Phoebe leans down and whispers in Sandru's ear. "I'll watch over you," she says.
Then, with a nod of thanks to Caromarc, she leaves for the Plane of Fire.
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Sandru - Phoebe finishes catching up with her sister. She kisses her, and with tears in her eyes, says goodbye. Agnes walk over to Hergelund and takes his hand. Phoebe ignites into flames and levitates into the air. She holds out her hand to Sandru. "The time has come, my friend. Dr. Grey is defeated. Ustalav is saved. And the balance between Pharasma and Urgathoa is restored. I must depart. Let us go together, you and I, and return and bask in the Plane of Fire. Many great adventures wait for us there. If this is your choice."
Phoebe powers down for a moment, and extinguishes her flames. The twin oracles embrace, grateful to have found each other again.
Phoebe notes Sandru and Blackacre, ready to make their attacks. "The power of fire strengthen us," she says regally. She casts blessing of fervor. Crowns of hot coals burst into existence and orbit above the heads of Sandru, Blackacre, Ianez, and herself.
"Excellent," Phoebe compliments the druidess. She reaches toward Hareton and casts burning hands. A cone of searing fire bursts from her fingertips! Hareton dodges, but takes some damage from the flames. Some of the alchemy lab equipment catches on fire and starts to burn.
"You won't harm Agnes!" Phoebe roars. She holds her chin high defiantly against Hareton. She hovers just off the ground, and glides towards him . Her flames crackle around her. She waits for the signal from La Siréene.
Near your party, there's an explosion of fire! Two figures appear hovering in the room...beings made of flame. One is an adult female in shape, sheathed in orange flames. The other is male, sheathed in flames also, but these are silvery-blue. His flames subside to a flickering aura, and he descends to the floor. Revealed is a familiar shape. Sandru. Each of you sees the same vision in your mind's eye. The Vision: Phoebe and Sandru plummet downward, downward into the plane of fire. She appears to Sandru as a being of pure crackling flames floating above a landscape of shifting magma. "Sandru...we live! This is our destiny. I am a being of the Plane of Fire. And now...reborn...so are you!" She hovers in flame-form, wavering among the volcanic vapors.
Phoebe levitates in the air, one leg slightly bent at the knee. She gazes at Sandru with molten eyes, devoid of pupils. On this plane, she appears more adult than child, more fire than flesh, more goddess than mortal. On this plane, Sandru also flies and has a body of flames. Unlike Phoebe, his flames are silvery-blue. Surrounding them both are sheets of fire. Huge dragons, giants, worms, rocs, shapeless morphing elementals...all made of flame. P: "Each oracle's mystery is different, even those who have the same path. When you and I fell from the Tower, I thought we were done for. But the feeling that consumed me in life...my anger...was really the raging element of fire. Now here I am, a fire elemental. I don't know how the mystery works, but here, like this, my path is fulfilled." "We forged a connection when you were guarding and protecting me. Now, I return the kindness to you. We will return to save Agnes and help defeat Hareton. I can return to the Material Plane only once, for a short time. Then, I will come back here to the Plane of Fire." S: "How? What about the others? Hareton, the... Mission?" Sandru looks down to see his new form. P: "You will return with me. But then, you'll have a choice to make. You can come back with me and live as a powerful fire being on the Plane of Fire. Or you can stay behind in the world with your friends. Either way, you'll keep a piece of your new elemental nature with you." S: Sandru flexes muscles of flame... "I am not dead?" he asks. "I must un...ravel Hareton. I have been changing since before I was born. There has to be a reason." P: Phoebe nods. "Yes. Exactly." S: "For the children of the world..." "Phoebe...I remember now, in Caromarc's book. Phoebe means "light". Being here is amazing and very enticing. But I must get back. Help Jornel. Help the Copper. Help them all." His "body" gone, Sandru also undergoes a change. Freed of physical hindrances, he is a being more of...Thought. Pure elemental flame transmitting faster than any synapses of the flesh. A quickening. P: "Come with me," Phoebe intones. She holds out her hand. Blue and red come together... Around their joined hands a nimbus of colors one would be hard pressed to find in the mortal world. Sandru and Phoebe fly back to the material plane, speeding across plains of shifting magma, breaking through sheets of fire as they go. ________________________ Ianez's private thoughts - Once the immediate shock has worn off and the party ascends the narrow stair, Ianez turns over the events that just befell in his mind. Something is nagging at him. An oracle of flame...how is it that she could burn? Sandru, yes, but Phoebe...Phoebe? Wait a moment here! Could it be? Phoe-be? Phoe...nix? He shakes his head. More likely I am simply unable to accept their deaths. But you Powers of Fire, may it be so. |