80 HP paralysis damage. Johan has been paralyzed)

(Ursula suffered -80 HP paralysis damage. Ursula has been paralyzed)




You lost control of your body and slowly fell into the snow. Laying in the chilling snowdrifts, your eyes were left open. Your lungs still breathing on an autonomous reflex.


Members of the White Lotus, the honor guard of the king of Rakshata, began to disperse around your old campsite, thoroughly securing the perimeter.


A loud thud was heard somewhere behind you, as an unseen figure jumped down from a tree. His footsteps quietly crackled in the snow, as he began making his way towards you.
After a few moments he stepped into view.


He was a unicorn, with long purple hair and yellow pelt. Wearing a warm, baggy sweater. He slowly crouched down next to you and looked you in the eyes for a long moment.


He wasn't alone.
The two merchants who traveled with you, stood on both of his sides. This time, they wore the ceremonial armor of the White Lotus though.








The unicorn with purple hair carefully studied your faces, before he finally spoke:


"...two months ago, a flare was fired above a civilian village, proclaiming the start of a new Machine World Invasion.
You can imagine our surprise when we realized it originated in the Island of Ashra.

That was clever. Using our own damaged Pillar to teleport here, bypassing our defense line completely.




We ordered a special White Lotus unit to supervise the evacuation of Ashra, to keep a look out for invaders.

They pinged you when you first tried to board our evacuation ships. Your accent was unmistakable, there was no doubt who you were.




Each time Machine Folk showed up here, they went out of their way to butcher our people on sight.
You can understand the shock of my men, when not only did you not lash out, but actually helped them safeguard our ships.




Your behavior was strange, atypical. But we couldn't overlook the possible danger.

To avoid provoking you, two of my men were ordered to watch you in secret, record your behaviour, your actions, your combat stats.


Gathering intelligence on Circi was more difficult. She was a wild card.
Thankfully, the hedgehog attacked. It was a good cover to cast a Deep Scan on Circi, during the battle, revealing her stats and her spell list.




A nasty spell that one, Tendons Grasp. Our combat strategy would have fallen apart right away, if either of us would be hit with it."

The unicorn sighed:




"Above all else, we had to separate you from the convoy. There was no telling when your mission parameters would change and you would lash out against our civilians.


You can imagine the surprise of our convoy commander, when you asked to leave on your own.



The final plans for your capture were drafted. The convoy commander gave you false directions and took a different route.

Sending you deep into the Swamps of Rakshata, where we could finally engage you in combat, without any risk to civilians."







The unicorn heavily sighed and sent a tired hand through his hair. He looked fatigued:

"This wasn't personal. Me and Viki, we are both, King of Rakshata.
We're honor bound to safeguard our people, from every possible threat. Sometimes it means taking extreme measures. On the off chance that our suspicions were true, we would prevent a disaster and the loss of countless lives.



Such is Nifelheim, cold and unforgiving. We simply can't afford to take any chances, to trust, to make a mistake.

We're not allowed to make those.

I'm sorry"






The unicorn rose to full height and sighed:

"You will be transported to a secure location and debriefed. Far from our civilian centers.
We will do our best to verify your claims.

As of now, you are considered prisoners of war, with all the rights that it entails.

That is all"




He turned to leave, then stopped. His eyes looking at Twilight. After a moment he stood at attention in front of her and quietly said:

"I am called Ryuuken Alstreim. My sisters name is Viktoria Alstreim.

I'm sorry. But I'm not allowed to take chances. My duty forbids it.

We will speak again, when you wake up.
...goodbye for now" he sighed. And the darkness of unconsciousness slowly engulfed you and swallowed you whole.









--------------------------------------







A waking dream is always subconsciously terrifying. There is some sort of primal fear that stirs, each time one realizes that the world around you isn't real.

When the mind vividly realizes that its dreaming, an almost reflexive effort is made to wake up, escape the fake world around you. And mostly, you wake up in seconds.



It is when you realize you're locked in a dream and cannot wake up, that the experience becomes truly terrifying.

You've felt like this... once... so long ago now that it seemed like a lifetime away, as if it happened in a different life.




But the feeling was vivid and you felt just like you did before.



--------------------------------





An unfamiliar cave. Water quietly dripping from the stalactites above. A small underground waterfall that turns into a shallow river, runs to your left.


The longer you look around, the more people you notice around you.


Twilight, Rogue, Rain, Radiance, Circi and Ursula. Kaylee and Johan. Everyone was present. Plus one.





Lucretia was peacefully napping nearby, resting on a cold looking sofa, built out of stone.

Kaylee Brown wrote:An unfamiliar cave. Water quietly dripping from the stalactites above. A small underground waterfall that turns into a shallow river, runs to your left.


The longer you look around, the more people you notice around you.


Twilight, Rogue, Rain, Radiance, Circi and Ursula. Kaylee and Johan. Everyone was present. Plus one.





Lucretia was peacefully napping nearby, resting on a cold looking sofa, built out of stone

"Well that's dissapointing. Potentially bright lot, I thought" Rogue blinks, as he slowly comes to his bearings. When he sees Lucretia, it clicks that he's not in a prison cell.

"Huh, so I guess this is another coma conference call then."

Circi sits cross-legged on the floor, her hands resting on her legs, and her eyes closed. Her head is lowered and she seems to be taking slow, calculated breaths, "we've been captured." She whispers, "How unfortunate."

Rain arises with a groan, "Good Lord what happened?" She holds her head in her hand

C̷O̴N̴S̶U̸M̵E̵ wrote:Circi sits cross-legged on the floor, her hands resting on her legs, and her eyes closed. Her head is lowered and she seems to be taking slow, calculated breaths, "we've been captured." She whispers, "How unfortunate."

Rain arises with a groan, "Good Lord what happened?" She holds her head in her hand

"We were surrounded from the very start, they paralysed us all" Rogue updates Rain. "Currently, we've been summoned once again by everybody's favourite Precursor", he indicates towards Lucretia, "Oh, right."

He turns to Ursula and Circi, "You guys weren't here last time, so this'll be a bit weird. Essentially, this's all a shared lucid dream, allowing us to communicate between our two worlds. You have to be in a deep state of sleep to access it, like a coma. Over there's the fabled Lucretia you've heard so much about, though not dead, it seems. Wonder if we should wake her, or...?"

(At the final showdown.)

As twilight crashes to the earth, her body paralyzed, she franctically tries to do something against it to no avail. The visage of Ryuuken was, however, putting her at ease, and before her consiousness fades, it almost seemed... She began to smile.

(In the dream.)

At that scene, her back was turned to the rest of the team. her body shook slightly, soft sniveling coming from her direction.

Rain slowly pulls herself to her feet, her ears perked. She looks to Lucretia, then to Twilight, with a soft sigh she mumbles under her breath, "Show some compassion Rain" she slowly walks her way over to Twilight it's clear on her face she's trying to think of what to say. She stops next to the lavender unicorn and takes a seat next to her, "It's wild isn't it?" She places her hand on Twilights shoulder, "Its very shocking. Just a few months ago you were sitting at home with two infant children, now your here you seen your offspring and that gap between yours and their age is gone." She snaps her fingers, "Just like that." She sits in silence for a few moments, "When we found Ursula I was shocked. My baby girl all grown up before my eyes, but it didn't..." She pauses looking down at the ground unsure, "It... Didn't feel right. I had no intention of ever letting my daughter go but now it's as if I left her to be adopted by some other family, and only now am I realizing the mistake, so many missed birthdays, I didn't get to watch her grow up, I wasn't here to guide her at her worst, and I wasn't there to cheer her on at her best. It's rough to think about." She takes her hand off Twilights shoulder, crossing her arms and looking to the dirt below her, "I'm glad we found your kids Twilight." Her voice seems dull and solom, she lets out a soft scoff at herself, "I'd ask how your feeling but that's a stupid question. Just know that if you want to talk, I'm here. It's a very... Surreal experience."

"How I'm feeling, you ask..." She softly says.

She then turns around to face Rain, her eyes moist but her face pretty much beams. "I'm ESTATIC! I have found my two precious foals again! And not only are they together, they've worked up their way to the rank of king! I'm so PROUD of them!"

She takes a deep breath, then continues more calmly. "It's true, the loss of all those precious moments together, the chance to see them grow up together, it's painful. And to have them grow up in a hostile world like this, I never would want that..."

She briefly shook her head. "Despite that, the biggest stings I'm feeling were the words they chose to taunt us. I missed a lot, yes, but I believe we can catch up, once we wake up. Perhaps... It has to get a place... You had these feelings far longer then I have. You're more experienced with them. Still, I feel happy again. The fears I had are gone, replaced by relief."

She looks down, more solemn. "So many people have these feelings... The guys here are the same. It's a feeling no one should have." Her brow furrows. "Once the war is over, that could be my focus."