Where the Heart Is, Part 15

Now that Alicia's holy water has "proved" the exact opposite of what she'd expected it to, the only thing left for her to do is come up with a new plan to flush you out. The three heroines discuss their options at length, going back and forth as they try to come up with the best way to expose the lurking evil that has infiltrated their city.

You contribute as well, sometimes offering clever refinements to an idea, sometimes identifying potential problems that an enemy could take advantage of. It's a chance to play up the more conniving aspect of your roguish disguise, to show that you can aid them in their endeavor. And you have to admit... it's exhilarating to scheme so intently with these three heroines on the subtle, sneaky details of how best to catch yourself.

Most important of all, you make sure to point out problems in some of the ideas that Mockingbird brings up. You don't do it often, of course, and certainly not conspicuously. But when it comes to being shown up in front of Elianna? It doesn't take much to inflame her competitive spirit. You see frustration blazing in her young eyes. The burning desire to show you who the better rogue really is between the two of you.

You carefully stoke that frustrated fire to just the right level. One of the most basic lessons that your teachers drummed into you as a young tempter is that the distance between two intense emotions like "anger" and "infatuation" can often be much, much closer than it might seem on the surface. The path from "heated rivalry" to "sexual tension" is a well-trodden one... and you're looking forward to guiding this halfling down that erotic route.

But the time for that shift will come later. Right now, more than anything else, you simply want Mockingbird's thoughts and attention and emotions focused on you.

You continue the in-depth planning through what remains of the afternoon and into the evening, until night starts to fall. Eventually, the four of you reach agreement on the broad strokes of your next move. "Then it's settled," you say. "I can spread word around town that I have more information that I want to sell to the incubus. And if he shows himself while I'm doing that, it will put him in a perfect position for you to spring a trap on him."

"Especially since I'll be watching you the whole time," interjects Mockingbird, her glare still fixed on you. "So don't worry. If I see anything suspicious... then I'll jump in and take care of it."

Suspicion, jealousy and rivalry all swirl together in her voice, complemented by her youthful uncertainty and insecurity. You can practically taste the heady cocktail of tumultuous emotions that the poor girl is going through.

"Thank you, Mockingbird," Elianna says quietly. "I appreciate you keeping Kavia safe. It's very brave of you."

The affirmation is clearly intended to reaffirm her love for her wayward charge, as well as to try and calm her obvious antagonism toward you. Mockingbird, however, flinches away, taking it far more as a reproof than it was ever intended to be. For a moment her distrust and antagonism toward you wars with her desire to please Elianna... until finally, her shoulders slump. "Don't worry," she mumbles. "If she's really on our side... I won't let anything bad happen to her."

Not much more of note happens after that. As darkness falls, the four of you make your preparations for sleep. Elianna heads back to her orphanage, while you remain in the safe house with Alicia. Mockingbird also agrees to stay, which takes less persuasion than it might otherwise have thanks to her clear desire to keep an eye on you. Before long, you've all settled down for the night.

Which means that it's time once again to dream.

After considering your options, you decide not to risk revealing that you can get through Elianna's wards. Not just yet, anyway. Instead, you decide to enter the paladin's dreams once more, continuing to work on her. You reach out with your power, and eventually sense Alicia's soul entering the deepest part of sleep that connects her to the realm of dreams.

This time the dream is of more recent events than the previous one. Alicia looks a few years older, though still not yet at her current age. She now wears the more practical armor you recognize from the present day, with the Dawnbringer sheathed at her side. The setting, this time, is an immense throne room, richly adorned, with high, vaulting stone arches stretching overhead. Alicia kneels before a pair of thrones. The smaller of the two thrones is vacant, while the larger, more central throne is occupied by a woman who bears a clear family resemblance to the paladin.

While this chamber was clearly designed to be capable of holding a large crowd, in this memory you can see only Alicia, the Empress, a few other important-looking nobles, and two younger girls who stand on either side of the thrones. One of the girls is in her mid-teens, while the other looks to be around seven or eight. All them bear the same distinctive otherworldly beauty that marks their angelic heritage... though for the girls it takes the form of innocent purity, while for the Empress, any such innocence has long since transformed into a commanding regal authority.

Unlike Alicia's armor, her family are clad in rich dresses of astonishing craftsmanship, well-befitting royalty. Your eyes trace the body of the Empress in particular, drinking in her mature charms. Despite having three children she has kept herself in exquisite condition, and the tasteful display of cleavage that her royal garments provide only make that all the more obvious. Her expression is controlled and calculating, the look of a woman who has spent many, many years navigating the viper's nest of politics, and come out on top.

"I urge you one last time to reconsider, my daughter," she says. "You need not abandon your title to wield this power that the goddess has bestowed on you. A ruler who can lead from the front is a great asset to a nation."

But Alicia is unmoved, certain in her purpose. "I do not believe that this is a power that should be wielded for the benefit of any one nation alone," she responds. Her voice is calm and respectful, and you can see that she cares deeply for her mother, for all her family. Nevertheless, there is no hint of wavering in her expression. "I believe that I must be free to go wherever the need is greatest. To offer help—and seek allies—wherever it would do the most good, for all those who are suffering."

She glances away from her mother, over to the older of the two girls. "I have faith that Alexandra will lead our people well," she continues, giving the girl an encouraging look. Her sister responds by flushing in embarrassment, and looking down, as Alicia continues. "So there is no need for me to be the one who sits on the throne. But there are many more places where this power is uniquely needed. And I do not believe it would be right for me to turn my back on them."

The Empress' lip twists almost imperceptibly, and you can tell that she is still pained by her daughter's decision to abandon the life of a princess in favor of throwing herself into deadly threat after deadly threat as a heroine. But she makes no further attempt to stop her. Instead, she nods. "Very well. Then in the presence of these august witnesses... I pronounce that Alicia Silverstone is hereby removed from the line of succession, and stripped of all powers and privileges associated with the title of Princess of Nelin. Instead..."

She hesitates, a bit more of her mother's pain slipping through the queenly mask. "...instead, let it be known far and wide that she is now Alicia Silverstone, the Chosen One of the holy Selal, inheritor of the Dawnbringer and Heroine of the Realm. May her courage and her honor light our way through any darkness that threatens us."

Alicia rises to her feet... and it's here that you shake her out of her mental fog, freezing the dream in place and bringing her to full lucidity. She doesn't react with any surprise this time, simply turning to face you as you stand at the far end of the throne room, by the entrance. Her appearance shifts less this time, but she does still gain several years as she takes on her natural, current form.

"You..." she says. It's the same greeting she gave you last time. There's less outright fury in the paladin's voice now, though no less wariness. "I wondered if you would return."

Spreading your arms wide, you offer her a slight bow. "I was very much hoping that we could continue our discussion. It is difficult to resist the temptation of such an engaging interlocutor."

She fixes you with a suspicious look, standing resolute between you and the frozen images of her family. Standing between you and the representation of what she holds most dear. "I spent a great deal of time considering what you showed me," she says. "Considering what could be done to help your mistress. I could offer her sanctuary from Melca's forces... but of course, that would be no solution at all. It would only postpone the threat. Even if we shielded her from every earthly danger, she would still die one day."

You say nothing in reply, only giving her a humorless smile of grim commiseration. These are, after all, the exact same calculations that you worked through yourself, reflected now in your enemy.

Alicia, meanwhile, continues. "And yet... I can see no future in trying to endlessly appease an insatiable monster like Melca either. Especially not when the cost of this futile attempt is the ruination of my home, and of the countless souls that dwell there. To say nothing of the captive souls of the past Witch Queens that Melca is already tormenting. Including the one that I slew myself."

In other words, the one that murdered her own father right in front of her. Yet despite that, even for someone who has hurt her so badly... Alicia still considers the unending torture-by-fire that she has been undergoing for nearly a decade since then to be utterly unconscionable.

"You didn't know, back then," you say quietly. "And even if you had known, she forced your hand."

"I know now," Alicia replies simply. "And it is not a thing I can ignore. Which, in turn, led me to the only possible conclusion I could reach. Melca herself must die."

The tiny smile that quirks the corner of your mouth is genuine this time, as once again you recall what Fallhazel told you back in the Great Forest. About how similar she thought you and Alicia were. And now it seems that Alicia has reached the very same conclusion that you did.

"How astute!" you say. "I concur entirely."

"Then join us." The paladin holds out her gauntleted hand toward you as she makes her appeal, her raw conviction apparent in every pleading word. "If you truly care anything for your mistress' safety... then put aside your corrupted intentions toward the heroines and work alongside us, to find a way to end this threat once and for all! Division will only weaken us in the face of the one we should truly be against!"

Damn... she's good. Her charisma is like nothing you've ever seen before in a mortal. And for a moment even you almost find yourself wavering. But then you chuckle and shake your head.

"No," you say, as you start to walk down the length of the throne room toward Alicia. "You're wrong. It would be coming over to your side—like an obedient little rule-follower—that would weaken us. If we want to take down Melca, we're going to need every advantage at our disposal to have a chance of victory. And that includes things that you won't accept."

Then your grin turns roguish. "Or at least... you won't accept them until you experience them for yourself. You won't accept them until you understand what it is that you're missing out on."

Alicia's expression hardens. "You truly think so highly of your corrupted lust?"

"I know that Lust is the strongest, most important, most perfect thing in all the Cosmos," you reply simply, with no equivocation at all. "If I have to pin my hopes on something... then that's my choice. Always."

By now you've reached Alicia, standing directly in front of the paladin in all your demonic glory. "And it's not just that it will make you stronger by the end," you say, your voice becoming more gentle. "I meant what I said to you, last night. No one should have to endure the kind of self-denial you've been living. I can't just leave you to suffer like that. I... need to show you that there's a better way. To show all of you."

You're so close to her now that the very air around you seems to heat up with the tension between the two of you. Slowly, you reach out with one hand toward her cheek. She doesn't respond, her eyes still locked with yours. Like she's trying to pierce to the very essence of your being by sheer willpower.

And then—so impossibly fast that you can barely even track her movement—her hand shoots up to catch your wrist, immobilizing it completely with her altogether superior strength. You stay there frozen for several long seconds.

Then you slowly turn your fingers in her grasp. She stopped you far enough away from her that you cannot touch her skin... but you to manage to trace some stray strands of hair with the very tips of your fingers, tucking them slightly back toward her ear.

She looks at you with those clear blue eyes of hers, alert with determination, her gaze showing no sign whatsoever of being clouded by desire. And yet... there is a tiny, almost imperceptible sadness in those eyes as well. "It sounds like you're saying that you want to save me..." the paladin says wryly. "You. A demon."

But you just meet her gaze, dead serious. "Of course that's what I'm saying," you say quietly. "Don't you think everyone deserves to have someone like that?"

You feel the grip on your wrist tighten, just slightly. There's a moment of silence, before Alicia speaks again. "And what if you're wrong?" she finally asks. "What if we catch you instead?"

Now you give her one of your best smug smiles, carefully perfected to walk right on the tightrope between confident and infuriating. "Don't worry..." you say, winking at her. "You won't."

And with that, you release your hold on her dream, vanishing back to the waking world.

In the morning that follows, you do detect some distraction on Alicia's part, where you can tell that she's ruminating on your most recent encounter. It's hardly pronounced, however, and she does not let it interfere with her duties in any way. She's focused and intent as you and Mockingbird finalize the specific details of today's plan with her.

Speaking of which, you need to decide on what you intend to do with your morning activities. Mockingbird will now be watching you very closely and suspiciously, so further seducing Elianna in a way she can observe is probably not a good idea, at least not until you've corrupted Mockingbird herself somewhat.

That said, there are are still a few things you could do, even while she's watching. Most obviously, you could take advantage of this time with her to start your seduction. The two of you have no choice but to work together now, and you can imagine any number of situations that you could engineer to start to bring her under your sway.

Alternatively, the plan you're supposed to be following will have you moving out across the city, getting the word out in an attempt to connect with the incubus. You could take advantage of that to search carefully for anyone else watching you. If the incubi are aware of your presence, this could identify some of their agents and give you more information and angles to track them down.

There's also the question of what you'll ask the Thousand Eyes to do today. In all the moving about and talking to people that you'll be doing today, you should be able to surreptitiously get word to one of their agents easily enough, even with Mockingbird dogging your steps.

You could ask them to search for signs of incubi activity as well. It probably wouldn't give you a direct identification of one of their agents like searching on your own would, but it could give different information about the foes that are even now lurking in the shadows, planning who-knows-what. After all, unlike the first corrupted incubi you faced, these new ones are recently arrived on this plane, with much less time to prepare their resources. And when you force someone to act quickly in an unfamiliar place... they are likely to leave at least some traces.

Alternatively, there is the curious matter of what you heard Alicia talking about, this "vow" of hers. You could have the ratfolk research this type of rite, and how it usually works for the devotees of Selal. That information could prove useful as well, to better help you understand the capabilities of the other group hunting you.

Finally, you could have them spread more rumors. Either the location of the incubus' lair itself, if you wanted to send them somewhere directly, or that the incubus was ready to meet with Kavia, if you decide that you are ready to push the heroines' plan to the next step, closer to a more climactic showdown.