The Empire of Zeth/Chapter 9 (Ero)

Demon King Elron's scrying focus flickers out. He leaps to his feet and furiously throws his goblet of entrails into the pool of blood he had been scrying on. "NO! ITS NOT POSSIBLE! ITS NOT FAIR!!! HOW AM I BEING SHUT OUT!? THIS IS THE VERY MOMENT I WISHED TO KNOW!!!! GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Green eldritch flames explode from his body, incinerating the throne room and engulfing his entire palace in his intense unbridled fury.

...

Back in the vision, the humans all look around. "Huh? What just happened?" Ranth asks. Emery quests with his senses. The... the vision is still going. That means this.. IS what happened?"

"Time itself... froze?" Tristan says in amazement. "But... it's said not even the gods themselves have the power to change the flow of time!"

A figure appears in the scene. It looks humanoid... but it is made of pure white energy. It wears a habit like a monk, with a hood that covers its face completely in shadow. "Now, this will not do..." It says in a voice that radiates calm and peace. It is the voice of creation. The being turns to face the humans and speaks to them directly. "These memories were not meant for ones such as yourself to view. We have miscalculated." Its voice has an ethereal quality to it, and booms and echoes in a way that seems just slightly... off.

"Are... are you the one that paused the vision?" High Priest Emery asks the holden figure. It shakes its head. "No. Nothing has been altered. This is all happening as according to Eveline's memory."

"But... you're talking to use?" Ranth says, utterly confused. "Addressing us directly. What do you mean its not been altered?"

"I understand." Archwizard Malin says to the being. The head shifts to look at the old wizard. Then it takes a step back in surprise. "You DO understand. Innnnnnnncredible. For a mortal to grasp temporal mechanics outside the boundaries of time requires a mind that is not seen even once in 10,000 of your mortal lifetimes. I have been am surprised. I am surprised. I have not been surprised in thousands of your mortal millennia. It an indescribable sensation, not being omnipotent, even more a only a single moment in time. We must talk more... at a later date. It would be my great pleasure to discuss temporal time synchronization with a mortal."

"I look forward to it." Malin replies calmly. "I shall come for you when it is your time, but for now you have a pivotal part to play in the upcoming events." The being tells him. "A moment, please, I must request an alteration from the others." It freezes in place for a few seconds, then reanimates. "Apologies. For now, explain to your companions what they will be able to comprehend."

Malin turns to the group. "All of this is indeed happening as it once did for young Evy. This being exists outside time, and is not bound to our constraints. It is having this conversation with us right now in the present.. but it also had this conversation with us in Evy's past, as well as in the future, and an infinite amount of additional times. There's a lot more to it than that, but I can't explain further with words."

The being nods its head. "Wonderful! Very good! I look forward to our talks." Lord Tristan rubs his head. He could have sworn the being said "I look forward to" "I am enjoying" and "I so enjoyed" all at once.

The being address the whole group this time. "This should never have happened. The drow's seizure of the god Lilith's power plays an insurmountable role in preserving the longevity of the time line. I speak without hyperbole when I say that it is the most important event that had, has, and ever will happen across all time. The Unmakers have nearly succeeded in preventing that point in time. They have bent it to their favor, and we will fail.. are failing... failed to stop them."

"Eveline Hallowmere is supposed to.. was supposed to.. to grow up and become Drow High Queen. She would... would have united her divided kingdom, and done away with the drow's prejudiced towards the lesser races. She would have traveled your world with her envoy, spreading knowledge, compassion, and peace. She would have forged mutually beneficial alliances will all nations built on friendship, cooperation and trust. The alliances would include the Empire of Zeth, and the even the Infernal Legion. And when the time came for the Unmakers to attempt their unraveling, she would... would have have united your world to stop them."

It pauses, cocking its head before continuing. "That is all lost now... but there is still hope. A chance. A very small chance, to be sure... but then, you mortals have surprised us before."

"Why can't you just... go back in time and stop them?" Ranth asks. The head turns to face him. "Because for us, this event has already happened, has not happened yet, and is happening right now. The Unshaped found a way to enter your flow of time. We do not know how they have accomplished this. We almost intervened too late... we did intervene too late... we will intervene too late..." It shakes its head as if to clear it. "Apologizes, the time line continues to shift. The Unmakers exert their influence over this period of history even now."

It continues. "The drow would have defeated them. They did defeat them. The are defeating them. They have been defeated... But they interfered. We intervened too late... too early... on time... Could only save one. But one is enough. We placed her in your empire as it is within your empire that the time line has the highest probability of being restored to its most optimal approximation."

The head turns to look at Evy, who still remains unmoving. "This child... woman... baby... child - child! Child before you is now the most important mortal who has ever, will ever, and hasn't ever lived. If she dies before her time, the Unmakers will be victories. Time itself will be irreparably sundered, and we will be unable to fix it."

The head turns to look at Evy. "Her power has been locked away until the right point in time. The time when it should have... will have... has... been awoken. We are incapable of interfering anymore than we already have, though we wish we could do more. The Unmakers are.. will be... were... our enemies, not yours. It is an unfortunate divination that the pivot now rests on mortals to ensure their undoing." The head looks back at the group. "It is up to you to ensure Eveline Hallowmere fulfills her purpose and takes her rightful place in the flow of history. Do not fail, or your empire's past, present, future, and indeed all of time will be lost.

The humans blink and the being is gone. The scene shift again to the being placing Evy's unconscious body in the northern forest where Master Garath first found her. It's head swivels to face them one final time. "She will not remember this conversation, now or before - only in the future. When its time. She is not yet ready. Say nothing." It cocks its head. "Do not forget. Do not fail. No matter the cost." The being blinks out of existence.

The scene shifts again. The rest of Evy's life plays out as those who knew her during her time in the kingdom would expect. She trains with Master Garath, who treats her with all the love and affection as if she were his own flesh and blood. Evy is happy, and looks to Garath as if he were her father. She continues honing her fighting skills, practicing magic, learning philosophy, history, astronomy. Her power and skill continues to grow with each passing day.

They are forced to watch the horrifying events of Evy's capture and rape at the hands of the human trafficking smugglers, as the mind probe cannot skip strong memories. They see her feel helplessness for the second time in her young life, and watch her rage and pain and she brutally kills each and every last one of her captors.

A tear runs down Lord Tristan's cheek as he watches Evy get violated repeatedly. "I... I knew it was bad, but I never knew just how terrible this time was for her. What twisted monsters! No wonder she hunted down and slew every last one of them..."

Ranth also weeps at seeing this, though he feels another strong emotion upon seeing her naked body, too, even if only in as vision... "Evy.. what a horrible thing they did to you!"

They watch her slow recovery. For days after she doesn't eat, and won't even get out of bed. Master Garath begins bringing his reposts to her room and reading them to her in bed. Eventually Evy is drawn back out of her shell, asking questions about the reports and offering her own insights and opinions on them. Slowly she heals, and starts to move on from her extremely traumatic experience.

Evy grows up. Eventually they reach the point where she is sent to rescue Ranth. They all are able to hear her full conversation with the demon king, though that seems utterly inconsequential now. They see her bravery and selflessness, and finally reach the point they needed to see. The demon king carries Evy's unconscious body deep underground, though miles of caverns winding down into the heart of their world. He reaches an antechamber with absolutely enormous crystal in the center.

"That... that looks like a ley line crystal!" High Priest Emery exclaims. "It can't be... he found... he found the source!!" The demon king chants in an infernal language they cannot understand. Evy's body rises into the air. Power envelops her small form, and then she flies into the crystal. The world shatters around them, and not because the vision is shifting. They see colors and sights their minds absolutely fail to remember. And then Evy stands in the chapel that they found her. She shudders and collapses. The scene fades.

"Well that settles it, though it is still deeply troubling." Lord Tristan says. "Evy does not carry a sleeper. We can stop now-" Garath cuts him off. "No. You did this to her, you will see the rest. You will see how much you hurt her. Do not run away from what you have done." Lord Tristan signs and rubs his temples. "Very well... I suppose that's only just. Continue the probe, Malin."

They relive the most recent events. The group is forced to see Evy's terror at being imprisoned, her fear at speaking before the council, and her bravery at agreeing to undergo the mind probe this of her own free will despite her terror. Finally, events catch up the the present and Malin ends the mind probe.

The vision shatters, and they are all back in Evy's chambers. Evy lies unconscious in Master Garath's arms. He blinks, then looks down and shakes her. "Evy! EVY!" Her eyes flutter open. "M-Master..?" her voice sounds weak.

Evy opens her mouth and tires to say more... and faints.

Chapter 10: Aftermath

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