The townspeople look between Wil and the old woman. Finally, one steps up and says "You tried to kill this woman? Murderer!" The cry gets picked up by the rest of the townspeople. Wil starts to look panicked, and mutters some more, pulling out his staff. He looks out at the townspeople and says "Hold on and calm down. Think this through." The townspeople suddenly stand still, and Saphyre looks questioningly over to Wil. Wil whispers over to Saphyre "I had to do something. I hate using enchantment magic, but if I didn't, they would run us through, or hang us. Right now, they are thinking through everything I just said, and hopefully calming down as well. If not, well, I have more spells I can use, and I'll protect as many townspeople as I can from collateral. I think our best plan of attack is to lure her away from the townspeople, and fight her where the fewest people possible will be hurt."
"There must be some way," Saphyre muttered, "to tell them what she is and to let them know they're in danger before it's too late. Is there any spell you have that could show them her true self?"
"It depends completely on the nature of the disguise," Wil mutters back. "If it's magic, then yes. If it isn't, maybe, maybe not. Is throwing way too much water at her something we want to risk? Or even dispelling the illusion that may or may not be there? We are already at a poor enough good will, and once the townspeople finish my suggestion and realize what I did... That's the other problem with enchantment magic. After it wears off, they know they were enchanted, so, no. Even if we do show her true form, I've probably gotten rid of all our good will for these precious extra few minutes. I still think the best plan is to get her away from the townspeople and fight her elsewhere. She has to be weakened from the meteor swarm. A few good hits should be all that is necessary. I just also want to remove as much collateral damage as possible."
Saphyre spends several heartbeats in tense silence before perking up, just as Wil is about to turn back to the crowd.
"Why does she want to do it?"
"What? I don't think tha-"
"Well she has to have a reason! Maybe she wants something! Maybe we can negotiate!" Wil frowns, still staring at the crowd, while beginning to say "I don't think that talking to her will…" He cuts off when he realizes Saphyre is no longer beside him, instead wading through the crowd towards the woman, the enchanted townspeople casting curious glances at Saphyre. "Saphyre!" Wil calls out, shaking his head as they continue on, pushing through the crowd. Wil mutters "Damnit…" and then walks to the crowd and says "Let them through. And me as well." The crowd dutifully parts, and lets them both through, giving a clear path to the woman. "Hem her in as well." Wil says, pointing to the woman. Once again, the crowd dutifully wraps around, keeping the clear path to the woman, but keeping her from running away. Wil catches up to Saphyre and says "While I do hate enchantment magic, it's better to use it while I still can. I still think talking to her is a bad idea. The magic holding the townspeople at bay will end soon, and I don't want to be around when that happens."
The woman eyes the two of them; they can't tell if it's distrust or humor that glints in her ancient face. Wil gently places a hand on Saphyre's shoulder, cautioning them against walking forward any farther, and Saphyre turns back to address the woman quietly, inching forward a little more and uttering only one word: "why?"
The woman turns to Saphyre and says "The townspeople never liked magic users. They always treated me horribly. I'm sure your brother can attest to that. I'm trying to change the town to have a good disposition towards magic users. Whether that be by starting the town anew, or some other method, I won't stop until it is done. They treated me terribly though, so extra suffering for them before changing the town for the better."
Saphyre turns to Wil, who has a pained look on his face. He is trying hard to not acknowledge the truth of the woman's statement, but hiding it very poorly. He knows how the townspeople have treated him. Ignoring magic users is about the best that can be hoped for in this town, but it's not from a change of hearts by the townspeople, it's from fear of what Wil might do if they try to stop him.
Wil turns back to the woman and says "Yes. The townspeople don't like magic users, but you are only going to make things worse. Remember what happened last time? You didn't fix anything? Why would this time be any different?" Then he turns to Saphyre, and whispers "We need to get her, and ourselves, out of here. I don't care for the townspeople, but I also don't want to see them killed. Now you know why she wants to do this. So, let's get out of here." After waiting for a bit, and realizing that Saphyre isn't budging, Wil sighs, and turns to the townspeople. "Go to your homes. Shelter to the best of your ability." Promptly, they all scatter, going to their various homes throughout the city. Finally, it's just the three of them.
Saphyre, realizing that the other two are staring at each other coldly as the crowd finally disperses, hesitantly takes the bow from behind their back and stands with it awkwardly held at their side, waiting for someone to make a move, not wanting to be the first. Wil pulls out his staff, walks to stand between Saphyre and the woman, and starts some muttering. Immediately, both of them have a blue shimmering aura, the extra armor from earlier. He then points his staff at the woman, and says "I hope you understand, but, we have to stop you. I care not for the town or townspeople, but I cannot justify the killing of them all, no matter how horrible they are to magic users."
He then flourishes his staff, and disappears. He appears behind the woman, smacks her with the staff at a blinding speed, and disappears again. He does this 4 more times, and then reappears back in front of Saphyre. The woman is knocked to the ground from the blows, but very much still alive and angry. She stands up, her spine straightening… growing… as she becomes taller, her wrinkles seem to absorb back into her skin, and her hair grows out long once more, the color seeping back in from the roots to the ends. She draws a sword from some hidden fold in her robes and it seems to have a faint red gleam to it.
Saphyre draws their own sword, and they begin to fight the woman, blade-to-blade. Silver flashes round and round as the two go at it. Saphyre curses as they stumble and the woman manages to slash at Saphyre's leg, chuckling oddly as the sword only bounces with the sound of metal ringing out. While Saphyre is cursing and shoving the woman back, the woman throws a dagger, narrowly missing Wil by inches as he mutters something, raising his staff. Saphyre turns back towards her, eyes burning in that burnt gold color as they grunt and slash at the woman until their swords are locked. Slowly, Saphyre gains the upper hand, pushing the woman back, sweat beading on their forehead.
The woman, though, only grins. "Oh, how proud. And how naive." Saphyre cocks their head just as they double over, a silent scream getting trapped in their throat as an ivory-handled blade sticks out of their stomach. The woman jerks the blade back out and Saphyre falls to the ground with a sickening thud, shaking and ghost-white as blood pools from the wound. Out of the trees, Vikki runs forward, whispering a slew of curse words as she kneels by Sapphyre, taking her robes and holding them against the wound. Saphyre's breaths come in short gasps, and Vikki's whispers to them turn into shouts of "no no no… no…" as Saphyre's eyes close and they slump into Vikki's arms.
Wil can only look on in horror, seeing his sister being stabbed by the woman, and Vikki running towards them. Saphyre, the stubborn hot-headed artificer, just had to walk out from behind him, where Wil couldn't protect them anymore. Seeing their body, he gets filled with white-hot rage. He has enough presence of mind to tell Vikki "Get Saphyre out of here," and then turns and looks at the woman and says "You killed my sister. You will pay for that." Then he unleashes a torrent of lightning on the woman. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt, until he is almost too tired to continue. The woman only looks angry at Wil, and is advancing. Wil takes one last look at Saphyre, being carried away by Vikki, and whispers "I'm sorry."
Everything feels like cotton at first. Their head is fuzzy and their mouth and eyes feel as dry as the sun-baked desert. Vikki notices Saphyre starting to wake, and rushes to their side. "Your wounds were… bad, to say the least, Saphyre. You almost broke your promise and I couldn't let that happen."
They try to speak, but only a pained squeak escapes as their hands reach clumsily to try and sit up. Vikki pushes them back down, shaking her head. "Rest." Protesting but too feverish to resist, Saphyre lays their head back down and groans a little. They fumble around and finally pull on a string to reveal the small necklace. Before Vikki can do anything, Saphyre's knuckles turn white as they grip it harder and harder, a pitiful wail coming from their throat. Vikki wraps her arms around Saphyre, knowing full well what's going on as the white-knucled hand continues to wait, losing hope by the second that the heartbeat they can't feel will come back. Only silence greets them.
"You were barely breathing. Your brother told me to take you away. He had this look in his eyes… like he knew he wasn't going to see you again. then he turned to the woman and blasted her with lightning. By the end, I could tell he was extremely tired, but the last time, somehow, he managed to rise, even float a few inches off the ground. He was wreathed in purple flames. He burst out one more lightning bolt and collapsed. I went back after getting you here, but he wasn't breathing, no heartbeat, and his skin was charred. There was no chance he was still alive. I'm sorry, Saph."
A strangled sob breaks from Saphyre's throat even as it burns, and Vikki holds the sobbing half-elf in her arms.
Wil wakes up, confused and groggy. He looks up, and thinks he must be imagining things, because he sees a 200 foot tall, ghostly specter wearing bright blue and yellow clothes, and holding a clipboard. Wil looks around, and everything is very bright and cloudy. He stands up and, while tired, doesn't feel any adverse effects from the overchanneling. The specter looks down at Wil and says "You are a bit early. We weren't expecting you here for another few years. I'll get priority set on your room. In the meantime, enjoy the party." The specter gestures to the surrounding space, where many people are gathered and look to be having fun.
Before the specter leaves, Wil looks and asks "Who are you? Where am I? What happened? Where is Saphyre?" The specter just laughs. "I am one of the many servants here. As for where you are, wherever you want to be. Saphyre isn't going to join us yet. It's not their time. And what happened, that should be obvious enough. You died."