Paragons

Galwix puts up his hands defensively.

“I was getting there, you interrupted, remember?”

Adele squints back at Yarden's new name and feels the irritation begin to rise up once more. Virgil? Yarden? Lenora? Which is it? Who are you? Who are any of these people? ... If I don't get myself under control, I'm gonna be exhausted within an hour. She watches the interaction for a few more moments, her stress levels rising all the while.

"Stop it! All of you. This is ridiculous. If I don't already need to check myself into an institution, you'll drive me to it. You want to save the world? Well then stop your bickering! You might as well just end it yourselves at this rate." She waves a hand at Prudence and Galwix.

"And you, Virgil-Yarden-Lenora, whoever you are, why can't you just pick a name?"

To keep her frustrated tears at bay, she hurriedly turns to a blank page of her sketch book and begins doodling a jagged crystal in the same color scheme as Squirt.

To Adele~~

Your sudden expression of emotion is met by blank stares from both Galwix and Prudence. There are muttered “I.... um....” and “no, you explain...” back and forth before Galwix steps towards you gently.

“Sorry for the confusion and trouble, it was not our intent. What is important is that we find the stone that was used to take down the dragon of Void so long ago, we have several shards of it but they have been scattered across worlds... this is our quest... I believe you two would make good allies... if you would like to help, that is.”

He steps back to Prudence quietly, almost shamefully and waits for a response.

Adele glances up occasionally as Galwix offers the apology and explanation; but she mostly keeps her eyes on her little artwork, forgetting for a moment that such things have a new tendency to jump off the page and using the outlet to calm herself down.

She sighs before responding, lower lip trembling ever so slightly, "Apology accepted. And I apologize for my outburst. Now about these stone shards... how do you plan on finding them?"

Why can't you just pick a name?

Isn't that the million dollar question, Grier thought. They weren't trying to fluster Adele specifically.

Grier let the kitchen cabinet door close without retrieving another snack. They concentrated and retracted the camouflage from their hand and forearm so as not to alarm Adele with floating objects. They picked up their research scratch sheet from earlier and went beside her. They worked to sketch a solitary candle.

Picture of sketch


They laid the small paper on top of Adele's sketchbook and disappeared.

"Lenora is a Spanish word, meaning light. I have other names I can't share. What I ask others to call me is how I feel, who I am, or who I hope to be in relation to them. That changes." A smile creeps across Grier's lips, though no one can see it. "Frequently."

"I'd like to see how it changes around you." Grier addressed Galwix and Prudence as well. "And I guess that means I'll help with the shards, if I can."

Prudence, in a much gentler tone than she had taken up to this point, answered the question.

“We... actually don’t have a reliable way to track them... yet.”

She paused.

“However,” she went on cautiously “strange things tend to happen around them... have any strange things happened here of late?”

Now it's Adele's turn to feel bad. She gives Lenora an apologetic look and whispers, "I'm so sorry. It's just ... weird to me that your name keeps changing. I think I understand though. Nice drawing too."

As Prudence explains the strange happenings around the shards, Adele allows herself to chuckle a bit. "Strange? Oh no, not a bit. Just everyday things like drawings coming to life, mini tornado-things, and the three of you standing in my house." She even gives Prudence a mischievous wink. "Wait? How close do you mean by 'around?' You don't think there's one here, do you?"

Galwix spoke up and despite the glare from Prudence his accent was back.

“I’d be ken t’ k’ow ifen yonder ten’kle b’stie be avin ‘un.”

Adele pauses her doodling for a moment to think.

"So, hold on. First you say we need the shards to defeat that ... thing, and now you say it might have one? How are we supposed to handle that?"

She glances between Galwix and Prudence with concern. "Also, while you answer that, I need some coffee. Anybody else?"

She places her sketchbook and supplies on a counter and begins puttering around the kitchen while Squirt happily rolls around on top of the drawing, seemingly trying to pick up the matching crystalline forms.

Grier's head twitched in Adele's direction at the mention of coffee. They didn't get to savor their breakfast tea with Dominic ruining the experience earlier.

"Yes. Coffee for me!" They pipped. Rubbing their fingers together and feeling moisture come easily they added, "With ice, please. Lots of ice."

Grier used the lapse in conversation to get a better look at Prudence. Her armor was shiny. It would look quite nice paired with the red stone from Galwix's story. Her belt held a small satchel, probably containing something disappointing. It was hard to see the satchel though as it was covered buy a book.

A massive, golden book.

"Hey, now." Grier called, doing their best match the Knight's authoritative tone from earlier. "I'm a great lover of books, Prudence; but recent experience has me on edge. What's that golden thing you have and is it a vampire?"

Several expressions of various stages of confusion cross Galwix’s face and a soft noise comes from his mouth.

“Eh?”

Then, recognition dawns almost as tangible as a light being turned on. He speaks with his accent mysteriously missing again.

“You think the beast in the shop where we met and the world ending void are the same creature? No... not at all! But aye, we do think the beast may have one of the pieces.”

To Grier ~~~

“Vampires!? Where!?”

Prudence sounds more excited than anything else as she slams her book open onto a nearby surface (the arm of the couch as it happens) and a large golden symbol appears in the air above it.

Putting her arm through the symbol like some sort of holographical glove she pivots as if she is operating a mounted turret and begins pointing the glowing gauntlet contraption at various corners of the room.

“Show me the monsters and I swear by the Raven Queen herself they shall make her acquaintance this day!”

"Woah woah woah!" Grier shouts and drops to the floor, rolling near Prudence's feet. Grier didn't know if a magic arm gun shot real bullets, but they wagered they would hurt all the same.

"No vampires here, just a curious victim," they continued in exasperation.

Grier crawled under Prudence's outstretched arms and hopped up onto the couch's arm. Leaning closer, they tried to decipher what was on the open book's pages.

Adele looks confused at Galwix' reply. She tries to replay the previous bits of conversation in her head within a few seconds.

"Oh, no, I see. It's just a lot of information to process all at once. I guess I've been more concerned about the present self-ending problem than some vague world-ending one." She waves her hand around to indicate a vague atmosphere.

"Last call for coffee! I'm making two. Or tea, if you want."

The book in question is filled with some sort of runic language made up of harsh angles and geometric figures that you cannot translate.

Prudence, for her part, seems genuinely disappointed and slowly pulls her hand out of the weapon and closes the book sullenly returning it to her hip with a mournful sigh. She perks up however at Adele’s last call.

“Yes! I would rather enjoy a beverage!” She smiles eagerly.

Behind her, Galwix violently shakes his head back and forth.

Grier humphs in disappointment as Prudence takes away the book. They reach out with any impulse to snatch it but remember they're trying to be polite. Standing by Prudence, they merely admire the shiny book.

"Ahem. While you and Galwix are clearly different, you both have an aptitude for avoiding questions. What's with the book?"

Thinking of Adele they call out to the kitchen, "Are we staying awhile? Are we all friends now? Should I get dressed again?"

Prudence pats the book approvingly.

“Only the finest dwarven-made smite-cannon!”

Grier becomes quickly overwhelmed with the vast amount of accumulated knowledge concerning dwarves and mystical cannons. Lord of the Rings. Snow White. Star Trek. So much Star Trek. All humor fades from their expression.

"Context. Most stories that use those words here are fiction. Unless you're referring to dwarven-made as made by humans with a certain genetic trait, but then that's a whole other issue and considered rude apparently. We don't have smite-cannons. Could you clear up a bit what you mean? Is this book magical? Can you summon any weapon from it? We're dealing with an entire reset of what is real and what is ridiculous."

That was a lot of words at once. Grier tended to talk more when they were invisible.

Because the math is easier (or maybe because she knows she'll need extra), Adele decides to make four cups of coffee. As the coffee maker works it's magic, Adele whisks around the kitchen to collect mugs, cream, and sugar and listens in on the other's conversation.

She chuckles occasionally and, thankfully, avoids noticing the arm cannon being pointed around the apartment. "I don't know, dear, whatever you all decide," she replies to Lenora's questions. But the mention of 'dwarven-made' catches her attention. Are they just a bunch of medieval-fantasy nerds? What even is happening right now? She shakes her head in disbelief and glances around for any hidden cameras before realizing it. What are you doing? You're paranoid! Yeah, you're right, I am. And with good reason. Stop it. You're nuts. Is it normal to argue with yourself?

"Coffee's ready!" she calls out while putting on a smile. "Water, Galwix?"

Prudence rolls her eyes and does not actually answer any of Lenora's questions. "If you don't know I have no intention on wasting the time to educate you."

She turns to Galwix.

"We need to get those shards, do you have a lead or not?"

Turning to Adele her voice changed from irritated to perfectly gentle. "Thank you so much for the coffee."