"Az, walk backwards and I'll guide us away from them," Tesla said as she grabbed onto Azelia's belt.
The Sylvari didn't say anything but was clearly afraid. However, the plan didn't get very far as Tesla turned to lead the way away from their alternate selves, only to stare down more angels a short distance away, all with angry faces. She let out a brief shriek of her own. "More behind us!"
"N- n- not good," Azelia replied.
With their backs against the side of what remains of the building wall, they both had to quickly glance back and forth to slow down the forward advancement of the angels. There is now a large group of them, including more UHoT members.
Tesla desparately wanted to check the timer to see if they now have enough space to open the vortex portal but didn't want to risk taking her eyes of the angels, not even for a second. They have the duo surrounded in a half circle.
"We're trapped," said Azelia, doing her best not to cry. The hands of the angels are slowly getting closer to them with each passing glance. After about a minute, their touch was merely inches away. It was at that moment that the strangest thing happened.
From the other side of the wall, a very bright and blinding light shined, beaming through the broken sections and holes. It instantly scared off all the angels and sent them far away. Tesla and Azelia's fear gradually changed to slight confusion as they turned to face the light, hands in front of their eyes as visors.
The light began to move into the open space. A silhouette of a very tall female in some form of exotic armor could be seen. "Azelia Heartshaper... Tesla Taiyou... you should not be on this world." The voice echoed all around them.
"Wha- ...who are you?" Tesla asked.
There was a pause before the answer came. "I am Dwayna and you will be taken to a safe location, where the statues cannot follow," she added. Everything around the two became solid light for a split second. When their sight returned, they found themselves in a large palace-like room made out of blue and gold marble. There are unseen lights all over the room to see all around. Tesla and Azelia are about ten feet away from her.
She is a blue skinned woman whose height makes the tallest of Norn seem average, shoulder length blue hair and has darker blue eyes. Her armor is blue and gold in the shape of wings, including her headgear.
"I- I never thought I'd see an actual deity in person," Azelia softly uttered.
"Same here," Tesla said.
"As I stated back in Lion's Arch, you should not have been in that angel-infested world," said Dwayna. Her mouth was not even moving.
Tesla took a step forward. "We have been trying to get back home but have been unable to do so."
"And how precisely did you leave yours anyway?"
Tesla took out the timer and got closer, holding it out for her to see. Dwayna took it from her to examine the device.
"Two of our Asuran friends built a portable transporter of sorts that leads to alternate realities," Tesla explained. "The timer you're holding opens a portal vortex that goes to them. But due to an error on our part, we left a world before it was safe to do so."
"And because of that, the destination is now random instead of a guaranteed trip back home," Azelia said.
If the goddess was impressed, her face didn't show it. "Astounding. Asurans building a technological ability that deities naturally possess."
"Can you help us get back?" Azelia wondered.
The deity studied Azelia for a moment, then the timer again. Without warning, in one very swift motion, she crushed the timer into many pieces with one hand to the duo's horror.
"HEY! Why did you do that?!" Tesla demanded.
Dwayna wiped her hand clean of any remaining timer fragments. "An ability that mortals are not allowed to have. Be sure to inform your asuran friends of that." Before either of them could respond, she snapped her fingers. The two disappeared from the palace room and were sent directly to the twins' lab of their homeworld. For Ellie and Lynni, Azelia and Tesla were only gone for about 8 hours total.
Back in the marble room, she sighed in disbelief. "First, it was Azeena Videll and her corrupted alternate self. Now this. When will they ever learn to avoid going to other parallel universes?"