Sune's Solution (D&D/MGE)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrCAtZrjzU4

Thanks to @DB_Explorer for the commission!

—

The pirate isles.

"So what yer sayin' is ya got piss drunk an' lost the catch."

"I didn't lose the rummy catch ya bastar', I'm saying is a big lady the size of me boat came on up and took et." Jimmy one-eye, so named because he had three due to a magical accident, for the Pirate Isles are a queer place. Glared at his boss as he made his pronouncement. It was the second time now, he had gone out in his boat, drawn in a haul, then some watery tart had come by and snatched it all.

"Well get back out there and bring in 'me fish 'fore I sell you on the market!"

Jimmy grumbled, got back into his boat and paddled out again. The Pirate Isles were an odd, mysterious, and deadly place at the best of times. The Sea of Fallen stars was little better. And now? Now there were monsters about.

Well, there were always monsters. But these ones were stealin' his catch, and that was another 'bit of fish entirely. He had only seen the slightest hint of her. A flash of blue, ripping his net and stealing his catch. A mermaid, he knew it, and this time he would be ready. It was a good four hours before the net was starting to get full again, and this time, this time he felt it. The slight tug on the net, the change in the water. He stared down into the dark depths, looking for her, sword poised, ready.

Then, movement! He stabbed the blade down.

A flash of silver, a second flash came swinging out of the depths, catching his own and causing it to fall to the side and into the water with a splash. Jimmy nearly dove after it, but caught himself at the last moment, staring at the water in horror as his blade moved out of sight… then… gently raised out of the water again, held along by twin hands. He stared at the blade, doing nothing, shocked. And the hands began to shake, waving the blade back and forth, until, finally. A head poked out of the water. It was a woman, pale blue skin, deep blue hair, and bright yellow eyes. She looked up at Jimmy and grinned a grin with far too much teeth. "Well, come on then take it, we be duelin'!"

"Wha-what?!"

The woman rises out of the water, scales glinted on her flesh, she was sleek, yet every sailor's dream all the same. And Jimmy would have spent a longer time admiring her were it not for the fact that she was holding a cruel looking cutlass in her other hand. Without a word she tossed him his sword, which clattered onto the deck of the ship.

"Ya want yer catch? Ya gotta defeat me then, the scourge of the fourteen seas!"

"What!?"

"Avast!" the woman cried, then dived forward, sword raised. Jimmy dived out of the way, grabbing his own blade. He brought it around… only to watch the woman crash headfirst into the side of his ship, arms flailing. Her head went straight through it, half into the water, and she stopped there, twitching.

"... Miss?" Jimmy ventured.

"Help me first-mate, I'm stuck!"

Jimmy paused, then, for his parents had been a god-fearing sort, gently extricated the woman from the side of his ship. He ignored the water coming in for now, instead staring as the woman rose to her full height upon the deck, rubbing her head.

"Are… are you alright?" Jimmy asked, at this point too far confused by the sight of the gargantuan… shark… woman thing to be worried about his catch.

"Aye…" the woman says, still rubbing her head. "Ya've bested me."

"I… jumped out of the way."

The woman frowns. "Ya sayin' ya don't want to reef me topsail?"

"Pardon?"

"Stow yer yardarm?"

"Excuse me?"

"Fuck me?"

Jimmy blinks, he blinked quite a bit actually. "We've… only just met…"

"Aye." The woman said with a nod. Then grinned. "It's a duel then!"

Jimmy brought his sword up, but it was far, far too late.

—

He would later be named Pirate King of the Sea of Fallen Stars.

View: https://youtu.be/oQ5xH-SeWqc?si=YLwnQYHRdEIgEZNQ

[Tell her now]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

You step forward slowly from the remains of the dresser, forcing Cidrom to move while you do. You were annoyed, it was a sadly common affliction. You had been feeling it more lately, far more. You were usually better at ignoring it, but this situation was getting the better of you. The Council in Baldur's Gate, the invaders, just about everything. And now, now a figure of your past would not be satisfied until she had helped you. Because, apparently, taking undue burdens counted as helping. You were grateful for Brynhild, but she had asked few questions. That was something you were grateful for. Cidrom wanted to know everything, and you had an audience.

One did not argue with a dragon, that was old and traditional advice for adventurers. Reaching up, you pull her arms away. She fights it, but then… she wasn't as strong as you were, not in this form. Very, very few humanoids were. You hardly qualified yourself. There was a horde here now, wanting to hear a tale, and that was fine. They wanted to know? That was fine. You had only avoided telling them because there was little point to them knowing, the new or the old. What would it help Fuyao? What would it help Cidrom? What would it help Greth? Democlea? Yulaylia or Tinthis, Zoran or Donald. Would it have helped any of them? Half of them were dead now, buried or sent back to their homelands for their own specific rites. None of them had been important enough or powerful enough.

"You want to know what happened to me Cidrom?" you ask, staring the dragon in the eyes. Her arms are struggling, fighting you more on instinct than anything else as you hold them down. "Fine, I'll tell you." You were angry. Unlike annoyance, this was a rare emotion to you. But it was sadly becoming more common, and at the moment, you rather enjoyed the feeling of being angry.

"I was a fool, but you know that already. I was young, and, by some metric, I still am." You stare at Cidrom still, not moving your gaze away. You don't have to. You had stopped needing to blink a long time ago. "I've died three times, possibly four now. Each time I have been brought back by someone needing my help, my strength, my blessings. And each time they do, every time from when I was but a young adventurer to now. They bring back less of me." You let the dragoness go, moving past her to stare at the bed, the remains of the mirror, and then the assembled gaggle. "My body remains the same, I am as strong as I ever was, possibly ever will be. But I am less regardless.

"That is on top of some rather stubborn curses I've beyond given up removing, some are cast by the most evil former-mortals on the realms. Others by gods, Cidrom. I am less than mortal, I am more than mortal. I am no longer human, no longer elven. I am a wraith incapable of loving anyone."

Brynhild moves to speak, and you turn your gaze to her. "I appreciate your words Brynhild, I do. That was a moment of weakness on my part, something I cannot show the rest of the world. They cannot know that I've failed in such a way, that I cannot feel love anymore."

"Boss? That doesn'-"

"Make sense?" you look at Fuyao. "I will love you, because I care about you and I deserve it. But I am not something beautiful, not anymore. I cannot love like that," you smile crookedly. "I shall take care of you, and I shall do anything you require of me. But I fear I would make a poor husband."

"Where in the hells are you pulling this from?" Cidrom growls, but the anger is gone from her now, replaced by shock. "What happened to you?"

"I did my duty."

"That isn't an answer." Cidrom replies.

"It is the answer, whether you like it or not." You reply.

Cidrom raises a hand, to grab you, to shove you. You frankly didn't know, the woman had always had issues with anger. You step forward, grabbing the arm and forcing it to the side, she struggles against you, scales rippling up and down her arm, her draconic form breaking through her human. But it's a sandcastle standing up to a Tarrasque. You smile down at her, it's a bitter thing. "A mortal was never meant to be this strong Cidrom. Don't you understand that?"

"But you're a Paladin!" Ignis shouts, her voice ringing in the small, undecorated room. "You're supposed to be strong!"

"That is true, yes. And I am a model Paladin, I remove the evils of the realms, I dedicate my life, my existence to it. And the world has rewarded that aplenty."

"So what's the probl-" Ignis continues.

"It has awarded me with death, of both myself, and many that I've known. And it has caused me to simply exist with no desires but to take upon the next task. Being a Paladin is far from a blessing, and is not a lifepath I would suggest anyone take upon themselves."

Ignis's mouth clicks shut.

You look back to Cidrom, the dragoness still struggling against you, icy breath you could barely feel hitting you in the chest. You sigh. "I died just a year out from meeting you for the first time Cidrom. I was defending a small town, Rivenroar if you must know, against a goblin invasion. I died killing the Goblin's resurrected king. A fitting end I would say," you smile thinly, then move a hand to your throat, placing the tip of your finger against the apple of your throat. "Right here, his jagged blade went straight through. It was little more than a parrying dagger, truly. But it was enough that I suffocated around it, blood filling my lungs and mouth as I choked over the course of several minutes on the frozen floor of an abandoned tomb."

You move your hand away, gesturing towards the window. "I was brought back of course, the grateful populace had assured of that, an old scroll they had treasured like an artifact. At the time, my life wasn't worth as much as that scroll was, but I was grateful regardless."

"Then it was a lich threatening Chult, I defeated 'him' in his pyramid temple. I lost four friends there. Yulaylia pulled my corpse out, the only one she was able to get out away from the rubble as the lich collapsed the place to trap us all with him in eternal death." You shrug your shoulders. "I was lucky, the Paladin order that was outside clearing the jungle 'saved' me. We never found the others. Of course, Acererak, that lich, left me a fine gift. I could no longer taste, nor feel. Touch, warmth, anything. I was as the undead. But I had done it. My party, what remained of them to celebrate, had slain one of the greatest liches of the lands. That certainly was a worthwhile tradeoff."

"What happened to her?" Illias asks.

You turn your head slowly, staring at the 'goddess'. It was the first words that you had heard from her in some time. "Yulaylia? She retired immediately after, last I spoke to her she was running a vineyard in Cormyr." You smile, perhaps a touch too wide. "I, of course, could not. There was talk of a demonic invasion, and they were quite right. Elturel, the holy city, had fallen into Avernus. I did good work there, many Demons and Devils fell to my blade. Then, I died in a way most envious to among paladins. My blade lodged into a Balor, the both of us grappling each other until the end."

You close your eyes, recalling that battle on the crashing airship. You could still smell the ash, the brimstone. The blood of the dead and dying crew, the screams of the living and the neverborn. "Then I was brought back." You open them again slowly. "And to what a celebration indeed, savior of the city. That was my third revival, and by that point I had lost all sense of everything beyond the merest ghosts of it. I can no longer truly feel temperature, but I am susceptible to it regardless. I no longer taste, not truly, I just have a vague recollection of what food tastes like. I feel no joy from my accomplishments anymore, I no longer need to sleep, I no longer need to breath, I no longer need rest. I am not a mortal anymore, far from it. I can die, that is to be certain, but this world would never truly let me remain as such. I am far too useful for that."

"You… can refuse." Cidrom replies.

"Indeed I can," you reply. "But why? Could I call myself a Paladin and do such? My powers are rare Cidrom. I am far stronger and powerful than the vast majority of those living in the realms. Why would I refuse, when I can do so much good?"

"Because… it sounds like it's screwing you over?" Isabella speaks up.

You look at the vampiress, and shake your head. "One life for many lives, that is not a question or even something to think about. So what if I suffer? It is not to me to burden the world with my death, my goddess with my ailments. To study them, would be to take away time that I could spend saving a life. Every moment that I am not out there," you point towards the window. "Someone is in danger, an evil is plotting. There is always something new, and if I can solve it, if I can make another's life easier, or even save their life? What bastard would say no?"

Then you look back to Cidrom. "Is that what you wished to hear Cidrom? That I remain the foolish adventurer you knew from my youth? Fuyao did not know these things, my mother does not know these things. None here, barring Brynhild, knew these things. Now all of you do. And what shall you do with that information? It is nothing you can fix, it changes nothing. There is naught to be done, and there is naught that will divert me from this path. Hence why I saw little need to tell any of you."

Then you shift your gaze to Miki, smiling gently. "I thank you for your services Miki, and I suppose that might as well be my fourth death. My only wounds are the calluses of my swordsmanship and now the wound caused by that dragon. I thank you for allowing me to continue on this path without letting me die," your smile becomes a touch more forced. "I have a bad habit of that, being merely near death was rather unique, I must say."

Miki shrink away, her ears flattening on her head.

Then you return your gaze to Cidrom. "My apologies for fleeing Cidrom, I had a moment of crisis where I realized exactly how…" you sigh, you aren't sure why you even bother with that these days, etiquette you suppose. "Different I truly was. I came to realize that I had not allowed myself to love anyone, and to be sadly honest, I don't know what that means anymore. Nor if I am truly capable of it, or deserving of it." You shake your head. "Love is for mortals. There are certainly immortals and the neverborn that have fallen in love. But they at least are a person, and I do not believe myself to truly be as such anymore. I exist for this world, but I am no longer truly part of it." You look to Fuyao, doing your best to look apologetic. "I am sorry Fuyao, you saved my life, and I will do whatever you need of me, beyond that, I do consider you a very dear friend of mine. But I am not sure I can be what you deserve."

"But you're always talkin' about beauty and stuff. And you're still handscome," Ignis counters.

"I am beautiful," you reply with no shame, and how could you. "And several people have reminded me of that against my will, Fuyao was far from my first, though she was the first that I had the choice in the matter with." You shrug your shoulders. "My beauty is surface level, I do the right thing, to be certain. But my character isn't what it used to be."

"... You believe yourself soon to fall." Cidrom says quietly.

"No. At least, I dearly hope not. I still live by her ideals, I still protect beauty. If for a moment I thought I was walking down that road, I would end my life." You grin. "I am very familiar with fighting in the Hells, and I would not mind doing so again."

Nobody says anything then, Miki takes another step back and then runs off down the hall. Illias slips away herself, staring at you for a few moments with an angry expression before walking away.

You shake your head. "My apologies for making the afternoon awkward, I will be stepping away for a bit before checking in with the Temple of Ilmater like I planned… also apologizing to my mother."

"Bae-" Cidrom begins. But you are gone, across the house and in your chapel again. It, like most things in your life, is a quaint thing, but that suited you fine. It was a place of quiet contemplation for you. You stare up at the stained glass image of the goddess, in silent reflection. Had you done enough for her you wonder? Likely, but was it enough for you? Certainly not, there were people to be helped.

Wounds covered every inch of your person, though none could be seen, not anymore. Your beauty was permanent, it would not be marred, and whenever it was… well, there was always someone to bring you back and solve that problem. You were an ideal for people to live up to, and that…

Was fine.

And you were fine, perhaps not healthy, but you were fine.

You stare up at the portrait of the goddess once more, then you kneel in quiet supplication. Beginning your prayers, refocusing your thoughts. Planning out the rest of the day. It was to be a busy on-

*BANG*

The door breaks off the hinges, destroying a pew as it bounces along the floor. You stare at it, then slowly turn around to see-

—


[] [Illias]

[] [Fuyao]

[] [Cidrom]

[] [Ignis]

[] [Miki]

—

Relationship tracker.

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