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[icy_veins]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, ERIDANUS SUNGAZER. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 099.23.886.00 *** Archmage has joined 099.23.886.00 <Archmage> Hello, this is Eridanus Sungazer. <Archmage> In the event I am currently unavailable, please leave a message. <Archmage> I will answer back, promptly. If I feel you are worth the trouble.

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[decarded]

[ Ryslig isn't the only place that exists within Angelica's happy mind. There is also a seaside town named Fuyuki, where Julian Ainsworth lives untroubled by painful things like the specter of his ancestor or the end of the world.

It's summer in Ryslig, which means the chill of winter has just set into Fuyuki's air. Despite the peaceful life she has dreamed up for her once-brother, the stillness to the scenery runs deep enough to be eerie still—but that is only natural, given the massive crater that ravages the center of what had once been a residential district. Kilometers wide, this part of Fuyuki is now all but abandoned—except for Julian, the Ainsworth castle still concealed by magic within that same crater's heart.

Even an Archmage would have trouble breaching the bounded field of his abode—and in no small part thanks to its strange subtleness, uninvited guests walking through empty air simply to find themselves warped to the invisible barrier's other side.

Of course, Angelica knows Eridanus to be both scholarly and prideful. Maybe that is what has led him to his curiosity over what would otherwise appear to be a vexingly blank space? ]

The bounded field won't let any intruders through. [ She lowers herself from the crater's edge on white wings, Angelica looking every bit the demon Eridanus knows her as. (Eridanus, of course, looks quite different—but, somehow, she doesn't struggle to recognize him, or wonder why that is.) She has, after all, been watching over Julian—even if he has never noticed her, and she has never revealed herself to him. ] It's best to let it be.

[icy_veins]

[Finding himself in a place so unfamiliar (one moment he was in the great halls of the Diadem, a cohort of daemonettes trailing after him like iridescent perfume smoke, and the next he was set in a snowy field), Eridanus resolves to find out just why that was. Was he spirited away, or was this a simple trickery of the mind? Had he taken far too much ambrosia, or was this the doing of the Eye? Regardless of the circumstance, all theory is put on hold by the echo of familiarity.

He whips around, sending a powdery flurry of snow at his feet swirling through the silent air as he does. All question, all thought, dies within his skull as he takes in the sight of that great woman. Her appearance is wholly foreign to him, and yet, he feels as if he's met her a thousand times before—and just her simple presence sets his skin crawling with the need to retreat for fear of deadened eyes that peer to thoroughly into his soul.]

What is this place, Angelica? [The name slips off of his tongue thoughtlessly, but he doesn't spare any moment to wonder just how he knows it—knows her.] What is this barrier? What are you hiding from me!

[decarded]

Must you be so accusatory? [ She sets her jaw—and, unlike the stoic expression he is so accustomed to, it settles her lips in a gentle pout. ] That barrier has nothing to do with me any longer. I was merely giving you some advice.

[ But here Eridanus is, as quick as ever to take personal offense. As her demon's tail sways like an irritable serpent, air blows from her nose in a sharp huff. ]

All that lies beyond it is the Ainsworths' workshop. Do you have some reason to disturb my brother?

[icy_veins]

[A workshop? How curious, he thinks, that he would suddenly find himself in such a place. Eridanus continues to regard Angelica with suspicion, even as his own shoulders curve downwards with a moment of relaxation.]

No. [He responds curtly,] I did not intend to arrive here.

[Or anywhere, for that matter, that wasn't within the glorious halls of his beloved's ship. Still, that doesn't answer how he arrived, and that unanswered question alone is enough to raise his hackles once more like a cat set on-guard.]

Did you summon me here? If so, I demand you return me to the Diadem.