Author note: The end is getting closer, dear readers! Only two more chapters to go and then the epilogue...Damn, this has been quite the journey. And I loved every moment of it. Did you?
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When their sight cleared, they found themselves in the Pocket Plane, the Solar standing in front of them like the first time and Cespenar flying to perch on Imoen's shoulder like a sort of scaly and cuddly parrot. "Greetings again, Godchild", the Solar addressed Meg, "The war is drawing to a close. Only one foe now remains". The Ilmatari hummed, "Let me take a wild guess: Amelyssan?". "Exactly", the celestial nodded, "She is waiting for you at the Throne of your sire: her plan is not to resurrect Bhaal, but to steal his power and become a goddess herself and your task is to stop her once and for all. But you still have one last challenge to face before you can move forward and fight her", she gestured to the last challenge room, which was now open, "Once you defeat the final foe and leave this plane, it will vanish from existence".
"Wait a minute!", Imoen called, "What of Cespenar? He lives here!". "He will return to Gehenna…Or maybe he will be destroyed with this plane, I cannot say", the Solar shrugged, she didn't really care one bit about the fate of the little Imp. The pink-haired thief was horrified, "What? NO! Isn't there a way for him to become my familiar or something? Please!", she begged. "I shouldn't interfere with the fate of a denizen of the lower planes, but…I suppose I can arrange for that", the celestial said with a small huff, then chanted a few words in her native language and Cespenar was surrounded by a bright sphere of light before a wide smile lightened up its muzzle.
"Cespenar is free from the Abyss!", it cheered, flapping its wings and flying in circles around Imoen happily, "Great Pink One is nice! Cespenar will remain by Great Pink One's side always!", it promised and she let out a shout of joy and hugged the little Imp as if it were a plushie. "Yay, I finally have my own familiar! Watch and weep, Eddie!", she added, poking her tongue out at Edwin. For his part, the Thayan rolled his eyes, "As if I would ever want a mere Imp as my familiar", he replied flatly, "I'm aiming much higher than that, you insufferable pink-haired chipmunk (A wizard of my caliber deserves at least a Balor, maybe even a Baatezu. But a black panther would be nice as well. A wolf too. Or maybe a dragon…On a second thought, no, I've had enough of dragons for a lifetime)", he decided with a grimace.
Meg shook her head with an amused and fond smile, "Okay, well, thank you for the information and for freeing Cespenar, Solar. Now, is there anything else you need to tell us?". The Solar shook her head, "No, that's all. I will see you again at the Throne, if you survive the last challenge that is", she said before vanishing. "Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, bitch", Daniel snorted even if he knew she couldn't hear him anymore. "Don't mind her", Jaheira advised him with a dismissing gesture, "We'd better finish this now, we have wasted enough time as it is". "Not yet", Meg argued, "I want us to plan for the final battle against Amelyssan first and we will also take a good long bath in the healing pools. I don't see why we should not enjoy such luxuries while we still can. And make sure to get as many bottles of that water as possible, it would be a shame to let it go to waste". "Aye aye, captain!", Imoen joked with a playful salute.
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"Well, it's time. Are you all ready?", Meg asked and receiving nods from everyone, she sighed, "Let's go then". They entered the last challenge room and found themselves in front of a towering, horrifying thirty-feet-tall monster with four spindly arms, seven-feet-long black spiraling horns and a deformed face that seemed frozen in a death rictus, with a maw full of razor sharp teeth and eyes made of demonic flames. "What the f**k is this thing?", Daniel shouted, shocked. "It's the Ravager", Sarevok and Balthazar answered in unison, sharing a glance. "It's the most powerful avatar of Bhaal", the monk added and the Slayer snorted.
Please, the Ravager was only Bhaal's fancy suit, it commented spitefully, I am the most powerful form he had at his disposal and now I'll prove it! Let me take over again, little Goddess!
"Sorry, but I'd rather face this fight without your help", she replied to it, not realizing she'd spoken out loud. "Have you gone insane?", Edwin asked, frowning, "We won't let you…Meg!", he yelled, eyes widening. The Ilmatari's body was changing in a way that was all too familiar to them and it made their blood run cold. "Stop! I don't need your help!", she cried, trying to force the Slayer back, but the creature was not giving up, fighting with all of its strength to overpower her.
I've come too far to risk you being killed by this pitiful excuse for an avatar!, it growled as it managed to morph her right arm before she reversed the change, sensing her fury rising inside her the more they fought, Stop fighting me, you useless, pathetic little brat, you know you can't defeat me! I will triumph against my traitorous priestess, consume your soul as fuel and take back my Throne!
"Forget it! I will never submit to you! If anything, you must submit to me!", Meg roared as her entire body was enveloped by light, but this time the light was not just golden, there was also deep emerald green with small wisps of pure white floating inside. Slow but unstoppable, the green literally devoured the gold and when only the mixture of green and white remained, it burst out of her in a huge blast that knocked everyone off their feet and disintegrated the Ravager in one go, the shockwave making the walls of the chamber shake as thin cracks appeared everywhere, steaming and sizzling as if cold water had been poured on lava.
Finally, the light faded and Meg wobbled unsteadily on her feet, but before she could fall, Anomen was quick to get back on his feet and catch her in his arms. "W-what was that?", Aerie asked shakily as she stood leaning against the wall. "The Slayer tried to take over her by force, but she prevailed", Balthazar answered and his voice was full of reverence, "I think…I think her own God lent her a sliver of His strength to fight the darkness of our sire and conquer it. Since Cyric broke, or at the very least bent the rules to appear here and meddle with her tests, I suppose the Allfather decided to grant Ilmater the same chance to balance the odds. I never thought it could happen, I thought those like us were doomed to be cast out by all the Gods, but…Maybe there is hope for me as well then", he murmured.
"There certainly is, boy", Jaheira nodded, "Silvanus would be a good choice for you to worship by the way". Edwin snorted, "Please, it's obvious that the best choice would be Kossuth (The simple fact that Sekhmet and I worship Him should be proof enough of this fact)". "Helm is a good and fair patron to those who follow Him", Anomen intervened with a proud smile. "Why not Mask?", Imoen added her two cents, but her monk brother shook his head with a smile.
"I thank you all for the advice, but I think I will put myself in the service of Ilmater, like our sister did", he smiled softly as he regarded the unconscious Painbearer, "Her patron is merciful and kind and I want to serve His cause from now on: I caused pain to my people for too long and now I will devote the rest of my life to alleviate the suffering of others in the hopes of making up for my past mistakes". The Thayan rolled his eyes, "That's simply wonderful, now we have another goody-two-shoes, soft hearted kitten rescuer in our midst", he commented, his voice dripping sarcasm, then he sighed with a shrug, "Oh, well, I tried my best (Kossuth surely can't deny that)".
Sarevok clapped his hands to get their attention and spoke up in a strong and determined tone, "Enough with this nonsense, we have a much bigger problem than trying to convert my brother: Amelyssan is waiting for us and no doubt she is gathering her allies and preparing for the fight at the best of her capacity. We must do the same, so we will eat and rest one last time before going to face her and take her down once and for all. Anomen, watch over Maggie. Cespenar, put some food aside for when she wakes up", he ordered, "And everyone who uses magic, make sure to memorize the Dragon Breath spell you used in the fight against Abazigail: if it worked against a Bhaalspawn dragon, it will work against that accursed woman as well".
Daniel let out a loud whistle and grinned, leaning on his staff, "Now I see why everyone did everything you said back in the old days, brother: with that commanding tone of yours, nobody would dare to disobey you! And I bet the ladies loved it too behind closed doors, uh?", he joked and the Deathbringer rolled his eyes, though there was the hint of a smile on his full lips. "Shut up and go wash your hands before the meal, Danny". "Ha, I knew it", the druid chuckled and ran out of the room before he could get playfully kicked in the butt, "You gotta work on your aim, man, you missed by a mile!", he taunted. Sarevok laughed under his breath as he watched his little brother go, "It's nice to have a family", he said without realizing he'd spoken out loud as he too left the room.