“Okay, first thing's first,” Bauteut said before lightly shoving a bowl into Joan’s hands. “Eat this.”

“It doesn’t smell very good,” Joan said.

“It’s not supposed to smell like much of anything,” Bauteut said. “Take your time with it. You haven’t eaten anything in a while and I don’t want you getting sick. Again. Can you please stop doing this?”

“I’m trying,” Joan said sheepishly. “On the upside, it hopefully won’t happen again for a bit.”

“For a bit, she says,” Bauteut said with a roll of her eyes before glancing to Myrin. “Do you see what I have to deal with?”

“Oh, I see plenty,” Myrin said with an amused smile on her lips. “So then, as her personal healer, how many do you think she should see at once?”

“See at once?” Joan asked.

“Yes,” Bauteut said. “Everyone is worried about you. There’s a lot of questions and, well…”

“Well?” Joan asked. “Just send them all in at once, I’ll be fine.”

“Really?” Bauteut asked. “Do you really feel fine being yelled at by everyone at once?”

“Sure, why not?” Joan asked. “If they all yell at once I can just wait for them to run out of breath before I listen.”

Bauteut gave a soft sigh before nodding. “Fine. I hope whatever you found out was worth it. Myrin, send them in.”

Myrin only had about a second after calling them in before Korgron came storming into the room, a storm cloud of anger all but surrounding her. “YOU! MOUSE!”

Joan couldn’t help it. She gave a little squeak and huddled down in her bed, suddenly wishing she’d asked to see them one at a time. There was actually angry bolts of electricity flickering off the demon’s crown.

“What made you think this was a good idea? How could you even TRY after what happened last time?” Korgron asked.

“I couldn’t just ignore it,” Joan said sheepishly. “I--”

“Oh, of course. Couldn’t just IGNORE it. Never mind the fact you said you’d wait until one of us could go in with you,” Korgron said.

“You were there in spirit,” Joan said quickly. “I had the shielding elemental and I’m pretty sure it would have kept me safe had the giant spider lich wanted to hurt me.”

“SPIDER LICH?!” Korgron said, a bolt of lightning lashing out and scorching the wall. She yelped and pulled back before taking a few deep breaths. “Okay. One second.”

Joan just gave a little squeak and ate a spoonful of the bland porridge or whatever it was that Bauteut wanted her to eat. It beat trying to argue with the demon.

“I said it was my idea,” Searle said sheepishly, keeping his eyes down.

“And we’re all annoyed by this,” Bauteut said. “But please, do try and show a little restraint. She’s still recovering.”

“She’s always recovering,” Korgron said viciously.

“Kind of makes you wonder what she was like when she was the Hero, doesn’t it?” Thalgren asked. “He was a right mess I imagine. Especially considering he likely didn’t know what was coming. But, moving on, Joan, what did you learn?”

“No idea,” Joan said with a shrug. She quickly decided that she better give more of an answer before Korgron tore her apart. “I mean, I kind of know. I know there’s important information there. Also, whatever is messing with memories doesn’t seem to apply there, but it hits once I leave. So it’s definitely a part of this world and we need to break that spell. But because of that I had to be careful with what I learned because I didn’t want to risk it killing me when I came out, you know?” she said nervously.

“And you thought hiding in some kind of time stop spell and practicing was the best way to do that?” Korgron asked.

“Kind of,” Joan said softly. “I know I found out some important things, but I don’t know what they are. Also, I did a lot of crying. And screaming. There were a lot of dead elves and spiders. Oh, I had this bracer thing on my arm, where is it? Big spider thing? It’s useful. Let’s me talk to spiders and probably other stuff.”

“Ah, so she’s continuing her long tradition of not making any sense yet still saying enough to fill me with dread,” Andreas said.

“I took care of the bracer,” Bauteut said. “Once we found out it wouldn’t hurt you.”

Joan nodded and glanced around them. Korgron was still fuming, but she seemed to be calming down. She suspected that Searle was a big part of that. She wondered how much she’d been yelling at him while she was unconscious, it seemed he really was her shield in more ways than just physically.

Thalgren and Andreas seemed relatively calm about all this, but that didn’t surprise her too much. She’d probably slept through most of their anger. But there was still one person missing. One person she really needed to talk with. “Where’s Hardwin?”

“He fled to, I mean, went to help her highness,” Bauteut said.

“Help her?” Joan asked.

“Yeah,” Andreas said. “Some ritual of the open petals or something.”

Joan blinked a few times and tried to translate that. “Celebration of the Sprawling Clover?”

“Yeah, that,” Andreas said.

“Oh, huh,” Joan said. “I wonder if someone will try to assassinate Emeline this time.”

The entire room went silent and every eye focused on her.

“Yes, I realized it right after the words left my mouth,” Joan said with a sigh. “Andreas, can you send a message to Hardwin? Someone tries to shoot her with an arrow during her speech.”

“Do you know who?” Andreas asked.

Joan gave a shrug. “Not really. The Hero wasn’t exactly invited at the time. Not that he would have gone. Wait. I’m not going to have to go, am I?”

“I’m sure if you were expected to go, we all would have been warned earlier,” Bauteut said. “I think the only reason Hardwin left is because SOMEONE was making him uncomfortable.”

“What’d I do?” Joan asked.

“Not you,” Korgron said before glancing towards Myrin.

The elf just gave an innocent smile. “I have no idea what you could mean.”

“She and Vivian have been flirting,” Bauteut said. “So much. Especially in front of Hardwin. I can’t really blame him too much for running.”

Joan blinked a few times and struggled, desperately, to process that. Nope. She wasn’t even going to try. “I’m not calling you grandma, Neia. Myrin,” she finally said.

“You’re all just over reacting,” Myrin said with a roll of her eyes. “I’ve merely commented that--”

“MOVING ON,” Joan said quickly. Like it or not, Vivian was kind of her grandma now and the idea of her and Myrin flirting weirded her out far more than she thought it ever could. She honestly preferred the spider lich. “Wait, where is Vivian?”

“She’s in town,” Bauteut said. “I sent Qakog to go get her. This way you have a chance to get everything he’s not supposed to know out of the way. But since apparently you don’t know anything, that’s actually… well…”

“I know some things,” Joan said sheepishly. “I think. I mean, it’s hard to say? It’s like… I guess. You know? But hey. I think I’m ready for the second envoy when it shows its face here. I could even do Swanfall now. I--”

“No,” Korgron said. “You’re not fighting any of those things.”

“Of course not,” Joan said quickly. “But I know I can get away from it next time. But that’s not as important right now. What IS important is that we find Chase and break this spell over the world. Because it’s… important. I know that much. Then I can go back and--”

“You are NOT going back,” Korgron said. “You almost--”

“I am,” Joan said, cutting her off. “And I know why you don’t want me to. You’re not wrong. But neither am I. This needs to be done. Risks need to be taken. I’m going to probably get hurt at times, but--”

“Joan—”

“I’m not going to die,” Joan said firmly. “None of us are. I don’t know what I found there. I had to be careful not to learn too much. But I learned enough. I know what we need to do. We need to find Chase so we can break this spell.”

Korgron didn’t say anything for a long moment, staring at her. Her tail twitched aggressively, but after a few moments it began to calm down. All of them were staring at her now. Finally, she gave a nod. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Joan said. “As sure as I am of anything.”

“And the Inferno God?” Korgron asked.

“He’ll follow soon after,” Joan said. “But I think he’s a symptom. Or a—” She cringed and closed her eyes, pain going through her head. Bauteut was by her side a moment later, a hand on her head.

“Joan? Don’t think on it too much,” Bauteut said soothingly. “If this is what you think we need to do, then we’ll do it. Okay?”

“You can’t speak for us,” Korgron said with annoyance. “Buc--”

“If Joan says that’s what we need to do, I believe her,” Searle said. “I think you do too.”

Korgron clenched her fists for a few more moments before shaking her head. “Fine. Let’s go find this Chase. One more to go.” She turned to storm out of the room, only pausing once she was in the door to glance back. “Oh. Joan? Imp and Neia are here too.”

Joan nodded. “Thanks.”

One by one the other Chosen slowly backed out of the room, until it was just her, Bauteut, Searle and Myrin.

“Are you going to be okay?” Bauteut asked softly.

“You tell me,” Joan said with a light chuckle. “But I think so.”

“Joan,” Searle said softly. “You know I never wanted you to get hurt. I just thought--”

“You made the right choice,” Joan said quickly. “I probably would have come to that decision on my own anyway, eventually. Better I had you helping me come up with ways to do it safely than taking risks and trying to avoid everyone finding out, right? I’d probably have died then.”

“I am sorry,” Searle said. “I didn’t think you’d come back like…”

“Older?” Joan asked. “It’s just a little older. Besides, I’m fine now. The whole cutting my thread of fate thing worked a lot better than I expected.”

“Wait, what?” Bauteut asked.

“It was a gamble,” Joan said with a shrug. “One that I had to take, honest. But I’m not entirely sure what it’ll mean in the long run. Until we break the spell, I don’t even know if I can know.” She then glanced between Bauteut and Myrin. “Though uhhh, I need to ask one last thing. Can I get an honest answer?”

“We’ll try,” Bauteut said.

“If we don’t find Chase soon, how much longer do I likely have?” Joan asked.

Silence lingered in the room after that. Finally, Myrin came and sat at the foot of her bed. “I suppose you have a right to know. A few months, possibly.”

She saw Searle tense, but he didn’t say a word.

Joan nodded before taking another deep breath. “Well… then I guess we better move fast. I think I know where Chase is. Or, well, at least how to lure him in. Because I know he’s close. But it won’t be easy.”

“Why?” Bauteut asked.

“Because you will tease me incessantly the entire time,” Joan said softly. “And we’ll need to get Hardwin to agree to throw a grand party. Right after all of this.”

Bauteut blinked a few times before she snickered. “What, a party will?”

“Not just any party,” Joan said with a soft whine. “A political party. A big one. If Chase is nearby like I think, he’ll show up.”

“Ah,” Bauteut said before giving a small smile. “Well, I think a reason for that kind of party is simple enough to come up with. Something to lure in all kinds of nobles.”

Joan gave a soft whine. “Yeah, I already thought of that. I think I’d rather fight the next envoy.”

“I don’t understand,” Searle said. “If we’re just going to invite a bunch of people for a party, how hard can it be?”

“It’s the bait,” Myrin said with a sigh of her own. “So humans do that too?”

“Yep,” Joan said softly. “Guess it’s time for me to get engaged after all.”

Bauteut nervously coughed and shook her head. “It’s just bait, there’s no need to make it reality. And worse comes to worse, you can always make them fight for your hand. After all, I’m sure there’s not many who would be willing to actually fight you so--”

The door slammed open, making all of them jump before Qakog came running into the room, running so fast he almost toppled onto her when he hit the bed, barely catching himself before reaching out to take her hand. “I am so sorry I was not here when you awoke, but your healer demanded I tend to this task for your good. But know that I, Qakog, Slayer of the Red Veil, have once more come to join your side.”

Joan blinked a few times, staring at him. She then glanced to Bauteut. “At least not sane ones,” her healer said.

Joan just took a deep, slow breath. Okay. Time for round two. At least this demon wouldn’t be throwing out lightning bolts when he got mad.

MelodyAvant

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