"Mother, I do not really care," said the redheaded woman. Dressed in her usual Chinese outfit, Ranma (in female form) stood looking out the window of their new home. Built on a steep cliff, the house looked out over the valley and the orc village, giving a spectacular view each evening.
"People are doing everything they can," Nodoka Saotome argued. "You could help them do so much more. You should teach. Pass on the Art. You are needed."
"Mother, it has been ten years since we reunited," Ranma said, sitting down at the table. "In that time I have grown up. The Art is not a toy, it is a weapon, unsheathed and poised. Need I remind you what happened to Ryoga?"
"That happened eight years ago," the older woman said to her child as she poured tea. "Hibiki-san turned into a fine young man after that."
"I almost killed him!" Ranma poured the scalding water over her head, shifting back into male form. "I was unhinged, a danger to myself and everyone around me, and I am not going to allow that to happen to someone else."
"Then you can teach them," she argued. "Ensure they do not make the same mistakes you made as a child."
"It is not that simple." Ranma and his mother stared at each other for a long moment. "I was a force of destruction. I wandered around, ignoring all my responsibilities and caused trouble for everyone around me. I hurt people I cared about, people I still care about. Now, here, I can create, canceling out the destruction I wreaked as a teen."
"We are in a new world, Ranma, far from the streets of Nerima," she continued. "You really think being stubborn is going to change that?"
"I am not just being stubborn, I am being realistic," her child said, slumping to the floor. "Every time that dojo was destroyed, I was the one who rebuilt it, occasionally with help from Akane or Ryoga. Neither Tendo-san nor the old man really contributed to the task. For the first time I knew what it meant to create rather than destroy. I became an excellent carpenter and later an architect of sorts, or at least an artist."
"And that is good-" Ranma held up a hand to stop her.
"It took years mother," Ranma said simply. "Years where everything continued to fall apart around me. Now, here, in this brave new world, I have a chance to build, to give my skills to people who need them. For me, this is the first time the Art has become a power of Creation rather than simple Destruction."
"Do you truly feel that way about the Art?"
"I have fought battles that destroyed mountains," Ranma said flatly. "I killed a god when I was only 16. He might have been reborn afterwards, but that doesn't change anything. What good came of that? Enemies came back years later, looking to fight."
"Most of them became your friends, or at least allies, afterwards," his mother noted. "You and Herb write each other often. Taro is finally living with that nice girl, what was her curse?"
"An Asura, a warrior goddess," Ranma answered quietly.
"They are getting on with their lives," Nodoka pointed out. "Each is growing in ways neither could anticipate from years before. So are you, Akane, Ukyo and Shampoo. Ryoga owns a farm, the Kunos actually got some medication and became an upstanding family. Everything is changing. But that is not what you are really worried about, is it?"
Ranma said nothing for a long moment, trying to choose the right words. "It is far too easy for me to justify my actions in ways I never should. I can't even say c-cat much less look at one. I cannot be trusted to draw the line between training and abuse because it never existed for me."
"You have grown in the past ten years," Nodoka Saotome pointed out. "You have changed. You have become a father, a teacher, a master of the Art."
"I cannot keep a job because of the crazy people who still show up; mastery of the Art doesn't provide for my family; and I have children with three women because of some archaic honor code I was brought up with, but I was only really interested in marrying one," Ranma grumbled. "Ukyo is my best friend. We should have never become lovers. Shampoo is Shampoo, she hasn't changed as much. And Akane has grown up. These arrangements made for some horrid years, especially considering how better it would have been if there had been no arrangements."
"You cannot change the past," Nodoka cautioned. "You are a fine young man."
"Mother! I can't even trust myself to be a father, much less a teacher," Ranma said. "I don't know how to draw the line, much less where."
"It is good that you do not want to hurt your children," Nodoka said carefully. "But take a look outside. Look at that growing orc village in the valley. Each and every one of them is trained to protect themselves in this feudal world. Those dwarves and elves we hear about? They are all trained to protect themselves and what they care about."
"What are you trying to say mother?"
"I am saying that with great power, comes great responsibility," his mother said flatly. "You are the greatest martial artist I have ever known. You developed your own sense of honor years after your father's code broke everything. You have saved the lives of me, your father, your wife, your children and countless others. But that means nothing if you are not there to protect them." She stared him down with the haunted eyes of a mother who thought she might never have seen her child again. Those ten long lonely years were shadows on her soul, and she had done everything she could to survive.
"Weeks back, when the city was assaulted by demons, the mothers of your children were the only reason they did not slaughter everyone on that ship. They used the Art to protect the children. If Akane, Ukyo or Shampoo had been somewhere else when the tanarukks had attacked, you would have been a childless father. But one day, they are not going to be there." She stared him down once more. "You have a responsibility to your own children to train them to survive in a world that is going to try its damnedest to kill them. This is not Nerima. Not modern Japan where ramen is a phone call away. This is madness."
"What would you have me do? I have never trained anyone who was not already skilled in the Art," Ranma said. "I don't know how to train beginners. The old man did it by hitting me with a board until I blocked it. I won't do that to my own children."
"Then find a beginner, or someone close, who can take what you can do," Nodoka suggested. "Find someone who, by teaching them, teaches yourself."
"Who do you suggest?"
"If I had all the answers, we would not be stuck here," Nodoka said with a smile. "Go find someone who would appreciate the help. An older student will understand better than a child. Look at this as a quest, a way to better your self by helping others."
"I will think about it," was her child's honest response.
"I am so glad you have arrived," Kellindil grasped the arm of his friend and pulled her into a hug. He met her at the airfield where her Pegasus landed and pleasantly munched on tufts of grass. "Innovindil, this past month has been far too long. Did Tarathiel come with you?"
"Yes, he is flying in with Ellifain and Hallifain tomorrow. Ellifain has never flown before and we wanted to make sure she was safe," the moon elf maid said, pulling back from the hug. "How are you doing, living in this human city?"
"Not so human as you might think, actually," Kellindil said with an amused smile. "I have been meeting with a representative of the local community who seems to be hardly human. It goes by the name of Clem."
"Interesting," Innovindil said with a slight smile. "So, tell me cousin, how did you manage to convince the council to bring Ellifain here? The last I heard, she was to stay in the Moonwood."
"I did nothing, myself," Kellindil said with an amused look on his face. "I place that blame solely on the shoulders of Hallifain. I merely kept her appraised of the situation and she took care of everything."
"I will ask her what she said," Innovindil said with a conspirator tone. "If she has that kind of a silver tongue, maybe I could get her to convince them to give the rangers more support."
"Perhaps we should not ask too much right now," Kellindil said with a smile. "It is good to see you again, cousin."
"And you, cousin," the elf maid replied as she glanced around. "So when do we enter the city? Are they still on the alert?"
"After Hellgate Keep attacked, we all thought they would continue to attack," the blond elf said as they walked to a horse and carriage that was being used for diplomatic transportation. "So far there has been nothing, even to pick up the survivors of their army. Admittedly, it only makes me more worried."
"I as well," she said as she climbed into the carriage. "I thought you said they had horseless carriages for tasks like this."
"As I have been informed, they are conserving the fuel in case they need it later on," Kellindil explained. "From what I understand, it is an alchemical process of a naturally occurring substance from beneath the earth. Admittedly, I dislike the smell greatly."
"So interesting that they are returning to more traditional modes of travel," Innovindil commented with a wry smile.
"Something tells me it will not last," Kellindil replied as he shut the door. "So how is Ellifain feel about meeting Drizzt?"
"We decided not to tell her," was his cousin's answer. Kellindil's eyes almost popped out of his head.
"You didn't tell her? I do not feel this is something that should come as a surprise," Kellindil said, clearly dissatisfied with the decision.
"We went with Hallifain's lead on this," Innovindil admitted. "She has been with Ellifain almost nonstop these past few years since she came from Evereska. We all feel she knows Ellifain better than any of us."
"I just fear this could end very badly," Kellindil said, a dark expression crossing his face. Innovindil rested a hand on his shoulder and he calmed. Looking up, he smiled. "Regardless, let us take a tour of the city. Some parts I am not allowed to visit yet under the argument of 'national security.' They seem almost cavalier about the secrets, taunting that they are keeping the secrets, but not allowing anyone to know what they are."
"I would love to see this new city," Innovindil said with a grin.
Every night, after all the other work had been completed for the day, the Scooby Gang made it a point to catalog any supernatural activity. They would spend several hours researching and training before heading out for patrol. This was almost just a formality at this point, all they usually found were a few starving orcs trying to sneak into the city. Buffy would subdue them and a team would escort the wayward orc back to the village with a supply of food. This had not happened in some time, so it was thought that the orcs were getting used to the aid packages.
From recon teams that patrolled beyond the perimeter of the city, Sunnydale was taking notice of the herds starting to collect in the valley, it looked like the orcs were going to have plenty to eat for a while. Some reports suggested some young animals of greater size and strength were instead being captured. For now, it seemed like the captured animals were being used as work animals, but there was some suggestion that the orcs might be planning to attack. So far no one knew for sure, although most of the ambassadors suggested extermination, something that was rejected outright by those in power.
Tonight, like most nights in the past few weeks, the Scooby Gang was attempting to divine the identity of the strange girl with the skull. So far they had little to show for it.
"I really am lost at the moment," Giles admitted, pulling off his glasses and pacing around. "We have investigated nearly every mystical tome in the library and I must make a fresh pot of tea."
"I just looked in Galen Sword's book of 'Legendary Creatures and People,' but there was nothing," Willow said. She peeked out from behind a large stack of books she had searched through for the third time that week.
"Yeah, got nothing here either," Buffy said from the book she had been napping on.
"It seems that our little visitor had never been to Earth," Giles conceded. He was beginning to give up hope that they would ever find anything. He had the most extensive occult library in Sunnydale (that was to say, the only occult library of any significance), so if she was not recorded in his collection, Giles highly doubted they would find evidence of her in other places.
"Um, I'm not so sure that's true," Xander said from in the stacks. He walked out with a large book in his hands.
"Xander, that is a art history book. I highly doubt that some being of great power would be featured in the sections you tend to peruse," Giles said, noting the classical nude on the dust jacket. Xander just shrugged and glanced at the cover.
"True, this is what first caught my eye," he admitted. Turning the book around he displayed a page showing a collection of Greek bronze statues. Pointing to one in the lower left corner, he grinned triumphantly. The bronze was the spitting image of their visitor. "But that brought me to this."
"Oh good god."
"What is it?" Drizzt asked, speaking up for the first time. He was not much help with research as he could barely read anything without the amulet, but he was quickly getting the hang of coffee runs and fetching dough nuts.
"I shall have to consult my books further," Giles said, his eyes fixed on the text next to the image. "Why don't you all go on patrol? I shall have something tomorrow."
"Sure thing, Giles, see you laters!" Buffy, suddenly awake and perky at the thought of no more books for the night, hopped up and skipped out the door.
"I knew her speed was increasing, but that was far faster than expected," Giles muttered. He turned to the others. "Meet me at City Hall at Nine tomorrow. I shall call for a meeting with the advisors. This is going to take some time."
"Any hint as to what's got you so worked up that we have to come in so early on a weekend?" Xander was more than a little curious and/or scared of whatever could illicit such a response from the librarian.
"Just allow me to say that if my suspicions are correct we have a greater problem than I first anticipated," Giles said quietly while flipping through the art history book.
Buffy bounded into the door of the refurbished Summers house with Drizzt close behind her. Happily free of the tedium of research, she had patrolled the various cemeteries, but there hadn't even been one neophyte since the last battle against the demons. It was starting to just be an exercise for her and Drizzt. With their new responsibilities the others had stopped patrolling with her since it was getting harder and harder for them to keep up with her. If she went full out, even Drizzt wouldn't be able to keep up for very long. The two walked in to find Joyce Summers just getting in, even though it was long after sundown.
"Oh, Buffy, Drizzt, did you have a nice patrol?"
"Kinda boring. Only one Fyarl demon who got lost," Buffy said stuffing a muffin in her mouth. Drizzt just bowed slightly in respect to the Summers Matron. He was not using the amulet of translation, so he only partially understood what they said. The amulet tended to jingle, which didn't help on patrols.
"I'd like you both to sit down. I've got something I want to talk about," Joyce said seriously. Without hands, Buffy quickly finished the whole muffin before sitting down at the counter. Drizzt did the same, but put on the amulet. "When I was attacked by the demons, I was sent to the hospital. Thank you Drizzt. When I was there, the doctors were a little over zealous in their testing, but it all turned out for the best."
"Well, you're up and going, so I'd say yeah," Buffy said as she drank a glass of water from the tap.
"Actually, it was a longer term good news," Joyce said. "They found a spot on my brain." All color drained out of Buffy's face when her brain processed the information.
"That's not good news, that bad, bad news," Buffy said with a side of frantic.
"Buffy, Buffy-They found it early," Joyce said, pulling the girl into her arms to calm her down. "That means treatment can start early and I have a better chance. I might not even need surgery if the treatments work."
"I do not understand, what is this spot and why is it bad?" Drizzt asked quietly.
"It means I have a disease and it is good that they discovered it early," Joyce said warmly. "Drizzt, you might well have saved my life in more way than one."
"Ellifain, welcome to Sunnydale," Kellindil said as the three elves dismounted from their pegasi. All three flying horses were pure white and glistened in the morning sun. The three had been escorted by a ultra light glider dropped from a mountain cliff as a substitute to the distinct lack of helicopter fuel.
"Greetings Kellindil," said Hallifain from behind the elf child. She was dressed in a formal gown that was at the same time fully practical for flying. Innovindil pulled her lover into a close embrace.
"How was your flight, lover?" Innovindil asked Tarathiel.
"Cool, calm and quiet," he replied. He had dressed in elven chain-mail that covered him from neck to foot. All the same, it had the appearance of formal wear.
"Come, I shall show you the town," Kellindil said, sweeping the youngest moon elf into a quick embrace.
The next morning all the advisors were gathered in the City Hall conference room. Giles was at the front of the room with a slide projector and two assistants helping him with the video projector. As the rest of the people settled in, Giles began to speak.
"As most of you know, we were visited by this individual," Giles said as he clicked onto an image of the mystical child looking up at the security camera and sticking out her thumb in a rude gesture. He clicked through several slides, most of which showed the girl making faces at the camera or paying with "auntie's skull." "As you can see she does not appear to be much of a threat, except that she is clearly very powerful. She appeared in the War room without being detected anywhere else, her so called brother also did the same." He clicked to a slide with a shot of the young appearing man. "After three weeks of research, we had nothing about these two individuals."
"That is, until last night when Xander found this image," the watcher clicked to a slide showing the statue of the girl. "This is an image of a Greek bronze statue from around 700 BC. As you can see, the resemblance is far too close to be accidental."
"Do you expect us to believe that child and the statue are the same person?" Even after everything he had seen, General Hennessey was a little skeptical.
"Actually, I do believe the bronze is based on this girl," Giles said. "It is not uncommon to have supernatural beings live for many centuries. Angelus was almost two and a half centuries old and you met him. There are many vampires much older than that. Buffy has slain two of them: Lothos and the Master."
"So who is this girl supposed to be?" asked Joyce who seemed to be taking the news better.
"That is slightly confusing," Giles said. "Depending on the source text, the statue is attributed to one of two individuals: the oracle of Delphi or the child of Eris, the Greek Goddess of Discord."
"Wait, this is either an insane, immortal seer or the god Strife?" Amelia Chung said surprised. When people looked at her confused, she shrugged. "I like mythology."
"Yes, however, Strife is usually considered to be male," Giles clarified. "I was unable to discover more reliable information on the various myths and legends, but one of the more common legends includes how Eris started the Trojan War by creating a fight between the other goddesses using a golden apple. The apple was inscribed 'to the fairest' and the goddesses chose the Trojan Prince Paris as the judge. Paris resolved the divine conflict, choosing Aphrodite as the fairest and was promised the most beautiful woman in the world as a bride. Unfortunately, Helen was married to another man. She and Paris fell in love and ran away to Troy. One minor act brought about the entire conflict."
"So what are we supposed to do with this information?" Maggie Walsh asked with her arms crossed.
"She may well be responsible for everything that has happened to us since the Acathla incident," Joyce put in. She looked to the Scoobies who looked like they were waiting for something. "What?"
"Sorry, we just thought they'd show up when we were talking about them," Willow explained with a shrug. "The girl has a tendency to show up at the strangest times."
"So are we supposed to believe some kind of god is wandering around manipulating everything from the shadows?" asked Maggie Walsh again, still annoyed by the unscientific analysis of it all.
"As much as you might doubt, believe that there are beings out there with the power of gods that could crush us all with the merest of thoughts," Giles said grimly. "For now we are alive, but we need more information on their goals and weaknesses."
"And this is the Sunnydale City Hall where their entire society is run from," Kellindil said, finally ending their morning tour. "We are what the locals call 'tourists' because we 'tour' around the city."
"So their people actually do that, simply go to a place to look at things, no other business?" Tarathiel asked incredulously.
"So I am told, yes," Kellindil said with a smile. "Not so much these days because they are building as fast as they can."
"From what you initially described, it seems like they are taking steps back towards a more traditional lifestyle," commented Hallifain, glancing around at the horse drawn carts that carried building supplies through the town.
"I can assure you, that their 'traditional' is very different from our own or that of any other human culture on Toril," Kellindil said with a smirk. He shot a smile at Ellifain, who had not spoken a word since they arrived. She was simply stone faced as they walked through the town with their Initiative escort. She seemed to have no emotional reaction to anything; not even the rancid smells of petrol cars, refuse from the Doublemeat Palace or welding seemed to provoke a response. He glanced up at the clock on the City Hall tower. Soon the meeting would be done and they would travel to their respective job sites.
The Sunnydale obsession with time was incredible. They had specific regulations for starting and ending work, instead of simply working until the work was done, like an elf or dwarf would. They had a significant night life as well when one considers the lights up around the town.
"I for one am glad to see our new neighbors from this perspective," Innovindil said, smiling brilliantly at her lover. "Perhaps we could go sit in a park and watch the moon tonight."
"Actually, cousin, that might not be a very good idea," Kellindil corrected before Tarathiel could respond. "From what I understand, Sunnydale suffers from a vampire problem and, though it is reportedly safer than it has been in the past, I would not recommend straying alone at night unarmed, and we are not permitted to bear arms within the city limits."
"Have they no Clerics or Paladins to hunt them down?" Hallifain asked, a bit confused.
"No, not as we see them anyway," Kellindil answered. "Instead, their world has the Slayer."
"The Slayer, what is that? Some kind of creature?" Tarathiel asked.
"No, from what I understand, and let me quote this correctly 'in every generation there is a Chosen One; one girl in all the world, gifted with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.' I believe that is correct," the moon elf said.
"One girl for an entire world? Their world must be overrun with demons and vampires!" Innovindil was positively scandalized.
"It is rather worse than that," Kellindil said sadly. "When one Slayer dies, another is called. And due to the rather young age they are called, a slayer is unlikely to live for more than a year. Buffy is rather odd to have lived three years as the Slayer and from what I understand that has much to do with her friends."
"Wait! If this Buffy is the Slayer and she is here, what of her world?" Tarathiel said, positively horrified at the thought. Kellindil simply shook his head sadly.
"I have no knowledge of how their world fares," the blond elf admitted. "It seems it has become something of a taboo subject with the citizens. Apparently, they have lost hope of returning to their world after Alustriel said it was impossible."
"So they plan to make this their world," muttered Ellifain under her breath, so quietly even only Hallifain's elven hearing picked it up, and only then because the elf maid was standing right next the elven child. The other three elves never seemed to notice.
"I cannot imagine how it feels to be trapped away from everything you know," Hallifain commented, letting Ellifain's comment pass.
"It seems their determination keeps them going, although it must be worse for those only visiting Sunnydale," Kellindil commented. "A number of the people who are trapped here when they were only tourists."
"It must be horrible for them," Hallifain emphasized. All the elves looked up as the city hall clock tower began to chime ten o'clock.
"If just occurred to me that the meeting is about to adjourn, if you would like to meet some of the city leaders," prompted Kellindil, this being the preplanned time to introduce Ellifain to the Scooby Gang and later to Drizzt. The Scooby Gang was going to be an acid test for a reaction and if all went well they would introduce Drizzt to her. Kellindil wanted to inform Drizzt of their plan, but had been vetoed by the other members.
"I think that would be a wonderful idea," Innovindil said warmly. Noting a group of younger humans walking out the front door, followed by a group of older humans, she nodded towards them. "Would that be the group?"
"Yes it would," Kellindil said, slightly woodenly. Later, Innovindil would taunt her cousin on his poor acting, one ranger to another. Kellindil waved to the Scooby Gang. The younger humans walked over quickly, recognizing the elf. "Buffy, Willow, Xander, I'd like you to meet my Cousin Innovindil, her lover Tarathiel, Hallifain and her charge, Ellifain."
"Hi!" Said the perky blonde Buffy. "I think it's cool that people are coming by to visit. I'm Buffy Summers." Innovindil took her hand and shook. The handshake was perhaps a little too vigorous because although she had been prompted by Kellindil, she put a bit too much effort into it. If it was anyone but Buffy their arm would have been sore.
"Greetings Buffy, I am Tarathiel," the tallest elf said with a grin. "Kellindil tells us you are the Slayer."
"Yep, I'm the girl that's destined to kill all the nonhuman things around," she didn't even notice her own slip, but it was not missed by the others. Most ignored the mistake, already knowing they had come from a human only world. "But today I'm construction girl."
"Hi, I'm Willow Rosenberg," the redhead said shyly.
"Willow is a practicing witch," Kellindil said to the others. The girl's face turned as red as her hair.
"I'm not really that good," Willow stammered. "I mean, I practice and Evelyn says I've gots lots of power, but not ."
"Breathe Willow," the dark haired boy reached out and shook Hallifain's hand and winked at the obviously younger Ellifain. "I'm Xander."
"Well met, Xander," said Hallifain with a slightly mysterious grin.
"It was nice to meet you all, but we've got to run to work," Xander said. "The meeting ran longer than expected and we're a bit late. Oh and piece of advice, don't go down Mayfield today. Housecraft is hosting a protest and they might get nasty if they see you. The whole group is a bunch of racists."
"Thank you for the advice," Tarathiel said, acting overly polite to the group.
"Good Work," Kellindil said with a smile.
"Oh, if you're staying a while, you might want to show them around the lake it's got some great views of the valleys," Buffy suggested. "I especially like the view to the south east."
"We might well take your advice," Kellindil said.
"Buffy! Xander! The foreman is looking for you," a voice called out. Heads turned to see Drizzt Do'Urden jogging over to them. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, unarmed, but still noticeably Drow. He skidded to a stop when he spotted the Elves. "Oh, forgive me. It is an honor to see you again Kellindil."
"And you Drizzt," Kellindil said, inwardly panicking. This was not going to plan. He could only wonder how Ellifain would react. Glancing at the elven child, he saw her tense up a moment before she threw herself at the dark elf, fingers tensed as claws. Drizzt seemed to notice the attack at the last possible instant and side stepped out of the way. Ellifain spun on her heels and attempted to jump him again. She was intercepted by both Buffy and a Blaster bolt, knocking the elven girl to the ground unconscious. The other elves swept in to grab the unconscious girl. "Forgive me Drizzt, I did not think she would react so."
"Her face! She," Drizzt said, cutting himself off as he recognized the girl.
"Yes, she is the girl you saved in that raid to the surface," Kellindil said.
"But how, she-"
"We decided it was the best way for her to heal inside was to face her fears, namely you," Kellindil admitted. "We were wrong."
"Once again, please forgive us," Innovindil said, genuinely surprised at the elf child's reaction. "We had no way to know she would react this way."
"Is she alive?" asked Tarathiel to Hallifain, who held the girl's body.
"She will be fine. A blaster will only knock her out for about fifteen minutes," one of their Initiative escorts answered. "I am calling a coach to take you back to your quarters."
"Kellindil, why didn't you tell me?" Drizzt asked, clearly confused.
"Hallifain said it was the best to let it be natural," Kellindil said. "Clearly we were wrong." The elves turned to see a hummer drive up and park beside them. "Please, Drizzt I would like to discuss this with you at a later time." The dark elf seemed a little numb. For the girl he had saved to have that reaction, the trauma must have been great, much worse than his own.
Soldiers got out of the Hummer and helped the elves place the child on a stretcher. The other elves sadly followed into the vehicle. Giving the Scooby Gang one last repentant look, Kellindil climbed into the back and the hummer rolled away.
"Drizzt," the dark elf turned to Buffy who was clearly confused. "What was that all about?"
About twenty minutes later, Ellifain awoke from her involuntary sleep on a bed in an elaborate room of dark wood paneling. Hallifain sat on the bed next to her. Looking up at the older elf, she blinked.
"How are you doing, little one?" asked Hallifain.
"Was it real?"
"Yes, it was all real," Hallifain said quietly as she stroked the elf girl's hair.
"They are friends with it? Friends with a drow?"
"Yes, it appears that they are," the older elf said kindly. Ellifain didn't say anything for a long couple of moments as she stared unblinking into Hallifain's eyes. "Is there something else?"
"I-" the elf child hesitated.
"Go on, I won't be ashamed of you." Ellifain paused another long moment before speaking again.
"…I just wish they could all see themselves the way I see them," Ellifain said with complete honestly. The instant the words were out of her mouth, Hallifain's face suddenly turned a mass of wrinkles and demonic scar tissue.
"Granted."