Note: Apologies for the HUGE delay on this chapter. Again, I thank everyone for reading this far and hope you are enjoying Baldur's Gate 3 as much as I am.


Gale couldn't discern if Astarion growled, screeched, or yelped but the wizard decided it didn't matter. Instead, what did appear to matter, was this girl, Blue.

Was she his prey? Honestly, why would he bother? Gale thought with astute confusion. While he was annoyed at Astarion's lack of joy at his friend's arrival, he did fall on him. And this 'Blue' must have suffered the knockback Seledra mentioned.

"I'd suggest you jump in and fetch her yourself, but I know you're not fond of getting soaked in ice waters." Gale commented.

Astarion's efforts to keep calm teetered at minimal as the elf whirled around to Gale, seething, "Is there nothing you can think of to get her here, faster?"

Gale thought for a moment. He could cast a teleportation spell, but Astarion would still have to swim. "I could try to cast two portals, but now that she's out of si-"

"Do it!" Astarion shouted. Yanking off his shirt, jeans, and shoes, none of which Gale recognized as armor of any sort, Gale cast two portals, one near Astarion and the other approximately where the flailing arms were. Within a second, Astarion was gone, and Gale thought he heard a splash somewhere. The speed at which this was happening, despite his teleportation to another material plane, was as shocking to Gale as the cold waters would be.

Well, this was pleasant. I get a whole day with this arsehole, Gale thought bitterly, his concentration already beginning to wane after the teleportation. He'd crossed entire planes, under the worry that that Astarion might be suffering. Yet, here he was as Gale predicted, doing just fine, with a woman.

After a long minute, Astarion stumbled from the portal with what looked like a sopping wet bag. It took a second glance for Gale to recognize that the dripping figure wasn't a bag, but a pale-faced, blue-lipped human wrapped in some sort of thick material. Astarion didn't explain as he panted, jogged to the fire, barefoot, skin glistening with the cold waters that clung to his skin.

As Astarion set the human down near the fire, it occurred to Gale that Astarion must care about this person in the more intimate ways. He'd never seen him handle anyone with this kind of grace. Hells, he just dove in icy waters, not for his own sake. Gale couldn't even get him to step through mud. The look in Astarion's eyes was frantic as he started pulling layers off this human, tossing them near the fire, which seemed quite small to Gale.

"Blue. Blue? Come on now darling, I can hear your heart. Quit playing games, dammit." Astarion muttered, taking off Blue's shoes. Now in her pants and shirt, which were still dripping wet, Astarion glanced at Gale and hissed, "Turn around, I need to undress her".

"Ah yes, I came all this way to take orders from a grumpy vampire who needs to undress an unconscious, wet woman." Gale flatly replied, rotating around to face the darkness of the forest.

Behind him, he heard rustling and Astarion's calming words to Blue. After what felt like an hour, Gale turned around, fed up. He did not come all this way to be pushed around. Gale started making his way toward the tent, but stopped short, listening to a quiet conversation, filled with words and emotions he formerly believed were out of Astarion's reach.

"...thought I was going to drown." A woman's voice said. Gale didn't recognize it. They truly were in another material plane, it seemed.

"Well, give it another minute of self-preservation and you likely would have. So, my sincerest apologies," Astarion replied. Gale thought he could hear a smile in his words.

"Though, you should blame Gale since he's the one that blasted you in the water." Astarion quickly added.

"I'd be more upset with you, but I'm freezing my ass off and you're shirtlessness is pretty distracting," Blue commented.

Gale rolled his eyes but suddenly felt his intruding presence. The wizard took a quiet step back and sat near the fire, gazing, somewhat annoyed, into its flames. He'd come all this way and Astarion was infatuated with some girl.

With a sigh, Gale looked at the pitiful fire. Chanting an 'ignis', Gale expanded the fire and placed their clothes closer to it, hoping to return to Seledra as soon as a day had passed. May as well be useful, even though I've maxed out usefulness for today, it seems. He could feel fatigue pulling at him. Hopefully, Astarion would leave this realm quickly, and they could continue their venture through Baldur's Gate.

Though, with the conversation I'm hearing, I'm not sure he'll go as willingly as I'd like.

As Gale sat, pondering what to say to the elf, Astarion and Blue talked, sometimes laughing. It was clear she was important to him, but to what end, Gale couldn't quite place. He'd heard of vampiric charms lingering longer than a night, should it benefit the predator. But something felt more sincere than that.

Finally, Gale's impatience grew too large for him to contain. Standing, he cleared his throat. After snickering from inside the tent, he cleared his throat again, louder, and asked, "So am I to just assume that you don't wish to return to Faerun?"

After a brief silence and some rustling, Astarion emerged, still mostly naked. Blue wore spare clothing, which Astarion must have silently (which didn't surprise Gale) taken from the car at some point when he wasn't looking. She wore sweats, an old t-shirt, and a worn-out windbreaker. Her hair was still dark and wet, but Gale spotted some sort of warming device inside the tent. That explained how they were both mostly dry.

Gale stood in front of them stood, arms on his hips, eyes averting Astarion's pale figure.

"Now, I'd suggest a mite more clothing, Astarion, if I were you, before we travel back to Faerun tomorrow," Gale said, nodding at the pale elf.


My heart sank tenfold. So much had happened in the past hour that it blurred my memory. Astarion had bit me, I fell into the water, nearly drowned, and now this stranger in very fancy robes was standing here, claiming he could take Astarion away from me.

Upon emerging from the hot tent, which was surprisingly great at drying out soaking-wet naked people, he shocked me. Astarion told me his name was Gale, and that he was a wizard, but he was also the tall, attractive kind (though it did not compare to red eyes and bloodlust). I wondered if Faerun was where all the decent men had gone until he mentioned Astarion's desire to leave.

Pulling on his jeans and sweater, which were dry thanks to a very large fire (how did it get so large?), Astarion hesitated in replying.

Gale, looking quite annoyed with Astarion, glared at the vampire with some kind of expectance, as if Astarion had planned on his arrival and didn't plan a welcome party.

Astarion finally said, "Look, I appreciate your reckless regard for your own life to drag yourself here and seek me out, but -" he started, but was interrupted.

"Oh, there are no 'buts'. You are coming back and that is the end of that. You'll have to abandon whatever venture," he gestured towards me indifferently, "you've had here. Else Karlach might have my skin."

Astarion bristled, but I could feel the tension in his demeanor. My chest contracted. I wasn't going to like this conversation.

"First of all, don't tell me what to do. Second, I don't recall asking for your help, so you can just run back to Faerun, and I will return when I desire since you've so graciously proven it's possible to do so and remain characteristically intact." Astarion said, crossing his arms.

Gale took a step closer to Astarion. The fire raged behind them, and I swore Gale had a purple chain or lines dancing around his neck. Was he infected with something? I hoped not.

"I have one day to bring you back and by Mystra we've already crossed several, if not all the delicate threads that hold the Weave together, thus we cannot continue to cross more. If you won't come willingly, you will force my hand, Astarion." Gale assured me of this with such a firmness that I believed him, despite the ridiculous nature of it all.

We were standing in the middle of a forest, and I was watching a vampire and wizard argue about realms they considered 'home' and magical boundaries neither saw nor comprehended.

What I could comprehend was my entire being sinking faster than it was in the lake. Call me dramatic, but I felt the cold snap of death must be more favorable to losing Astarion to his homeworld. After all, we've been through, it felt like a betrayal of my own emotions to let him go.

I'd come so far in trusting someone again. In loving another being that I couldn't imagine life without. I'd opened up to Astarion more times in a week than I would have to another in a month. I know this is typically called insanity but if this is what love was like, I wanted to continue being insane.

As they argued, it felt like I had already lost. As Gale spoke in hurried, formidable words, I could feel something radiating from him. His time here was short, but just in his attire, language, and the way he spoke to Astarion, I didn't just sense a deeper friendship.

I felt an entire universe.

Gale felt like a mystical creature in a human form, but he represented a world I'd never know. His anger at Astarion implied experiences with him I hadn't had. It implied Astarion's entire existence was just as real as it was after he met me. I remembered feeling his emotions as Cazador towered over him. His past lovers, admiring him. His brothers and sisters, cowering away from him. Glimpses of the sunlight through shadowed windows. Moments of pure fear in corridors of darkness.

In my own world, it felt like I was the intruder, somehow. But it didn't eliminate the fact that I loved Astarion and secretly wished he'd choose to stay here with me.

"I don't understand why you can't just come back after, oh, I don't know, a century or so. What is so terribly wrong in Faerun that I must return?" Astarion exasperatedly flung his arms in the air, their argument continuing.

Gale pulled off a necklace from his neck, beneath his robe and held it up in the firelight. The opal glistened, creating a miniature disco ball of light around us. Even I could tell that this was something powerful. The way it shined made me think of the stars above us.

But from where I was standing, I could also see a large crack down its center.

Astarion gawked at it, then at Gale. "So…what? Are you trying to hypnotize me or something?"

Unamused, Gale responded, "No. This is what Seledra, the conjurer I was telling you about, gave us. It allows me, and one other person to travel back safely to her back in Baldur's Gate. But," Gale pulled it closer to him, as if to double-check, "It's broken."

Astarion crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "And I wonder who's fault that is."

"Apparently, it's mine for coming to potentially retrieve you from grave danger, like the hero I am. But the fact is that when we try to return tomorrow, we won't be able to come back. These artifacts are not replace-able and the magic is too unstable on its own. Hells, there's even a chance I might already be stuck here." Gale admitted, mostly to himself.

He carefully clasped the necklace back around his neck and added with heaviness, "Look, I know you don't want to go back. And I'm happy that you are not, in fact, being consumed by a horde of spiders or something. But you belong with us. Our journey is not over. And despite what you feel now, she will eventually die." Unexpectedly, Gale nodded towards me, though it was apologetic. Charming.

Astarion didn't look at me. I suspected he didn't want to think about my lifetime being more limited than his. He remained silent as Gale continued.

"Astarion, you are my friend. If you want to stay here, know that you won't ever see Shadowheart, Karlach or…me, ever again." Gale warned softly. His eyes grew gentle as he studied Astarion.

Astarion glanced at me, then at Gale, then at me again. The sounds of his increasingly heavy breaths echoed in the stillness of the night.

"Astarion-" Gale started, but Astarion yelled in a furious outburst, "AAAAAUURRRRGGGGHHH!" It was guttural, frustrated shout that I swore even the trees shook from.

Huffing, he then stormed off towards the lake again, glaring at Gale as he brushed past him.

Gale watched him, eyes sparking with sadness. I walked closer to the fire, my human body feeling suddenly stiff. I wanted to say it was from the cold, but I knew it wasn't. The tear between me and his life in Faerun must feel all-consuming as if a singular responsibility was being placed before him, and he knew by running away from it, it would never be carried through.

The night was relatively peaceful, despite all that had happened. I could hear the lake, lapping at the dirt shore and the crickets singing. The crackling fire complimented the awkward silence between Gale (who, once again, is a wizard) and me, a human. Unsure of what to say, I stupidly asked, "So do all wizards wear bathrobes or did you just want to visit Earth in your pajamas?"

Gale looked at me quizzically. "I see why you get along with Astarion."

I shrugged. "He's not so bad."

Gale chuckled. "Well, I suppose not after many months of traveling together, yes, he's 'not so bad'. If you overlook the shining vanity and selfishness."

I looked at him properly, the tension between us as strangers evaporated. I could barely see Astarion's silhouette near the lake, his white hair a dull moon against the background. According to my phone, it was nearly 11pm, but I felt a strange eternal sensation.

Time in the wilderness was different. The display on my phone always felt unreal, as if it was a magical artifact, like the necklace, showing me the time zone of a different land than the one I was standing in.

I thought about Astarion. (I know, I've been doing that a lot.) I didn't just see a creature not from this world, but someone I wanted to change with. Someone I would change for. And not because I hate myself, but because he made me feel like anything was possible. A daunting conversation. A charging bear. I wouldn't have survived those encounters without his help. No, I wasn't looking to depend on him, but it's obvious I've been living life in a cave.

He's dealt with monsters, magic, and vampiric lords. To balance his own thirst and newfound freedom only to be burdened with a tadpole in his brain? I couldn't imagine. Part of me wanted to experience all of what he had, just to better understand him, but of course, that is ridiculous.

Here we were, at a crossroads. Of course I couldn't leave Earth for Faerun. And Astarion couldn't leave his friends behind. I sensed there was unfinished business that he hadn't been telling me, which didn't upset me as much as I thought it would. If I had a tadpole in my brain, I'm not sure I'd tell everyone what was going on with me either.

Gale cleared his throat, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I suppose I ought to ask the traditional question of how you two met?"

I told Gale as much as I saw fit, including Astarion nearly killing my ex and his girlfriend. I retold our experience with the bear and work party, and how I didn't believe I'd fall for someone who consumed blood rather than ramen.

Gale laughed at that. "We can't choose our tastes, that's for sure." After a pause, he sighed. He looked tired. I guessed travelling across universes did that to you.

"How exactly did you find us? And before you say 'magic', know that nothing like that exists here, unless you count wifi." I asked.

Gale raised his eyebrows at the term, 'wifi', which I briefly explained as a universal service that allowed us to operate electronic devices.

"In a sense, magic is similar. There are many kinds, but material plane shifting, or very intense teleportation, is what brought me here. That, and some powerful friends with powerful artifacts." Gale responded, gesturing to his necklace. I could only see part of the chain, which was reflecting purple light from his neck.

"What is that?" I pointed to it. It pulsed, as if recognizing me.

Gale sighed. "That's a different kind of magic. It's a long story."

I frowned.

"Look, let's just say that magic isn't all fun and sunshine. It's a tricky thing that will paralyze you in more than one way if you screw with it, in just the wrong way. Be glad it doesn't exist here." Gale gazed into the fire, something distant in his eyes. I couldn't discern if it was regret, longing, or sadness. Perhaps it was all three.

Peering past Gale's tall figure, I saw Astarion still standing by the lake, gazing out at the waters, still like a statue.

I walked past Gale, the warmth of the fire slowly retreating as I moved away from its comforting glow. My worn out spare windbreaker made plastic swishing sounds as I walked up to Astarion, standing by his side.

He was silent. I looked up at his eyes, which were glazed orbs against the reflected moonlight from the lake's dark, deep waters.

Turning to look at me, his thoughtful, hard gaze softened as his eyes met mine. Unexpectedly, he reached for my hands and pulled me closer to him in a hug.

In his arms, it was always so much warmer.

His lips found mine, even in darkness. I felt his arms tighten around me, as if I was in danger of being blasted away again. His kiss felt pressurized, but not rushed. Was he kissing me for the last time?

I tried not to think about that as I held onto him. My body betrayed my thoughts, as I too, held tightly. (I also didn't want to be blasted into the water again.)

When he released, I had to remember to breathe. I was briefly reminded of the bite on my neck. I reached up to feel the wound, but it was gone.

"Trust me, feelings of desire aren't beholden to only vampires. You're still human. Lest I turn into a lord overnight by this disastrous turn of events." Astarion affirmed, squeezing my shoulders with a sly smile.

"Disastrous? I think this night couldn't have gone any better." I joked. Astarion smiled, but then he returned to looking at the waters, pulling from the embrace but still] holding my hand.

"I find someone I can finally enjoy my freedom with, who happens to be an escape from Cazador, and now it's like I cannot decide whether that's truly what I want." Astarion growled.

I understood his words, but couldn't help but feel a little disappointed this wasn't an easy choice for him. Call me selfish, I know.

"I get it. You shouldn't have to choose. But you do." It was all I felt I could say. With every passing moment, I felt we both knew his answer.

Astarion shut his eyes and made a snarling, scoffing sound. "It's not fair. All of this. It's absolute shit. It's like the universe wanted to show me how happy I could be, then reminds me it cannot be so unless the rules of magic were to suddenly bend to my will."

Even though I knew this was not a great idea to entertain, I couldn't help myself. "I mean…you make people do that. Who says you can't think of a way to come find me after you wipe Cazador off the face of Faerun?"

Astarion looked at me. "If Gale is telling us that it's not possible, then it isn't possible."

"If you were to Ascend, would you have the power to material plane shift?" I asked.

Blinking, Astarion shook his head. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Give me hope."

"Why not?"

"Because at some point, I'll have to say good-bye, and in my tortured experience, I can't have hope. It's a parasite, not a strength." Astarion stated.

I remained silent. Hearing him say the words, 'good-bye' formed a hole in my chest that he himself only recently filled. It was devastating.

As if he could feel this, he turned back to me.

"Blue," he started, and grabbed my hands again. "I love you. And that probably won't change in a very long time. I know that's not enough for you. But until Cazador is dead, and properly dead, I won't ever be free."

I could feel his frustration and anger. All this time, he was still thinking about him. How could I compete with someone that imprisoned you for centuries? Asking him to forget this wasn't something I knew I could do, regardless of how much I wanted to. And gods, I wanted to.

"I want it both ways. I want you to remain safe, here, where your life and dog are. Where I know monsters and vampire lords can't kidnap you and use you as a personal slave. But I also cannot operate in your world."

I frowned at this. "What do you mean? You've been doing just fine if you ask me."

"I mean that my nature is foreign here. Eventually, someone will ask too many questions, and I will be treated like an animal to be taken away or stored. I refuse to hide my nature, so it would only be inevitable."

Now, it was my turn to scoff. "We'd make it work. Seattle is full of people that dress up all the time."

"I won't lie about what or who I am." Astarion affirmed. He knew he was right. How could I justify his age thirty years from now? Or that his eyes were always red? Or that he never ate, only drank? Eventually, I know Jesse and Harley would seriously start to ask questions. Greyson was probably the only one who wouldn't care to notice.

I exhaled, my breath foggy between us.

I was tired. It felt like the world was weighing us down, separating our lives even as we stood so close together. Astarion was right: the universe was showing me how happy I could be, only to strip it away at the last moment.

"What do we do now?" I asked, leaning against his chest, inhaling his musky scent, which hadn't changed since the day I met him.

"I can think of a few things," Astarion responded with his trademark purr.

"Right. Before I never see you again."

"Correct. Perhaps we even skip sleep tonight. Can't possibly need it tomorrow anyways." Astarion suggested.

"Ok, fine. If you can stay up, then I will. But I can't promise nearly dying hasn't left me wanting to sleep at least some of this night off." I warned.

Turning back, I saw Gale, sitting down by the fire, seemingly meditating.

As we approached, he opened his eyes and asked, "Off to sleep then? Tomorrow's a big day."

"Yes, we're off to make sweet, loud love to each other, so if you wish to stay here, by all means. I hope you have earplugs." Astarion miffed.

"Wonderful, I'll just find a nice place to freeze alone by myself then in the meantime." Gale replied, and walked away.


Finding a place to cast a large fire for himself, Gale found himself increasingly worried about the state of the necklace he wore, and what this would cost Seledra. Before he had departed, he sensed she wasn't telling him something. Not just the whole group, but only him.

Would it bite him in the arse once he returned?

I sure as hell don't want to find out that I've caused some sort of catastrophic failure in whatever holds these material planes together, Gale thought with a graveness around his heart.

Then, there was Astarion. Beyond the magical artifacts, Gale began to wonder if there was a way to material plane shift. While it was indeed, costly, there had to be some other way they could do it again.

Seledra and Kosef weren't able to make more of the devices they were using. Such objects just weren't reproduced, and they were older, likely unable to successfully bond an object with such power.

I'm not old. Maybe I could? But Gale shook his head. He wasn't a Conjurer. They were lucky Kosef happened to know so much about exactly how to navigate all of this. Gale only briefly recalled his comment on material plane shifting when he first met Kosef. It was brief, but it had stuck with Gale ever since because it was powerful magic that Gale had never heard of before then.

It's useless. Seledra said it herself, there's a reason people don't just do this all the time.

Gazing into his own makeshift fire, he settled on no solution.

But as he was about to close his eyes, he felt the necklace pulse. It was subtle as if it had a heartbeat. Confused, Gale carefully pulled it out from underneath his soft robe (which, thank goodness was enchanted to adapt to the weather, else he'd be freezing to death here).

Upon closer inspection, the crack was the source of the pulsing. The light in the crack was blinking at him, a soft white sparkle, as if it was trying to tell him about something.

What in the hell was going on? Gale wondered, worry clawing at his heart. Was something wrong?


Seledra opened her eyes. The first thing she noted was the pain. It rippled and burned through her arms to her shoulders, seeping into her chest like a dripping of poison. As she stood up, she spotted Karlach and Shadowheart, slowly sitting up.

The display case of items had fallen onto the mahogany wood floors, and so had all of the furniture in the open clearing. It was as if an air bomb went off around everyone. Luckily, nothing looked broken. Though the window had suffered a few cracks, at which Seledra frowned upon. But she was grateful it wasn't worse.

In truth, she wasn't entirely sure what would happen if they tried to perform this kind of magic again. In her older age, she was wiser, but not more powerful than decades ago.

The pain. Seledra rolled up her sleeves to examine her arms. From her fingertips to her elbows, dark bruise-like lines ran. They pulsed, but not with light. It felt like someone had wrapped rope around her limbs and was tightening it every so often. The marks looked permanent, and she had no doubt they were.

"Shit," Seledra muttered. Shadowheart, now standing, but leaning against a wall, was panting as she asked, "What?"

Seledra stood up fully and showed her arms to both women across from her, a grave look on her face.

"I daresay that I think we have a problem." Seledra answered.