"So, Cryptic Riese, care to elaborate as to what exactly was your plan?"

Her voice was quiet but sharp. She had only seen her in passing in the inn earlier (and as a rough sketch in her notes) but that was enough to leave an impression. Of all the various versions of herself she'd seen and made note of, the Avatar of Time seemed by far the most inhuman—which was quite the feat, given the actual monkeys in the Inn. Her body seemed to be made of sand rather than mortal flesh, more shaped like a human than human in actuality. The light she emanated made her difficult to look at, even disregarding how common courtesy told her not to stare. At first glance, she more closely resembled an Elemental Spirit or even an actual Avatar than she did a living being, much less herself. Though her face was mostly obscured, she seemed like she was judging her. The sad thing was, Riese couldn't even blame her if she was.

"I can see you've had an eventful time in your short stay here." She couldn't see her eyes but she could sense that the Avatar of Time was looking at the broken ice. The set of her mouth turned severe as she turned to face her. "Care to explain?"

The weight of her gaze was crushing, like boulders at the back of her neck, but she did her best not to be cowed. This person, she reminded herself, was just her. Herself, odd as it was to think. Riese. Once Cereza Madrigal, now Riese, Hero and… Avatar of Time, somehow. Behind the mask, the glow, the floating hair, it was her own face that she saw when she looked at the Avatar of Time, and she had no reason to be afraid of herself. No reason at all.

Despite all this, she had to swallow before she could speak. "Y-yeah, we did," she said, forcing herself to release her weapon and at least try to look the Avatar of Time in the face. From the corner of her eye, she could see Adri following her lead, even as he remained positioned protectively in front of the still unconscious Riese. "I… once we realized that we were, well, here , we…"

The Avatar of Time looked impassively on. It was hard not to squirm. This was just herself she was talking to, she has to remind herself. Just an older version. And probably more successful, given she helped start the inn and all that. There was nothing to be afraid of, not at all.

"What did you do?" The tone was brusque.

"We…" She has to remind herself to breathe. "We—"

It was as if a dam broke, the words came spilling out of her mouth one after the other as she blurted out the events that had taken place, words bleeding into each other in her haste. She told her of the easy victory she'd had against Yalla and the completely unexpected encounter with the King and Jaania after. She told her of the story she'd made to explain her sudden freedom, a story which really wouldn't have held up under scrutiny had it not been for the King's good will and sympathy, something she had intentionally banked on when she'd revealed a little of her experience within the ice, even if it did make her insides churn to know she used his good nature to sell a lie. She told her of the vindictive sense of satisfaction she'd felt at seeing Jaania's frustration, no matter how petty or unearned it really was. She told her of the gamble they'd taken in flying to Oaklore once they were sure no one could see them, of the illusions she had cast to hide them while in flight and the concentration it had required to ensure they wouldn't be seen, heard, or smelled for miles. And she told her of their plan, as simple as it ultimately was, to free her younger self from the ice early on as a form of damage control for their inadvertently meddling with the past… but, really, more to spare her from the ice, to spare Adriel from the loneliness, to spare everyone at home from the—

"I see," was all the Avatar of Time said. Her tone betrayed nothing. What could be seen of her face was unreadable. "And you say you will use your Cryptic abilities to give this version of yourself a copy of your memories of defeating Yalla?"

"Yeah, I will," she said quickly. "I mean, I defeated—killed Yalla pretty publicly. It would look suspicious, if she didn't remember doing it, right?!"

Without meaning to, her voice came out sounding manic, enough that her dragon shot her a look of concern. She took a deep breath to try and steady herself but it was hard. Her heart was pounding for all that there was nothing to fear.

"...A reasonable concern," the Avatar of Time said, with a minute nod. "Am I to assume you had decided to free this younger Riese the moment you realized your position? Because there are other ways you could have spun the situation, especially given your powers over the mind, Cryptic Riese. Ways that would not have necessitated you intervening in this fashion. Quite frankly, it was not at all necessary for you to even visit this ice."

The air became tense. Adriel's eyes were wary as he stood protectively in front of the younger Riese. The Avatar of Time, however, looked only impassive. She could not see her eyes, not with her helm, but that didn't matter. The stern set of her mouth told Riese all she needed to know.

"…I did," she admitted, after a long moment where no one seemed to breathe, heart loud in her ears."The moment I realized where—when we were, I knew I had to go free myself."

"You do realize that there will be consequences for your actions, do you not?" The light the Avatar of Time emanated seemed to turn harsh. "In saving her, you have irrevocably altered the course of her future, for good or ill. She was you, or would have been, but no longer. And don't think that this will result in your actual time changing to suit your actions here. Your timeline will remain as it was. If that was your goal—"

"Of course it wasn't!" This time, it was anger that had her heart pounding in her chest. The thought that she would suggest that was just—"I know I can't change the past, not my past. I know enough about time travel to... to guess as much. I just couldn't… you can't ask me to leave her in that position, knowing what it's like, I can't—" Her voice broke. "It's not… it wouldn't have been right. And I would've done the same even if it weren't me. Even if—even if it were Jaania herself, even after what she did to us... if I'd landed at a point in time where she was still frozen, I would have freed her."

There was silence for a moment. A long, long moment.

"How... Heroic of you." The Avatar of Time was the one to break the silence. The set of her mouth was no longer stern, more... tired, by her estimation. "Truly, you live up to your name."

Before she could figure out what to think of that, Adriel spoke, his voice ringing with conviction:

"Of course she does! She's a good Hero." Despite her current fears. she couldn't help but feel warmed by her dragon's confidence in her. "You can't ask her not to help someone!"

"You are... Adriel, aren't you." Despite her words, it was clear it wasn't a question. She seemed more thoughtful than anything. "I do not doubt that you would have done as your Riese asked, no matter the consequence. However... you do realize that that Riese behind you is not your human, do you not?" When he made no move to reply, she pressed on. "Make no mistake. Though this timeline may have once been similar to your own, that Riese is not your human and you are not her dragon. I wonder, if it had been a Riese unlike the one who hatched you, would you be as determined to help them?"

His answer was immediate. "All Riese are my human," he said imperiously. "Doesn't matter where they're from or what they look like; as long as they're a Riese, they're my human." Then, as an afterthought, recited like a fact learned by rote: "And we're heroes so we're supposed to save everyone, especially if they're good but even if they're bad."

Despite how tense it had been, Adriel's words made her smile. "Adri..."

"What?" He was absolutely unashamed. "It's true!"

"…There are certain Riese who would beg to differ," the Avatar of Time said. Yet all the same, Riese couldn't help but notice that the corners of her mouth were twitching. "Both with your claims and with your... code of honor, as it were. But I suppose that's beside the point." She then sighed. "The fact of the matter is, the two of you have irreversibly altered the course of this world's fate. No matter your intentions, things will never be as they were for this timeline. For better or worse. You do understand that, don't you?"

"I do," she admitted, looking down. Adriel looked unconcerned. "I mean, defeati—killing Yalla's bound to have changed things. I didn't know," she felt like she had to add. "At first, I really did think it was all just part of the challenge. I mean, I don't think anyone's first instinct is to think time travel, especially not when I've done this before! If I had known, I wouldn't have even—but I didn't, so..."

"Yet, all the same," the Avatar of Time said evenly. "You would have unfrozen your counterpart, as you would have anyone you knew to be in the same predicament."

Her jaw tightened but she said nothing. She couldn't deny it, not when she'd already admitted as much.

The Avatar of Time sighed and shook her head. "What's done is done," she said tiredly. "So long as you understand, there's nothing more I need to say regarding this. Let us move on. As you may have guessed, I am here to ensure your safe return to your proper time. We can go back now if you wish, but I'm guessing you have other plans. Am I correct?"

The change in topic felt so abrupt, it took her a moment to respond. "Uh, y-yeah, we do," she stammered, eyes darting to her defrosted counterpart, who had remained unconscious and unresponsive throughout the whole ordeal. "I was—we were going to bring her back to Falconreach on dragonback. I can use my illusions to keep us hidden, at least until we reach Falconreach... or, well, Surewould forest. There aren't exactly any dragon-sized landing strips in town..." Her voice trailed off as she looked back to the Avatar of Time. She only looked on, expression neutral. "So, yeah," she finished lamely. "Can't exactly jump off like I usually do and uh... yeah. That's it."

She tensed as the Avatar of Time took in a deep breath, bracing herself for her response.

"Then, that's that," she said simply. She levitated her way towards the still unconscious Riese, hands raised to show Adriel she was wielding neither spell nor blade, before kneeling by her side. Adriel eyed her like he would bite if she got too close but she didn't seem intimidated. "You are correct in that her condition would make simply jumping off of dragonback unfeasible. I must ask, however, are you not able to teleport?"

"I, uh..." The casual acceptance caught her off-guard; she'd been prepared for a brow-beating, or a lecture at the very least. It took her a second to collect herself enough to respond. "I know one spell for teleporting back to my hometown—Falconreach—but, uh, since that's designated for, well, my hometown back in my time, I wasn't sure if it would, well, work the same way . Besides, it's uh, a little hard on the people I bring with me, so I didn't want to risk it..."

She nodded, seeming satisfied. "Hmm. A reasonable concern and not unfounded. It is true. You can not teleport home from here. The fact that you are chronally displaced would have led to your teleport backfiring rather unpleasantly. I commend your caution under these circumstances." It was a good thing her back was turned to her or she would have seen Riese taken aback by the actual praise, however mild. "Your plan is workable. For the sake of expediting things, however, I have a suggestion. I can bring us safely into the Falconreach of this time, with no harm to you, Adriel, or this Riese. If you can mask us with your illusions, we can be in and out in minutes. Though I must ask, is that truly within your capacity? I am unclear as to the extent of your abilities out of combat."

"I'm a Cryptic," she pointed out, still not quite sure what to make of things. Was that really it? She'd been expecting... "Illusions are kind of our specialty."

"I am aware. Though I was under the impression that your training as a Cryptic was slapdash at best..."

"Etaos and Nirios are good teachers," she said firmly. No one was going to insult her trainers under her watch. "It's true that we didn't have a lot of time but you pick it up fast when you're learning from the best. I can make it so that no one will recognize us from sight, sound, or smell for miles." It would take a lot more time and preparation compared to her usual combat Illusions or Illusionary Veils but she could indeed do all that more. She used them to attend PTA meetings unrecognized. No one ever suspected a thing. Impressive, given how intense the scrutiny could get in those halls.

A faint smile crossed the Avatar of Time's face. She didn't think she'd ever seen her smile before. It was shockingly familiar. "I meant no offense," she soothed. "I'm actually impressed. Despite the setbacks, you are indeed quite the Cryptic, Cryptic Riese."

The sincerity of the compliment caught her off-guard but she tried not to look too confused by it. "Uh, thanks. Learned from the best."

"I am aware." With that said, she once again turned to face the Riese Adriel was protecting, stopping only at his warning hiss. The whole time they'd been talking, he'd been standing guard over the Riese they'd freed, not exactly poised for battle but ready for it. Now that the Avatar of Time had made a move to touch her, his hackles were raised, his claws were unsheathed, and his fangs were bared. "Adriel, I have no intention of harming her. Or of undoing your efforts, if that is your concern," she said calmly, clearly unafraid. "I only want to check on her condition. I can help."

Without backing down, he looked towards her from over the Avatar of Time's shoulder, eyes easily finding hers.

Stand down, Adri, she conveyed, maybe just a little reluctantly. I think she's being honest.

Eyes still fixed on the Avatar of Time, he slowly backed down, growling warningly at the Avatar of Time as she reached out for the Riese he was protecting. Rather than getting offended, the Avatar of Time smiled, wider and warmer than she had before, though it did nothing to stop him from glaring.

"You are a wonderful companion for your Riese. She's lucky to have you. This one, as well," she added as she lifted that Riese' arm, placing two fingers at the pulse point. "For all that your time together is to be short."

Then she frowned, placing the arm back down as she then leaned over to study her face, gently brushing away her hair so she could study her wide, blank eyes. Even from afar, Riese could see her mumbling something too soft to hear. She could be wrong but she thought the Avatar of Time seemed conflicted.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, coming closer, her dragon making way without her having to ask. "Is she going to be alright?"

For a long moment, even with the helm obscuring most of her features, her expression seemed bleak. "She does not seem 'alright' to me," she said quietly. "You may have freed her from the ice but the magic itself is still…"

Then she sighed.

"Allow me," she said, almost resigned. Without waiting for them to respond, she waved a hand over the sleeping Riese' face, motes of glowing sand drifting from her fingertips.

The effect was immediate. The unconscious Riese suddenly took in a deep gasping breath, one so deeply felt, Riese could almost feel it rattling in her own chest, before she fell boneless to the ground, eyes finally fluttering shut. Tension even Riese hadn't fully noticed left her younger counterpart until she finally looked well and truly relaxed, her breathing soft and even. Before their eyes, her skin quickly lost that sickly blue tinge and became a somewhat healthier color, not quite normal but miles better than before. While she still shivered despite how warm the evening was turning out to be, it was much less... intense, for lack of a better word. She was clearly still unwell but compared to the frozen corpse she resembled earlier, this was a vast improvement.

Ignoring their stares, the Avatar of Time once again checked her younger counterpart's pulse, frowning. "Better," she allowed, though she still seemed dissatisfied. "There is not much I can do for her outside of the inn but I've done what I can to hasten her recovery. It's not perfect but... it should be enough that you can more plausibly blame her current state on the overexertion catching up to her rather than anything sinister. It helps that she is uninjured. The two of you have done well with that, by the way."

"Thank you? I, uh..."

While she'd been trying to speak, Adriel had flown up to the still-unconscious Riese' face, and was now studying her with intense eyes. After he was satisfied that she was unharmed (and seemed comfortable), he turned his gaze to the Avatar of Time, studying her face. In turn, she gave him an affectionate, if somewhat absent, smile and bent to scratch him behind his horns. Judging by his rumbling purr, he approved.

"I truly wish I could do more," she said, and if Riese didn't know any better, she would have thought the Avatar of Time seemed regretful. "If we were in the inn, I could have simply used 'Rewind' to restore her physical body into a truly healthy state but here..." She seemed almost uncomfortable. "I am far more limited than I am used to. I have done what I can. The rest we may leave to time, in its proper flow."

"Uh, yeah, definitely," she hastened to agree, only now noticing that the Avatar of Time was now facing her, her gaze steady for all that she couldn't see it. "I couldn't agree more." The Avatar of Time's gaze never fell. It was discomfiting, to say the least. "I guess I'll just... get a move on and work her memories, it's nothing too hard, so..."

"You seem surprised, Cryptic Riese," she said, at last, tilting her head ever so slightly. "What is it that surprises you so?"

There was a long, quiet pause.

"I... expected you to be angry," she eventually admitted, eyes downcast. "I—we did our best not to change things too much but we still changed things. And we meant to! Because, we just—I couldn't... I couldn't not..."

A breeze blew past. It felt cold where it passed the broken remains of the ice they'd worked so hard to shatter.

"You couldn't ask me not to," she managed to finish, the words bitter in her throat.

"Ah."

Adriel's eyes darted from her to the Avatar of Time. He quickly flew back to his original position guarding the Riese that they had freed, this time out of arm's reach but still close enough that she could feel the heat he radiated. His stance was protective.

"I see."

Her fingers twitched to hold a weapon—for all the good it would do against someone called an Avatar of Time —but she quashed the urge. Fighting had always been the only thing she was really good at but she didn't even want to try, not against her. She liked to think she's grown at least a little since she'd first become an adventurer, with nothing but simple dreams of funding her family's future, but she's sure that if she'd been in this position in the very beginning of her career, she would make the same decision. It wouldn't just be because of how her every instinct told her it would be a fight she'd lose but, because if anyone had the right to—

"I do not blame you," the Avatar of Time said. "In fact, I understand completely."

She froze.

"Wh... what?"

Her voice sounded so frail to her own ears, she could've been a new hero, untested and inexperienced. Atop this cliff, where everything had began, she could almost imagine she was once again new, especially now that she was standing before her, the Avatar of Time, who helped establish the inn where she and all her various lifetimes could try and become stronger.

The Avatar of Time faced her. The air around her seemed heavy. The glow she exuded seemed harsh. And yet, somehow, there was something gentle about her bearing as she spoke.

"Riese." The Avatar of Time's voice was soft. "You do remember what my name is, do you not?"

The question seemed so out of place, it took her a moment to answer. "I... of course. It's Riese, just like everyone else at the inn." She bit her lip, unable to meet her gaze, hidden as it was by her bony helm. "Why are you asking?"

"I am Riese," she echoed. "Once acclaimed as the Hero of Falconreach. Veteran of countless wars, victor of countless battles. The yoke of responsibility you bear is not one unfamiliar to me. And so, I can say this without a doubt: if I had been in your position, without the knowledge I currently bear, I may well have done the exact same thing."

She was speechless.

The Avatar of Time Riese did not stop there. "The fact of the matter is, whatever you would've done, the fact that you landed here at all resulted in the birth of a new timeline. There is no action you could've done that would have averted that outcome, and the fault for that would've been ours. Not yours, Riese." Her voice turned gentle. "It is unfortunate that you were in this position to begin with. We—neither I nor my colleagues—cannot blame you for acting in accordance with who you are. Who we are."

"I..." Words failed her. She tried to swallow but it was hard. "I thought... " You might be angry. Upset. I did something wrong. I didn't know what I was doing. I was only trying to help. I know this wasn't the exact right thing to do.

She seemed to understand, even with her unable to say it. "You did the best you could with the information you had, with the power available to you," the Avatar of Time Riese said simply. "I will not condemn you for your choices. I, of all people, do not have the right to."

No, she wanted to say. More than anyone, you have the right to. Because you know.

Adriel flew up to her, his fire-attuned scales so hot, she could feel it through the boots of her Cryptic uniform as he briefly curled comfortingly around her ankles before flying up so that he was hovering by her side. Even without saying anything, his being near made her feel stronger, enough that she was finally able to speak.

"With all that talk about timelines earlier," she managed to say instead, her mouth dry. "I thought you were angry. I would've understood if you were."

The Avatar of Time smiled before shaking her head. "I only meant for you to be aware of the consequences, in the case that you might think to recreate this situation. In this case, we—as in, my colleagues and I—shoulder the blame for anything that happens because of you or any other Riese across the various timelines. In a case where you attain power similar to ours and seek to change the past for your own benefit, then would the fault lie with you. Similarly, if you had at any point expressed a desire to stay here, I would have dissuaded you." Despite the implicit threat, her tone was mild and her expression relaxed. "But... presumptuous as it may be to say, I knew I would not need to. Not with you, Cryptic Riese."

There was... an amount of faith in that statement, faith she didn't know what to do with. Faith she didn't understand, especially not from her, someone who ought to know how, in a lot of ways, that faith was just... misplaced.

But then, she's been hailed as a hero—The Hero—for years by this point. It's not like it's anything new to her, to bear the responsibility for the hopes of others… even people who honestly should know better.

"It's not that the thought wasn't— isn't tempting," she finally said, after a long moment's thought. "But I have people waiting for me back home. Same with her."

A lot of people, friends and enemies both. Family, as well. As sweet as the thought of staying had been, she would never have been able to stomach the thought of abandoning the people she'd already been forced away from for so long. Or of deceiving the people here, knowing she wasn't the one they actually wanted. That wasn't even mentioning what that would mean for the Riese of this time, frozen without fault by someone who should've known better, someone who, for all her self-righteousness, still seemed all too happy to abandon her to rot in the hell she had freed her from. Could she condemn anyone to what she'd been through? Could she condemn a version of herself to a lifetime of that?

No. No one deserved that. Not her worst enemies and certainly not herself, shortcomings aside.

For all the turmoil she'd been feeling, the Avatar of Time Riese simply nodded. "It is good that you understand that."

"If I didn't, I'd be bad at my job," she joked, if maybe a little weakly. "What would people call me then?"

To her surprise, The Avatar of Time replied in kind, what looked like a smile playing at the corners of her lips. "'Riese', I would hope. The name we all bear. Though I suppose our name and our job are rather intertwined in the eyes of most."

"Hah… yeah, I…" Her gaze drifted down to their mutual counterpart. The Riese of this time. She looked better than she had before, it was true. That didn't mean she looked good. "I should get started on her memories. It won't take long…"

The Avatar of Time regarded her. "Have faith, Riese. We are strong. She will be fine. She will endure, as we all must."

"And she'll have me," Adriel said brightly, rather surprising her. "Once we bring her home, the me in this world will be right there with her."

"And we're always stronger together, aren't we?" she said, unable to stop herself from smiling at him. He looked so self-assured, it was hard not to believe in him. "Me and her and probably you, too."

The last part, she'd aimed at the Avatar of Time Riese, who smiled, the expression secretive. "You best get started," she said instead. "Regardless of how long I spend here or anywhen else, I will be there in time for the others but that is no excuse for you to tarry, Cryptic Riese."

The idea made her head spin but it ultimately wasn't something she had to worry about. So she nodded and made her way to their counterpart's side, the glow of her hands intensifying as she placed them at her temples. Remembering was easy, it had only been a few hours ago. Copying them over was similarly easy. All that was left was to make some modifications, falsify a few memories, remove traces of tampering… nothing difficult, especially given how jumbled the ice had left her mental state… that was a silver lining so thin, dull, and minuscule, it might as well not exist but it was there. Lilac light pulsed around her head as she began to delve inward, searching, adding, editing, rearranging…

"Quite impressive," she heard the Avatar of Time murmuring as she worked. "You are skilled, indeed. Yes, I believe that will pass muster for most anyone. Most anyone…"

She ran brilliantly glowing lilac thumbs over the sleeping Riese' closed eyes to finish, sweat beading her brow and soaking into her collar. It wasn't anything difficult but it wasn't a power she was all that used to using; it was too impractical to use in battle, after all. "You could see?" she asked, panting slightly as her halo pulsed out of existence and her hands returned to a perfectly normal color, without even the customary faint sheen of lilac. Adriel licked her hand before nuzzling it, his own version of giving comfort. "What I was doing?"

"I am more limited than I am used to," she repeated. "But the fact remains that even like this, I am beyond ken in this world. Nothing is beyond my sight. Nothing at all."

Her voice rang throughout the clearing, quiet but resonant. Though she didn't quite know why, she got onto her feet, tiredness forgotten, drew the Exalted Apotheosis, and held it readied defensively, not at the Avatar of Time but… ready. At her side, Adriel did the same thing, though she could tell from their link that he too had no clue as to why.

"Do not fear," the Avatar of Time Riese said to her, voice like steel, gaze fixed in the direction of the forests. "While you are with me, nothing can harm you. I am beyond this world's ken and you both are under my protection."

Something about the way she said that made shivers go down her spine. Avatars, that was… was that how people felt when she said she'd protect them? If so, Avatars, she definitely could sort of better understand what people meant when they said things about her…

Nothing of the Avatar of Time changed but something about her seemed to relax all the same. "He is gone," she told her swiftly. "I doubt he would have done anything against you or our counterpart but it is better to be sure."

"Who's he?" she asked, hands still tight around her Good weapon. "Was… was he here the whole time?"

"He is no one you should concern yourself with. He is of this time, and he is no longer here," was all that she said. With a snap of her fingers, a stream of glowing sand flew from her body and formed a bed beneath their sleeping counterpart. An actual bed, complete with a wooden bedframe and white pillows, one she could've mistaken for a perfectly ordinary bit of furniture had she not seen it come into existence from glowing sand. The cloak she'd wrapped the younger Riese in looked like a proper blanket atop it. The bed floated up obediently and unwaveringly to the Avatar of Time's side. Before she could react to the honestly impressive (and apparently effortless) bit of magic, another snap of the Avatar of Time's fingers made yet more sand fly from her body, this time forming a stone archway complete with a perfectly innocuous-looking wooden door. It hung in the air before her, completely normal to her eyes and all the more unusual because of it.

"This… is this going to take us to Falconreach?" she asked, one hand on her weapon as she reached out to touch the door. It felt like… a door, the surface ordinary wood, the archway ordinary stone. All the same, she could feel magic thrumming from behind it, almost like she could feel static through the whorls of wood. She glanced back at the bed, and at the unconscious woman on it. "Is it safe?"

"Completely," the Avatar of Time assured her. She made her way to the door, her feet never once touching the ground. She turned to face her just as she placed her hand on the doorknob. It could just be her imagination but the air around her seemed even brighter than before, to the point that it was hard to look at her directly. Her hand left sandy prints as she turned the knob, opening the door just a crack. Through it, she could see torchlights in the distance, the outer walls of Falconreach standing tall and proud, white stone and not gray. "Let us go, Riese. We will only make the one stop. I will take you home after."

She sprung to her feet, returning her weapon into storage as she did. "Yeah, yeah, of course…" She still deeply wanted to ask what all the earlier fuss was about but she had a feeling she wouldn't answer. "Um… I guess I'll do the talking then?"

"This was your plan, was it not? I believe you ought to be the one to see it to fruition." Then, with the slightest incline of her head. "In any case, this is well within your capability."

She stood up just a little straighter, feet lifting off of the ground as she called back her cloak from around Riese with a flicker of Cryptic telekinesis. "Yeah, I mean, it's Falconreach," she said. Another flicker of telekinesis called a second item into her hand from the depths of her inventory. "The people of Falconreach—I know them. Nice to know you have faith in me, though," she felt like she had to add as she began to put on the items she'd claimed.

The Avatar of Time Riese shook her head. "I do not have faith in you," she corrected, looking almost prim. "To have faith is to believe without reason. I believe in you because I know you, and there is every reason to believe in you."

Her words made her want to stop, to stare, but she managed not to. She finished her disguise without once stopping, her dragon's approval for her counterpart's words ringing in her head even without him saying or even thinking a word.

"After all, I am beyond this world's ken," the Avatar of Time Riese finished. And she was smiling, she suddenly realized, and it was wide, radiant, and almost shockingly beautiful. "And so are you."

Unable to think of how to respond, overwhelmed in a way she couldn't quite express, she cleared her throat and made her way to the front of the door. "Let's go, Adri." Adriel flew next to her, warm and comforting and always by her side. "We're going home."

At first, very few took notice of the stranger who'd just arrived at their gates, not even the Guardians stationed there. After all, there was nothing unusual about travelers around Falconreach and the stranger—there really was nothing particularly worth noticing about them. That all changed, however, at the absolutely ecstatic cry a familiar little dragon made as he came flying from somewhere in the city's residential district, drawing attention to the new arrival—or, more specifically, the person in their arms.

"Is that…?"

"Riese!"

"It's really her!"

"Let go of her, you—!"

The stranger knelt to place her gently on the ground without a fight, just in time to avoid her dragon, Adriel, as he barreled into her with enough force to send them both rolling, before skittering up to start licking her face, what should have been an affectionate gesture made almost aggressive by his sheer enthusiasm.

"It is her!"

"Why isn't she—?"

The dragon let out a little yelp as she rolled to her side, one arm snaking around him so she was holding him tightly to her like he was a pillow, mumbling something under her breath. Rather than get angry, the dragon only looked even more excited, enthusiastically snuggling into place with the ease of long practice. Dragon Amulets were a rarity but no one present could doubt the meaning of what he was saying.

"She is merely exhausted. While I doubt she will wake anytime soon, she will be alright." The stranger who had brought her finally spoke, briefly attracting some attention, though the spectacle that was the Hero and her dragon quickly recaptured most eyes. Their voice sounded neither masculine nor feminine. Their body was obscured by their long dark cloak so all that could be seen of them was their voluminous, glossy black hair and similarly dark eyes—albeit ones that seemed to glow a faint orange. "She was not harmed by the battle against Yalla. T'was the ice that took its toll."

It was as if a spell had broken. Despite their reassurance, Reens, Alina, and Twilly all rushed to her side, bringing out potions and preparing healing magic. While her dragon initially looked hostile at the intrusion, he quickly made way as the trio began their own medical efforts. The crowd grew larger, with townsfolk gathering around to watch the healers as they worked, though her dragon snapped at anyone who came too close who wasn't someone he recognized as a healer or medic. The Guardians in the crowd quickly got to work in maintaining order, preventing the excited townsfolk from crowding the healers and their charge, their returned Hero, finally home. From among these Guardians, Guardian Kain emerged, torch in hand, as he went to confront the stranger, even though he too was clearly in disbelief at the Hero's sudden reappearance.

"Is it true, then?" he asked, his tone hushed, eyes flickering to where the Hero of Falconreach lay, her familiar face so instantly recognizable. "Did she really defeat Yalla?"

"The one who defeated Yalla was indeed Riese of Falconreach," the stranger answered. "It was not a difficult fight for her. The act of exerting herself so soon after her freedom was far more dangerous."

"Not a difficult… Avatars." Despite the tension in the air, Guardian Kain actually laughed. "That sounds just like her. Gods, frozen for months and months and the first thing she does is go and try to save the world. And win. Unbelievable."

"Please." The stranger bowed. Glossy black hair spilled past their shoulders down to the front of their dark cloak. "Look after her."

Meanwhile, more Guardians had emerged from the Tower, bearing a stretcher. Guardian Endnai supervised as a pair of Guardians carefully transferred her, and by extension her dragon, onto it. One Guardian tried to remove the dragon but he hissed until they backed off and allowed him to stay with her. Alina, Reens, and Twilly followed as the Guardians began to carry her stretcher off to the medical center, where a doctor had already opened the doors. The crowd tried to follow, only to be stopped by Guardians who began to attempt to chivvy uninvolved civilians back into their houses. There were too few Guardians and too many people for them to be completely effective, but none of the unaffiliated townsfolk at least tried to follow into the medical center.

"She's our Hero," Guardian Kain said. "We would do that no matter what."

"Who are you?" Ash asked, having run out at the commotion. He was shaking, gaze fixed at the spectacle, though he did manage to turn to face the stranger as he asked: "Were… were you the one who broke her out?"

There was a brief pause before they answered, the words slow and deliberate. "I am just a traveler on my way home." Then, after another short pause. "Though yes. The one who freed her was me."

"Th-thank you," he stammered, now fully facing the stranger, even if his eyes kept darting back to Riese, asleep and alive and free , as she disappeared through the door of Falconreach's medical center, crowds still milling in her wake. "Wh-what's your name?"

"Nothing of importance to you," was their answer. "I am no one of importance to you whereas she, I believe, needs you more than I do."

There was even more shouting as the medical center seemed to come alive, having had a slow day prior to the Hero's unexpected arrival. From the distance, they could see lights flickering on, candles, torches, and lanterns coming alive with magelight. And not just the medical center, he realized, but houses, shops, the Guardian Tower itself. The whole town was coming alive. Why would it not? The Hero had finally returned, after all. Guardian Kain had run over to join the crowd—or, rather, to manage it, seeming better able to do so as compared to his other colleagues. People were still coming out of their homes to watch. The air was buzzing anew.

"Take care of yourself, Ash," he heard, the words almost whispered. "You are a Hero, too. And she will need you in the days to come."

When he turned to face the stranger, he found there was no one there.

Under the voluminous hair of her Shadow Walker's Visage and the Necro Paragon Cape she'd wrapped around herself, Riese looked vastly different from the version of herself she'd just carried to Falconreach. Still, she made sure the illusions she'd cast were firmly in place as she made her way back to the agreed upon meeting place. To her eyes, the Avatar of Time seemed approving. She held her head high as she met where she approximated was her gaze.

"Well done," she said simply. "No one recognized you. No one there could."

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she let the illusions drop—two simple, relatively subtle illusions that made her unable to be recognized as Riese while also making the Riese of this time instantly recognizable as Riese, the Hero of Falconreach. The most effective illusions were just slight deviations from reality. Laying it on too thick would attract the attention of the town's more magically inclined (she already had her doubts as to whether they would work on Cysero).

"And you doubted me," she said lightly, though honestly, even though this was her element, she'd been nervous the whole time. From beside the Avatar of Time, Adriel flew up to her shoulder and lightly butted her cheek, clearly unimpressed.

The smile the Avatar of Time gave then was a familiar one and, this time, she finally recognized it. How could she not? She saw it whenever she looked at a mirror. "Me? Never," she said, still smiling. Another snap of her fingers called yet another door into existence. Through the gaps in the wood, she could see that behind it was a bright white light. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, making Adriel nod too. Together, they approached the door. The doorknob felt like normal, ordinary steel under her hands. It turned as simply as any door at her house. Then, just as she was about to open the door, she hesitated.

"I'm going to forget about all this," she said, turning to face her counterpart. "Aren't I?"

"You will have to pass through the inn to get back to your home," the Avatar of Time Riese said. "The same rules will apply once you enter. Unless, of course," she added. "You wrote of your excursion here."

While she made no move to do anything, her disapproval of such an act was clear. She didn't think the Avatar of Time would confiscate her notes, if she made any, but…

She just shrugged. "What would be the point? It won't change anything at home. I wrote that I managed the challenge fine as a Cryptic but that's it."

"It will most certainly not change anything for your time," she confirmed, seeming approving. Then, to her surprise, the Avatar of Time then reached over to her, her glowing hand stopping just shy of actually making contact with skin. Her thumb hovered over the line of her cheekbone, the rest of her fingers just barely hovering over the line of her jaw. Somehow, of all things, she was reminded of her mother from back when she was very young. "But perhaps it will help you in another way. Even if you are sure to forget this day, perhaps some of the meaning of my words will sink into your bones."

"I…" She couldn't move. Didn't want to. "What words?"

"Hold your head high, Cryptic Riese," she said solemnly, lifting her head with that sandy hand of hers, leaving traces of sand on her skin. "You are the Hero of Falconreach, just as I was, and you are more than worthy of our name. I know of the truth of your deeds. I know you remain, as you always have, worthy and capable of the responsibility. Do not doubt that."

Her eyes burned despite herself but she forced herself to smile. "Not exactly easy, that," she said, managing just barely to sound light and not at all choked up. "But you know that, don't you?"

She smiled. "I know the truth of your deeds, after all," she agreed. "We all grapple with doubts. But you will endure, as we all have." Then, after tilting her head. "I know you both will forget this day, but I will not. I enjoyed your company. And yours, Adriel."

"So did I," he said, as happily as if he'd been speaking to her. "See you around, Riese!"

Then again, he was speaking to her, wasn't he? "Yeah," she echoed. "See you around, Riese. Avatar of Time Riese."

"That I will, Cryptic Riese," she said formally. "Farewell. Once all is well, I do hope to see you around the inn, my fellow Hero of Falconreach."

Head held high, she turned the knob and opened the door home.