That pretty much ended the Q&A session. Regent got off another snarky comment I didn't really remember, I got a room somewhere else in the building, entered it, fell flat face first onto the bed inside and was out pretty much like that.

Sleep it seemed, came easy for me.

Not that it was easy on me at all. I mean that would kind of be ridiculous given everything. Shit had hit me so hard it wasn't even funny. Nightmares were not so much expected as a given.

It started simple enough, my past self waking up from a horrible nightmare, making porridge and a moca because why not. Got to the store, opened up, and the Navigator of Unknown Skies walked in in his normal statue like self, browsing the wares. I threw out the basic sale pitches I had given so many times I'd forgotten when I'd memorized them. Though obviously he didn't want any skin cream given his skin was made of supernaturally tough marble. What with him being a living statue animated by shadows and all.

You know it was funny that a demon descended of Malfeas would be animated by shadows, but he explained how it was due to the fact unlike most first circles he had two parents, well of a sort, rather he was hewn on the Forge of The Night with the assistance of it's keeper and Mistress Alveua. Which honestly a really impressive linage all around. I mean yeah the demonic bearers of Infernal Exaltations are meant to be something else, but the living masterpiece of the first and fetch soul of Malfeas crafted by the aid of the Ebon Dragon's most creative subsoul? That shit is how legendary behemoths and the like were made.

Of course mentioning that was kind of a mistake as it got him... her... it... The Navigator all fussy about things. So I offered to go get lunch to make it up to them.

I wanted to go to a little coffee shop I knew about but The Navigator of Unknown Skies didn't want to, so instead we went to Fuggly Bob's which was fine with me because I'd never gone and was curious.

Unfortunately my legionaries decided that was an event worth going crazy over and in moments we were up to our neck in Dragonblooded, my Dragonblooded!

I tried to explain it, make them see reason, subdue them without harm but even terrestrial exalts were still Exalted warriors and before my words could reach them The Navigator of Unknown Skies was gone, and everything was on fire or covered in blood. People were dead, dead to fire, dead to sword, spear, arrow, dead on my hands.

And I couldn't help but wonder just where was Dissonant Serenity? She would never alow-

Except that it was obvious, she was distracted, I could see her in the sky having tea with The Simurgh as the world burned to chaos below them, bodies strung like puppets by strings leading to the stars all around them like a puppet play at a child's pretend tea party.

I hated those strings.

Hated Hated HATED.

I wanted them to burn, I needed them to burn.

And the sky became fire, and green washed away everything, leaving me sitting in sand.

I tried to make a castle, but there was no mortar, so I opened my veins and started to stain the desert with it to make it stick the way I wanted it to. If I could just get it just right, I could rebuild everything...

But I couldn't and I knew that.

Because even if you make a new home. Even if you build everything exactly like it was, you still remember what happened, and you will not be the same.

That was just obvious right?

Then I woke up, yawned and then checked out the selection of instant coffee that the hotel room had.

As expected, overpriced, not great quality, but they had rolo flavored so why not.

I made a cup, checked the clock, realized I had a few hours until sign out was due, plopped back against the headboard and checked what was on TV.

Daytime TV, yaaaaay.

I really needed to get a cellphone of my own...

Well I was planning to just rest and recuperate for the day anyway. I could even go bug the Undersiders and shanghigh a bunch of delightfully angsty teenagers to help me with it.

Then I found out Earth Bet had The Cartoon Network and they were running a robot chicken marathon and promptly reset my day plans entirely.

Today was going to be a good day.

If it wasn't I was probably going to murder someone.