Act 2: Upheaval III - The Master Weaver and the Arena

"He brainwashed you into doing his bidding. When we came in, he had you and the others attack us with those runes on your arms. We tried our best to bring you down without blood, but..." - he frowns - "Couldn't save everyone."

Steve

"I didn't know you had nightmares," Fluffle remarks. "Oh, here's the tea leaves."

The fairy uses telekinesis to hand Steve multiple jars of tea.
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Konrad

The red mage is hanging out with Sunny in the hallway, listening in to Mihai's conversation.
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Mihai

It is only now that the man notices the woven runes on his arms, and he starts to panic. "What the fuck!?"

"Calm down. The worst seems to be behind you. The Defenders will be here soon; they should be able to get you help."

Konrad breaks the silence. "So. You're an 'aspect'. Are you sentient, autonomous, with thoughts and feelings all your own?" He's genuinely intrigued by the topic.

Mihai

At the mention of the Defenders, the Myrzen prisoner noticeably relaxes. "They're coming? Really?"
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Konrad

When he looks at the Aspect of Light, what Konrad sees is Amber's translucent silhouette, which is seemingly made of glass. There's just one key difference; Sunny has long hair, unlike Amber.

"Yes, I can think for myself. I even help Amber with her homework sometimes."

"Thank you." He takes the bag of tea and sets about filling the kettle with water from his cantrip. "I mean, not always. But we've seen some messed up stuff and fought some really scary monsters. It gets to me sometimes. I think Zelk worries about me."

"Yeah, shouldn't be long now. So try not to freak out any more, hard as it must be. It was tough going there, but you're gonna be ok."

Steve

"I'm sure she does. She's your fiancée after all, isn't she?"
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Mihai

The man slowly paces back and forth in his cell until he finally sits down and leans his back against the wall. "Okay," he says with tears in his eyes. "I'll wait. Thank you."
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Konrad

"I wouldn't mind. You might want to ask Amber about it though; I can't stay awake for more than a few minutes."

"Yeah, I hope she's okay. We weren't supposed to be gone long. I sent her a letter but I haven't had time since we arrived to send her another. I hope I'm not upsetting her." He looks sad about it.

"Ok, just try to sit tight for now. I'll be back." - Mihai leaves the room and rejoins the party.

Steve

Fluffle looks surprised by Steve's remark. He lands on the counter, tilts his head and asks, "Do you really think she is? She didn't strike me as the type."
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Konrad

"We could form a permanent bond, but I'd always be out. I'm not sure it'd be a good idea." She pauses for an instant and a contemplative expression spreads on her glassy face. "Amber thinks it'd be fun though."
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Mihai

Mihai returns to the hallway and hears Konrad's response to Sunny's comment.
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"Let's go see Steve."

"Don't get me wrong, she isn't a delicate flower. It's one of the things I love about her. But she worries more than she lets on and this situation we find ourselves in is weird and unexpected to say the least. Neither one of us are ones for sitting out while our friends are in danger so I wouldn't be surprised if she was making a fuss back at the Coin's Highwind HQ looking for some way to help us."

Steve

"So does that mean we'll see her again? She'd be a great help getting Breeze and Fedler back."

They walk together.

"Let's. and how is he back there? I assume the lack of dying screams or the rattling of cages means he's lucid for the moment?"

"Yeah, in a nutshell." - They go over to Steve.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we did." When Steve sees the others enter the kitchen he says, "Hi. We are making tea." He puts the now full kettle on the stove and tries to turn it on.

"I've run out of time," Sunny interjects. "See you later."

She then seemingly evaporates in a matter of seconds.

"Later, Sunny." - Mihai sees her off - "Man in the cell down there is sane. Maybe it's the shackles, though i'm no expert."

Fluffle seems relieved to hear that.

"Then that means that somebody will be able to help them," he says.

"He was always brilliant at least. Ah, here we go." The flames turn on and the water begins heating up. "Despite our differences I'm still surprised we found him here here of all places, doing unspeakable things for his experiments."