wizardseason | The Princess' Dream Citadel

Luka snaps into consciousness in the Dream Citadel. The familiar sound and smell of the water reassures him that he'd successfully made it there, as if there were any chance of failure. He'd unceremoniously crashed onto his bed in Craydon that night after a few two many Monster Margaritas, and only barely remembered to think of Rory and Olivia before he passed out.

"We made it!" He celebrates, voice loud and triumphant. "Right? Does it look like the right place? It sounds like it."

Unfortunately for Luka, Rory is indeed not with him at the top. Instead she's looking around disoriented at the bottom. She was told about this meeting and had looked forward to it, but actually being there so suddenly was... an experience.

When she spots Olivia nearby, she smiles widely. "Hey! Glad you're here, too! I guess we should get to climbing all these stairs?"

[Olivia is really disoriented for a hot minute, but she doesn't have time to panic before Rory calls out to her.
Ah, right, the Protector date. It had kind of slipped her mind.]

Oh, hey! Hi. [She's kind of distracted as she looks around the place, and then down at herself. Pajamas. She nods.] Yeah... yeah, no point in standing around, huh? Let's go.

The Protector sits, unmoving while Luka wakes up. He waits for him to ask his question before he responds.

"You are in the right place, but your companions have not yet arrived."

As he says it, though, he's entirely aware of the distant footsteps making their way up the long, long climb from the bottom to the top. Luka had suffered through it on the first night, now the two allied knights have to make their way up. He'll be listening for their arrival, and when they arrive he'll announce them both with a "Hello" followed by their name. He knows their names.

"Fashionably late? How the tables have turned." Luka laughs, throwing his head back in delight and sinking further into the recliner. "I guess it took awhile to pick out the right pajamas."

"Look, it's the Protector!" He says jubilantly as the two Knights ascend to the top. He waves his arms in the general direction of the Protector's chair, just in case they missed him.

If Rory was any winded from climbing up the stairs, it all vanishes when she sees the Protector and gasps in excitement. She instantly hurries over to him and reaches to grab his hand for a shake.

"Nice to meet you finally! I'm Rory, I'm sure you know! It's an honor to be here, truly, wow!"

[Thankfully she exercises enough that she's not really winded when they get to the top, either. Kind of annoyed, sure; it's the current year, man, why can't you just have an elevator? But her furrowed brow melts away in a chuckle at Luka's enthusiasm. That was kind of adorable, Princess.

Unlike Rory, she hangs back, watching the Protector cautiously - the nerves she felt this morning when Luka told her she'd be meeting him had come back.] Hello... nice place you got here.

Fortunately for Olivia and Rory, the Protector has manners. In the time it takes for Rory to rush over from the stairs to where he is, he rises from his seat before meeting her handshake. He offers her a polite smile, seemingly pleased to see her here.

"I am glad you made the journey." He answers before turning his gaze up to Olivia in the distance.

"It is. We are safe in this tranquil place." He wonders if she'll approach, but he isn't going to force anything. He turns towards Luka a few moments later.

"You have two powerful allies on your side."

"Three, no? Don't you count too?" Luka winks. "Hopefully more than two, at least. I feel like I can't trust anyone else yet."

Luka sits up suddenly, as if remembering something. "Oh, oh! Right, Gyre. Do you remember him? He wanted me to ask you questions."

Once she's had enough of shaking Protector's hand, she takes an empty seat and rests her chin on her palms ready to intently listen to every tiny bit of the conversation. Everything about the place and its inhabitant makes it feel so important. At the same time, though, she can't help looking around still, taking everything in.

"This is so cool," she whispers in Olivia's direction, since the two of them share the experience of seeing it all for the first time.

[She takes a seat too, looking at everywhere but the Protector in a poor attempt at hiding her flushed cheeks. Being called powerful by him of all people, even if she didn't think it was true, was kind of a big deal!

She nods at Rory as the girl talks to her.] Yeah, this is... really something.

Um, so, we do have some questions but, did you want to discuss something in particular..? [She asks, glancing at the Protector.]

"I welcome you here each night to answer your questions, to keep you on the path." He answers calmly to Olivia's question. He's noted how much more reserved she is compared to Rory and he wants her feeling more confident. He's quite certain Rory could keep her confidence up for days.

After a moment, he turns to Luka.

"I do remember him. What questions?" And then another pause, glancing towards Rory and Olivia. "Any questions are welcome."

Luka thinks for a moment, trying to recall his conversation with Gyre in the woods.

"He said some weird shit. Oh, right --- he wanted to ask if there was 'another way'. I know you said this was some kind of deal you struck, but Gyre seems to think it's not good in the long term."

"Another way? Deal?" Rory feels out of the loop, here. She scratches the back of her head with a puzzled look on her face, glancing between Luka and the Protector. "Can you guys um... fill us in? I'm lost."

The deal is like, the whole Wizard Season, right? It's the reason why we're here. [Luka had told her a little about it, but he'd left the explanation to the Protector himself.]

How did it happen? Why does she want to destroy all of us?

"There is no other way." The Protector answers after a moment, considering what Luka had said. After another moment he turns towards Rory to answer the question. Luka had already heard, but the two good knights needed to be informed.

"Forty years ago, it began over a wager. A bet to save the world. Power in exchange for a contract. On that day, the world was on track to be destroyed. We knew it would happen, we chose to intervene. We bought a year of safety. Each year, we buy another."

And then he pauses to consider Olivia's question before he answers, turning his gaze onto her before he speaks.

"She is dissatisfied with the way things are."

"Pffh." Luka scoffs. "I knew there was no other way! I could have told him as much. He seems to think like, humanity's gonna get too tired to keep it up, or something." Luka leans back in his recliner and crosses his legs.

"Why would we ever get too tired to secure our own existence? I really don't get some of these knights."

"Yeah! What's the point of not fighting, don't people want to stay alive?" There is a fire in her eyes as she says this. She then turns to the Protector with a more quizzical look, though.

"Who... what wanted to destroy the world, back then? The Wizard? Something else? Why?" She really, really wants to put this puzzle together, but she's not very good at that. It's all so confusing, and too grand for her to understand.

[She's taken her tail in her hands and is twisting it nervously as the rest of them speak, taking a moment to consider Luka's words.] I think what Gyre meant is... just surviving gets tiring after a while? People want to actually live their lives without this looming over their heads, right? Uh, at least that's what I guess he was talking about?

[She wonders the same things Rory voiced, so she gives him a curious look too, tilting her head as she waits for him to answer.]

"The planet itself is unstable. The world saw glimpses of the destruction to come: Earthquakes, fissures, instability. If it continued, the very planet itself would have come undone at its seams." He answers Rory's inquiry, meeting both her and Olivia's eyes.

He notes their other conversation but chooses not to contribute to it. He, unfortunately, cannot relate. He has one single goal: Keep the world spinning, year after year. The cycle must continue.

"Even if just surviving isn't ideal, the alternative is nothing at all... so, I don't see the point in trying anything else." Luka says. "It sounds like the planet was fucked. I'm sure if there was another way, the Protector would have figured it out, right?"

He turns to the Protector, as if waiting for confirmation.

"I guess that's fair. Not fun to live with constant anxiety," Rory says thoughtfully to respond to what Olivia said. "But Luka's right, not existing would be even more terrifying!"

She then tilts her head to the Protector's direction. "So the Wizard wants to end this cycle, right? Of buying the peace?" she asks, "Is that why this whole thing is happening?"

So our planet was dying before you two came along...? [This is.......... very stressful.]

And so then, what? You saved us and the Wizard didn't like it?

The Protector nods in response to Luka's assumption then, after a moment, vocalizes it. "You are correct. This is the only way."

"The Wizard wishes for the cycle to end. If I fall, the world falls with me. My fate is tied to the world itself." He answers both Rory and Olivia, watching their faces for how they'll take the news.

"We do not see eye to eye on any solution."

"Well," Luka thinks. "How would she kill you? You exist on this... wherever this is, right? Dream realm?"

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