The dragon stood with her back rigidly straight.

“Oh my, so hostile.”

“You are not welcome here, Observer.”

“Why so?”

Dalia the dragon glared at this woman.

“This is a peaceful world. This isn’t your bauble, farm girl or guardsman was it?”

“Hehe, so you knew from the start?”

“I thought you were dead, woman.”

“Come on now, who said that I can be killed? As for you, o Witch clad in Purple, you seem to like this form of yours.”

“Do not speak of that title in front of me.”

She threw her hands up.

“Forgive me, it has been so long. What time is it? Oh, don’t so agitated Witch. Dalia, you call yourself Dalia now, right?”

Dalia’s form shape shifted into the form of a woman wearing robes with a dark purple of a hair that reaches up to her waist.

“It has been long, Witch.”

“Observer, cheery as always.”

“Oh my, how hostile. Truly, it has been so long. Witch, you devoured a guardian, did you? You broke your own, took a dragon’s flesh and went so far but got here instead. How old are you now, o my purple witch?”

“You test my patience. There is no place for you here. I thought that she got to you.”

“Oh, I would have been gone if it weren’t for this kind obsidian flower helping me. Hmm, interesting, truly interesting how things turn out, isn’t it, Witch?”

“You eye me with suspicion. I am not like you.”

“Run! Let hope live, you tasteless man!" She cackled, imitating a voice. Dalia cringed at the way she perfectly imitated her voice. “You could have fooled me. Really, to adore men with such unyielding purposes. You are lost as well.”

“Shut it. It has been long. This isn’t about me. I just want my friends to be happy. What’s so wrong with that? You act cheery but you know that you want that as well. After all, who was the fool who can’t leave a poor boy alone.”

“I liked it,” she said. “The way he rose from the start. Fumbling about in a world that was not suited for him. He is a good friend to me as well.”

“Why are you here.”

“To travel and observe. That’s what I always do. As for you, you are cheating. So, where’s she?”

“A place where she should be. They are one. You will not bother, Observer. You are powerless in this world. Your source is dead, and I made sure that the woman will stay in the prison she made. But that woman takes what she wants and does what she wants. There is no stopping her and I think it won’t be that long till she breaks. But at that time the souls should have been recycled. Alas, they are not as clever as the purple-clad witch who escaped the grasp of the burnt woman. Such a clever scheme. To even fool the gods themselves. Now you stand as a guardian for this peaceful world. Too peaceful. Just the way you like it.”

“Revenant,” she said with a snide. “How did you escape the cycle?”

“Same as him. I spent a long time to be good at the forces. I do admit that I was tethered to him as an observer. I am free now that the bauble is destroyed and I am unbound.”

“Why didn’t you help?”

She looked at her as if baffled. “You wound me with those words, Witch. How do you think he survived all those timelines? How do you think he would be able to sustain a body, devour a body, and have this power nearly equal to me? I made it happen! Do you know? Because he was a good friend of mine. You cannot temper heavenly steel with softness. You must temper it from the fires of chaos itself!”

“You turn him nearly broken!”

“Battered, not broken. He is unbroken! That is why he is a good friend! I wouldn’t do it for anyone than him. Before all of this, I was the one with him! I was the one who fought with him! When even the gods would spite him! I am his ally forevermore! Even before his meeting with the pale shine! I was his ally.”

“Then why do all of this?”

The observer’s smile had a tinge of despair. “Because I want to help him. What I want to ask is that even though you have all that time. All that power. You choose to stay ignorant of all the matters regarding him. You stayed passive, waited, and did nothing. You, Dalia,” she said with a tinge of disgust. “It is even more disgusting than I am. You have all that time and you didn’t even think of helping a friend once.”

“He is not my only priority. He is not my whole world, Observer. I am not bound to serve him. Do you think that I should always orbit around and let my whole existence revolve around him? Then you are not thinking straight, but I doubt a revenant would ever think straight. I will not allow any of your trespass here. Stay still. Do not meddle with the world’s affairs or I will make sure that not a single fragment of your soul would be left alive.”

“Your threats do not scare me, Witch. You are a great pretender, greater than even me. But I guess the one that sought power would stay the same. Or does having a whole level of omniscience made you realize something? Look at you. Acting like some merciful deity. I may be despicable in your eyes. But I never abandon those who needed my hand. Never. The Oath that I sow isn’t as terrible your Oath for greater power. Your act right now does nothing but fill me with utter disgust. I am no threat. That I can say. I won’t hurt a friend. You as well. We have long perpetual lives, Witch. You should settle on your ideals. You’re too old for this.”

“Leave.”

The observer vanished like a mouthful a breath in cold air. Dalia gripped the body of her staff and her form turned back into that of a dragon.