wizardseason | The Princess' Dream Citadel

There's a reason that the Protector has these chairs. They're cozy. They're squishy. They're positively divine. He turns just slightly when the heroes arrive, looking at each of them in turn. They've brought up three very specific questions that all deserve to be addressed.

"I am searching for answers, to find a way to prevent what happened today from happening again." He answers Rory, he's looking for the man behind the curtain pulling the strings.

"If she is to blame, this year and this world may be lost already. But I doubt she was involved." He answers Olivia, searching her face for answers as to why she looks... annoyed?

"I did not leave. I was blocked out. She hid you in a bubble, I feared you would be killed." He says, his voice utterly devoid of emotion despite that this topic was absolutely something that you'd expect a person to be emotional about. After he answers, though, he motions at the screens and decides to share a more important bit of information:

"I believe this is the fault of the world itself."

Oh, that's concerning! Bad even! One of Rory's ears perks up - that's all the reaction she can muster right ow.

"Right, uh, I heard the world today. It was talking to me, when I went to... uh. The mountain? In the past? When it was storming."

Well. It sounds so stupid when she puts it like that, but at least her fellow good knight sounds like she experienced what she did too. "It asked for my help," she says, frowning."

The world itself? [She blinks in surprise. Then she turns to Rory, brow furrowed in confusion.] The world was talking to you? What- wait.

[She shifts in her seat, nibbling at her thumb in thought.] I heard a voice this morning too. Like... a kid. I assumed it was the Wizard fucking with me.

[She pauses, her tail tapping the floor nervously.] It... didn't ask me for help, if that was the world.

"A LOT of weird shit happened this morning. I heard a kid's voice too, and ran into... the Wizard, I guess -- but a different one. A lot scarier." Luka adds, before addressing the Protector again.

"Would the Wizard really do that? Kill me herself, outside of a monster battle...?" He's not sure when, if ever, to bring up what he and the Wizard discussed in detail.

"The world does not wish to be destroyed." Is the only answer the Protector gives to Rory and Olivia. They were discussing things he'd seen in the floating memories. Their experiences weren't exclusive and seemed to all share common themes.

But then Luka brings up the Wizard and Rory and Olivia will see him snap his attention onto the Princess. He'd only been looking to the side at all of them, but now his attention was fully locked on and he takes a step forward towards Luka. His shoe clacks hard against the stonework of the Citadel and his voice is cold and serious when he speaks.

"She would do worse." He answers, exhaling slowly before he elaborates. "She could use you as a hostage to whatever end she desires. She would kill you to make sure you couldn't be saved." He shakes his head, folding his arms in front of himself.

"She will kill any chance this world has at being saved, all of you included."

None of these words are good to relax to. Rory attempts to sit up straighter, but the softness of the chair does not make it easy. Regardless, her fists clench.

"We need to keep him company whenever we can, Olivia!" she says, still not loud exactly but definitely with more energy. "I didn't know the Wizard would use dirty tactics like that. What about when we sleep and such?"

Isn't doing that kinda against her own rules? [She asks, before giving Rory a nod.] I mean, I don't think we can follow him around all the time, but...

[She turns to Luka, lightly tapping his knee with her tail.] We'll do whatever we can to keep you safe. [Within reason, she thinks. She glances at the Protector.] What... can we do about this, anyway?

Luka's quiet, but not as rattled as one would imagine he'd be upon hearing those words.

"What's stopping her then? She could have killed us all that night she left those pajamas in our rooms and won the whole thing."

"Protecting him is a wise idea." He chimes in, but Rory and Olivia are both offering some legitimate fears and Luka's pointed out a giveaway.

"She follows the rules only when it is convenient, she will break them the same way. Unless they are her rules." He clarifies, glancing between all three of them. They've found one of them already, and he'll gladly tell them as much.

"No hero has ever been stabbed in the back, killed in their sleep, or killed by a stealth trap." He explains, and if the three think back to all the previous years they'll remember that to be true. More importantly, they'll remember the one thing all the deaths had in common:

"Every death is at the hands of a monster, or in a declared fight with her. If she says she's fighting you, assume your life is at risk."

Ah, that's easy, I assume my life is at risk at all times. [She rests her chin on her hand. It was good to know the Wizard wouldn't kill them in their sleep, although she still didn't appreciate the kigurumi night visit.]

I saw a lot of weird shit today. You say this was the world, then? The cracks on the ground leading up the mountain? And the weird, floating crystals with children in them? [She watches the Protector's screens for a moment before her gaze returns to him.] It's a... strange way to ask for help.

Luka's quiet for a long moment. "She told me tonight that you've killed a Princess in the past. Why would she say that? It couldn't be true."

He isn't sure if sharing this information is a mistake or not. But he need the truth, or at least both sides takes on the truth. Luka has to trust the Protector. Anything else isn't an option.

The Protector watches Olivia's face as she responds, searching her for any kind of details that might give away.

"It is like a child, lashing out at what it does not understand. It has many powers that it does not know how to use." He explains before turning to Luka.

If Luka was hoping to catch the Protector off guard, that isn't the case. The Protector is as calm and level as ever, his voice casual and unhurried as he answers.

"I have stood by as some met their end. That could be called killing them. I am not ashamed to admit I have watched those who sought he world to end meet their own demise without extending a hand." He turns away as he says it, eyes going back to the screens.

"Those who think that way this year haven't revealed themselves."

[She listens to his explanations silently - it sounds like their world is just as confused as anyone else to her. She quietly hopes the Knights will finally be able to help it this year.

She leans in a little as he talks about the evil allured Knights; Olivia didn't completely trust anyone yet, but none of the Knights she had met so far seemed like they had ulterior motives or any connection to the Wizard.] Is there anything we should be looking out for, specifically? To discover them?

"Ha! I knew she was bullshitting me. She made it sound so evil, but that's just common sense! And of course she's totally convinced that she's winning this year. I guess every year is like that, huh?" Luka seems to ramble on, clearly relieved in the Protector's answers.

"She said she's preparing some off-world holding chamber or something. As if the world's actually being destroyed this year, for real this time." he continues, emphasizing his final words with a mocking, sarcastic voice.

The Protector doesn't turn from the screens as he answers Olivia, keeping the same level, controlled voice as he speaks.

"There is no surefire way, but often the knights aligned with her will resist condemning her actions."

But at Luka's words, he turns. He looks him over, analyzing the way the Princess is clearly relieved by what he'd been told. After a moment of hearing Luka's sarcastic tone, he seems satisfied by it and sighs softly.

"If she is not killed, it will be the end." He answers after a pause, because there's the bit that Luka shared that caught his attention.

And because Luka spent a non-negligible amount of time conversing with the Wizard.

"Off-world holding chamber in what way?" He asks, turning fully towards him. "What is she planning?"

[Olivia listens to Luka, blinking incredulously.] Is it safe for you to be gossiping with the Wizard?

[Before she can say something else, the Protector makes a question of his own. Olivia is sort of... taken aback that there's something in play that he doesn't know about. She shifts her gaze between one man and the other expectantly, waiting for Luka to explain.]

"Basically what it sounds like." Luka shrugs. "She thinks the world's going to be destroyed this year-- she likened to to a bomb that's set to explode, so she made a duplicate of the island. She called like, a memorial or a tribute or something... to remember it by. I think she wants to put us there."

"She must be growing desperate." He sighs, turning away from Luka again. He waves a hand and the screens display all the places and activities the Wizard has been up to. It shows everyone she's conversed with, every little thing she's done. It's all there.

"She will tell you anything to try to sway you. Do not let her stories convince you that her lies have any merit."

She wants to put us on an island? What, like a Knight zoo?

[She shakes her head, wondering just what it is about this year that makes the Wizard so sure she's going to win. She assumes its whatever the world seems to be doing. She looks at the Protector again, briefly glancing at the screen for a Perception Check™ to see who else the Wizard has spoken with.] Has she done this before? Preserve her... battleground or whatever with other worlds, I mean.

"It seems like a new thing to me. She's acting like there's something different about this year, for sure but... who knows with her. It could just be another tactic."

The screens reveal all the casual interactions with the Wizard that have taken place. It's... almost all the knights, at this point. In various places around the island. If there's someone missing, it's hard to spot them before the screens are gone.

"She has tried many different tactics over the years we've been here." He answers, looking Olivia and Luka over.

"She tried something significant the twelfth year and everyone nearly died because of it."

[After watching the screens, Olivia has to wonder if she's the only one that hasn't talked to the Wizard yet. At first, she'd thought finding the Wizard-drawn Knights would be simple, but if everyone was hanging out with her then everyone was still a suspect! See, this is why she's a criminal and not a detective. Finding answers is hard work.

She nods along to the Protector's words, listening to him but remaining quiet for the moment as she keeps thinking about the Evil Knights situation.]

"Something significant? What, exactly?" Luka tilts his head as he inquires. "Year twelve is a bit before my time."

Olivia might be the only one who hasn't spoken to the Wizard! (There was one other, actually). All the others, if even for a moment, have at least said a single word. Even if some of them had spoken for longer than others.

"Every monster fight was a one-on-one duel. When the knight lost, the princess fought the weakened monster. Only two knights were victorious, she killed the other ten."

That sounds awful. At least all of us are still around so far, huh?

Hopefully it won't come to anything like that.

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