#directly connects back to not only why he comes back but also Jinx’s story as a whole

[naarlar]

Jinx’s story is not about redemption or forgiveness. It is about change. It is about rebellion. It is about finding the will (through the people in your life both past and present) to create something new in spite of everything.

It is about breaking the cycle.

[sapphiresaphics]

Alright let’s do this:

1. Episode 7 provides us with CONTEXT for why Jayce did what he did and what Ekko needs to do going forward. Ekko wouldn’t be able to save Jinx from committing suicide if he didn’t have that experience in the AU world where he was able to see what life could’ve been like. Not only is it a nice bit of character growth for a character that’s been missing in action for a while, but it also gives us the viewers a chance to catch our breath and see the potential two outcomes to the upcoming battle. It’s also where Ekko finally develops his time travel device from the games. Saying it “didn’t do much for the story” is deeply under appreciating its significance.

2. The detour with Vander coming back serves multiple purposes. It sets up the maguffin needed to push Viktor into abandoning his humanity. It allows Jinx and Vi to reconnect. It’s a visual metaphors for the theme of the show in how the cycle of violence hurts those we love. It’s the catalyst that pushes Caitlyn to betray Ambessa and to see Jinx as a person once again. It helps push Jinx towards her decision to leave in the end.

Also what’s this about how they were naturally healing as sisters already? That’s not true. They only start to come back together when Jinx reaches out to Vi to find Vander. Prior to Vander re-surfacing there was NO attempt on either to reconnect or heal. So that’s just a weird interpretation of the events.

3. This assertion never made sense to me. Vi is PIVOTAL to the entire story, and outside of being absent in episode 4 and 7, she’s still one of the main focuses for the story.

4. I’ve written about this hundreds of times already but the short and dirty version is that Caitlyn shows she regrets what she’s doing from Episode 3 onward. It’s shown in her expressions, her actions, and her mannerisms. In episode 8 she has a verbal tantrum that shows she knows very much that what she’s done is terrible. And from that moment onward she tries to fix things with her actions. I do not understand why people think she doesn’t do anything to atone for her crimes, and I do not understand why people think her crimes are glossed over and ignored. They are NOT. You don’t need a “subplot” to address these things, as Vi does so directly in episode 8.

It’s also not a detour? It’s central to the overall theme of the cycle of violence. Caitlyn is caught up in the cycle of violence. Her grief and rage and frustration at not catching Jinx causes her to do terrible things. And her decisions in episode 6 and 8 to betray Ambessa and to work towards resolving her anger and hate is a HIGE PART of the overall theme to the show! It’s showing her choosing to step away and let the hate go. It’s showing her choosing love over violence and suffering.

5. I genuinely don’t understand what people are confused about with the black rose stuff. They’re mages who use illusion and deception to manipulate people. Ambessa tries to subvert them and ends up pissing them off to such a degree they kill her son in retaliation. So she comes to Piltover to use Mel’s connections with Hextech to devise a weapon she can use to destroy them and save herself from accountability. How is that incomprehensible? Seems pretty straightforward to me. All the black rose stuff is is basically context for why Ambessa is behaving the way she is. You don’t need to know much beyond that, and it’s probably going to be expanded upon in a later show anyway.

6. This is such a weird complaint. Silco tells the audience what the theme of the show is, and you’re annoyed? I mean, the fact that you’re confused about what it has to do with the big battle in the end kinda proves that it WAS needed cuz you clearly don’t see the connection.

The cycle of violence starts with “you did this to me, so I will do this to you” and it keeps growing and growing over the course of the 2 seasons. Starting from a break in that goes wrong, up until the final big robot battle. Every step of the way there are chances to end things, but people are stuck in their emotional state and can’t break free. That’s what Viktor was trying to stop, but he went about it in the worst possible way. The big robot battle is a warning. A sign of what can happen if they don’t change their ways.

———

It really bothers me when people say “this plot point happened for no reason” because that’s just not true. For a show like this where they put so much time and energy into every single shot, nothing is done “for no reason.” EVERYTHING has a reason. If something seems off to you you should stop and think about why they could choose to do the things they did rather than dismiss everything as happening “for no reason.”

I agree. There are some structural issues with season 2. But I can at least see why they likely chose to go those routes for the things they want to tell. And when I don’t understand something I try to figure it out.

What's fascinating to me is that for a show where showrunners knew they had only one season left to wrap everything up, Arcane S2 feels filled with weird decisions.

EP7 as appreciated as it was, feels like a weird bottle episode that doesn't do much of anything for the overall story. It's the type of episode I could see in a longer show where it wasn't its final season, but here? Weird.

What does the detour with Vander and bringing him back add to the story exactly? It wasn't used to give Vi development or drama, nor was it used for Jinx. Sure, you could say it was something done to quickly resolve the sisters' feud, but that was already in the works naturally, and there was no need for an entire subplot that dumps a TON of new worldbuilding upon the show that has barely any time left to handle the worldbuilding it already got.

You'd think the final season would have key characters, like Vi, play the pivotal role and develop and grow, but Vi is sidelined for most of the show, despite her characterization being crucial in landing the conclusion of the two sisters subplot.

Caitlyn's classist dictator time feels like literal padding too—there's no follow-up or subplot where Vi has to make her see the reality of her actions or any subplot or characterization where the two reconcile. This subplot would make sense in a show where the class conflict and the possible civil war were front-and-center plot threads, but Arcane S2 is not that show—it refuses to touch upon the core themes Season One established. In fact, the show ends up completely ignoring what she did, so why is the plotline there then?

There are just a lot of additions that do the opposite of resolving plot threads or giving the time needed for the conclusion—everything to do with Noxous, the nigh incomprehensible Black Rose stuff, all the new side characters that appear and then disappear having done nothing, etc. You'd think for THE finale of their story, the writers would condense and connect the plot threads together toward the conclusion, but S2 spends a lot of time doing the opposite for no reason.

The final stretch has Silco basically speaking to the audience, telling them nothing new and just rehashing what's already been shown. What was the point of that? Is it insecurity from the writers that the audience might not have gotten what was being said? And what's more, how does that connect to the whole "main story" of S2 which is the machine god stuff? The monologue, as anvilicious and needless as it is, makes sense in a show about the cycle of violence and human nature, but Arcane Season Two is not that show—it's a show about how The Rich and The Poor will team-up for the common purpose of facing outside enemies, be it the non-descript Evil Country From Afar or Magical Zombies. So why were the writing staff so desperate to get the point "Silco" makes across as to literally break even the basic sense of show-not-tell?

The more I think, the weirder the structure of S2 is.

[mittensmorgul]

What do you think about Samwena now? Do you think they can still be endgame?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The TNT loop has brought me up through 12.21 today, and it’s wild what new canon can do to recontextualize the past.

I’m putting this under a cut, so that saileen shippers won’t have to subject themselves to my rambling about Eileen and Sam in a way I know they’ll dislike... but I’m tired of feeling like I can’t talk about canon how I see it on my own blog.

Back when these episodes originally aired, with the week to week meta cycle in between, a lot of context was left up to us and never explicitly clarified in canon. Many of us were just thrilled at the notion that Sam had made one (1) friend that he seemed as close with as Dean did, if not closer. We were all ready to read way more into their interactions than was actually there, because Sam just gets so few of these sorts of personal relationships, at all, with anyone.

Things have been provided with clarification now in s15-- like the previous nature of Sam’s relationship with Eileen, and Sam’s repeated insistence to Dean’s teasing that they’re “not like that.” Which seems to be urging me to go back and reexamine everything from the past connected to her without the erroneous assumption that they already had a romantic relationship going offscreen. And let me tell you, that puts an entirely different spin on Eileen’s prior purpose in the narrative. As a parallel for Mary. Which is why I suppose I’ve been finding so many weird Mary parallels for her since her resurrection (starting with the fact that the spell that brought her back was designed to resurrect Mary instead and going right on through all the BMoL Free Will Erasure brainwashing plot literally in the episode where Eileen was murdered by Hellhound).

Lady Bevell: Well, not about this illusion of you that you hold on to. The perfect life. Loving husband and kids. But it never really was perfect, was it? All those secrets you kept from your beloved John – that you were a hunter. That you invited Azazel to visit when he spared John's life.Mary: How do you-Lady Bevell: I have sources, Mary. Everywhere. After you died, your beloved John was a man slowly going mad, searching for revenge. What? Your boys didn't tell you? The drunken rages? The weeks of abandonment? Child abuse, really. It's no wonder they're... damaged. So... enough with the fairy tale. We are returning you to a more pure version of yourself – Mary Campbell, natural born killer.

The “illusion” of the perfect life, the illusion of Free Will, in essence (especially now that we know Chuck was also behind the whole BMoL narrative). Not to mention that in this episode, Toni will later heavily imply that Mary was in fact the one who killed Eileen (even if it wasn’t true... Sam and Dean STILL don’t know who actually killed Eileen). I mean, the fact they found Mary in the process of attempting to murder Jody Mills probably sealed the belief that at the very least, it COULD’VE been Mary who’d done the deed. Even Mary wouldn’t know for sure if she had, because brainwashed:

SAM: Why you spying on us? Oh, and what do you know about Eileen Leahy?TONI: Who?DEAN: Did you – did – did your people, did they kill her?TONI: Probably. Rule of thumb – if you think we killed someone, then we probably did. Speaking of, you do realize that by attacking me, you invite the retribution of the entire British Men of Letters? Investigation, no trial. Just punishment and ruin. Possibly at the hands of Mary Winchester.DEAN: The hell is that supposed to mean?TONI: Your mother – she's our permanent guest.SAM: She's your prisoner? Why?TONI: Prisoner? Who said anything about prisoner? No, Mary's joined the team. Even has her own super secret decoder ring.SAM: You're lying.TONI: You're right. There is no ring. Oh, boys and their mums. See, you see her as Mummy. We see her as one of our best killers.

Sam’s main drive during s12 was doing whatever he could to desperately create any sort of relationship with Mary that he could (even willingly working with people who’d TORTURED him), and this is what haunted him into s13, as well, after destroying the BMoL to save Mary, and then almost immediately losing her again to the AU.

Do I think that Sam is considering the possibility of a real relationship with Eileen? Probably, yeah, after Dean’s prodding, especially. But Dean was fundamentally misunderstanding the nature of Sam’s “agreement” with Eileen there. It wasn’t about a romantic arrangement.

Because they aren’t like that.

Eileen propositioned Sam in 15.07 (in the name of doing something “fun”), yes, but I still can’t see Sam’s reaction there as anything but surprise and consternation. He seems almost relieved that Cas showed up when he did to interrupt what would otherwise have been an uncomfortable and probably embarrassing talk.

When Dean asked about Eileen in 15.08, it felt to me like Sam’s comment about them having an agreement was directly about the opening scene... where Sam had secretly followed her out on a hunt, and then nearly getting himself killed both by Eileen AND the vampire, all because he didn’t trust her to handle it or ask for help if she needed it.

Their agreement gets further contextualization via Sue’s comment to Eileen, taunting her about having to “get permission” to come out and help her on a hunt. Because that’s exactly what she had to do. That was the nature of her agreement with Sam-- that she wouldn’t just leave without at least leaving a note (Sam’s exact words to her in that opening scene... “You could’ve left a note.”)

DEAN: Yeah. Eileen did good, right? Getting us back from hell. She doing okay?SAM: Yeah. I guess.DEAN: You guess?SAM: If she needs something from me, she'll tell me. We have an agreement.

It felt like Sam was telling Dean that he didn’t know how Eileen was, because part of their agreement was that Sam... not pester her over this sort of thing. Sam seemed... disappointed over the whole situation. Dean immediately turned this into a relationship thing, though, leaving Sam slightly confused, but probably considering the option, at least.

DEAN: You have an agreement? That's adorable. Look, man, I didn't want to say anything, okay, 'cause I was kind of in... in a bad place, and, uh, yeah, I didn't want to jinx it or whatever, but, you know, I tried the family thing, right?SAM: Yeah, me too. And that's not for us.DEAN: No, not really. But I'm just saying if it was to work, Eileen, you know, she gets it. She gets us. She gets the life. She's hot.SAM: Dean. I mean, I'm not even...DEAN: Look, all I'm saying is you... you could do worse, okay? And she could certainly do better. Like, so much better. I'm happy for you, Sammy.

If only Dean hadn’t framed it as essentially “settling” for someone just because they conveniently ticked off the most basic “someone in the life” box.

And if only this hadn’t come two scenes after Sam found Rowena, dead, in Hell. And literally flinching at the change that he saw in her. Almost as if Dean was trying to give Sam the “it’s not so bad. You couldn’t save Rowena, but at least you have a backup romantic interest, since you can’t resurrect Rowena and make everything okay with her, because you already used Rowena’s own spell to resurrect Eileen...” It felt like a weirdly hearty consolation speech in that context.

And if this hadn’t felt like more of a comment on DEAN’S recent mental turnaround after his experiences in 15.07, and his tentative hope that things between him and Cas aren’t completely kaput, that Cas hadn’t completely written him off, after Rowena’s little Marriage Counselling session with them (again, two scenes earlier).

Now is this to say that Sam’s emotional investment in a relationship with Eileen can’t change going forward? Absolutely not! He might really, truly invest himself in a relationship with her!

I’m extremely interested to see what happens in 15.09, because I think that episode will hopefully give us so many of the answers we’ve been waiting for. Not necessarily about endgame love interests, but about Chuck’s involvement in the first half of the season’s unfolding drama. And I think Rowena will have a continuing part to play after that point.

Does that mean I think Sam’s emotional investment in a potential relationship with Rowena can’t be rekindled? We’ll have to wait and see, but as it stood after 15.08, Sam, at least, seemed to be shaken by the change that had come over her after her sacrifice.

SAM: Rowena, I...ROWENA: Samuel, please. You killing me was one of the best things that ever happened. Yes, there are things I miss about being alive. Flesh-on-flesh sex. Amazon doesn't deliver here... yet. But, lads, I'm queen. My subjects revere me. Well, fear me, which is better. I should have died a long time ago. Samuel, be a dear.SAM: Yeah.

This has to be like a knife to him, you know? He’d been so invested in her redemption, as the Fated Agent of her final demise. And for Sam, who knows what she feared and who she loved (but Sam doesn’t know he’s on that list, she told him flat out he wasn’t right before she told him to kill her), she represents his current biggest failure, you know? He capitulated to Destiny, because he had no other choice. And that is still the worst thing anyone on the show can possibly say.

THIS was the final straw that drove Dean to anger with Cas, too. Rowena’s death was the direct result of Cas’s choice to kill Belphegor rather than let him complete his spell. It’s all interconnected, and it’s all painful, and it’s all a direct result of Chuck’s breaking the story the way he did in 14.20.

So make of this what you will, but I’m tired of not talking about these far bigger themes to avoid upsetting shippers who want saileen to be endgame. We’re not there yet, and until we are, I want to talk about all of this in a nonjudgmental way, because I think it’s all interesting, not because I have some shipping agenda.

I know I have more to say about all of this, but this is a good start, at least.

[annoyed-galaxy]

Twisted Realities

So I came up with an idea for a story with Enderal. Since the Sea of Eventualities shows you different things from different realities that could happen in your own, what would happen if two realities were to mix?

So, this new story - which involves my Prophetess, Clerissa, and @chennington‘s Prophet, Shizero - will be exploring something like that. Now, it might get confusing because there are two Jespars in this story, but it’ll be explained in the story how to separate them.

Summary: Two Prophets from different timelines are thrown into a different reality and must find a way to get back home. They are trapped in the Canyon of Realities, a reality between all others. In order to get home, they have to survive certain trials and many things will be tested such as their friendship, loyalty, and courage. Whether they make it out alive or be lost in the reality between realities, we will find out.

Clerissa woke up, her head throbbing and her body weak. She didn't remember what happened. She didn't recognize the place she was at. She was laying on her back, looking up at the night sky. She managed to turn her head to the side to try and figure out where she was.

Walls rose up on either side of her, several arm-lengths away. They rose high into the sky and went down a path as far as Clerissa's Aeterna eyes could see. Several small rocks and boulders scattered the path, obscuring the sight of plants and other things.

Clerissa tried to roll over onto her stomach and managed to succeed with a grunt. She looked at a boulder that was a few arm-lengths away from her and saw a pair of legs that peeked out from behind. The darkness of night prevented Clerissa from seeing anything else.

With a deep breath, Clerissa heaved herself up onto her knees and then onto her feet. She held her arms out to the side, balancing herself and letting a wave of dizziness wash over her. She began moving towards the boulder and went to the other side.

Even in the darkness, she could tell who the man who lay on his back was; the white hair was a dead giveaway.

"Jespar," Clerissa said, nudging the mercenary with her foot. She realized that she didn't have any of her armor on her; only a simple tunic that cut down into her breasts and simple pants.

The mercenary groaned before managing to roll over on his stomach and get up. He rubbed his face before looking at Clerissa. His eyes widened in confusion. "Blazes, who are you?" he asked.

Clerissa tilted her head to the side. "Did you bump your head that hard?" Clerissa joked.

Jespar simply raised an eyebrow. "No?" he replied, his voice raising at the end in question. "I seriously don't know who you are. Have you seen someone named Shizero?"

It was Clerissa's turn to raise her eyebrows. "Who the hell is Shizero?"the Aeterna asked, so confused at the moment.

"He's my... companion," Jespar said cautiously.

Clerissa's mouth dropped. Before she could say anything, she heard her name echo off the walls of the canyon. It sounded just like Jespar's voice, but he was standing right in front of her.

She stepped on the other side of the boulder and scanned the area for the source of the voice. She saw two figures walking side by side, one looking at the other figure that was frantically looking around. The searching figure looked at Clerissa and sped towards her. Fire swelled up in her fists as the figure neared. She threw a ball of fire at the moving creature.

The figure ducked and cried out. "Clerissa!"

The Aeterna's ears and cheeks immediately flared up as Jespar came close enough to see. "I am so sorry," she apologized.

Jespar simply laughed. "I've been looking for you. Woke up with this weird guy who hasn't stopped ogling at me since we woke up," Jespar said, pointing to the man who was just now coming into view.

The Jespar Clerissa had woken up came out from behind the boulder and saw the man. "Shizero!" he cried out and went to hug the man.

Clerissa blinked a few times trying to process what she was seeing. She leaned over to the Jespar standing next to her. "You're seeing this too, right?" she whispered. He just nodded, his mouth agape in surprise and disbelief.

The man who was called Shizero wrapped his arms around the other Jespar and kissed his head. Shizero was shorter than Jespar, maybe by only a finger-length or so, but it showed that Clerissa was the tallest one here; by a head and a half.

"What the fuck," the Jespar next to Clerissa finally said, looking at himself. The other Jespar turned and apparently didn't see Jespar based off the look on his face.

"Woah," was all he said.

"There's two!" Shizero exclaimed, a stupid smile on his face. It was still dark and it was annoying Clerissa to the point where she just cast her magelight above everyone's head. The light shone on the two Jespars, herself, and Shizero.

"Okay..." she began, still not sure what was happening. "Does anyone know what the fuck happened?"

Both Jespars went to speak at the same time. "We were dragged through some portal." Clerissa looked at both of them, a look of concern on her face. Both of them looked at each other and pointed their fingers. "Jinx!" they shouted. "Double jinx! Triple jinx! QUADRUPLE JINX!!"

Clerissa palmed her forehead and shook her head while Shizero quietly laughed. She rubbed her temples. "Alright, so we were all dragged through some portal and now there are two Jespars."

Shizero laughed. "Twice the handsomeness," he said, winking at both mercernaries. They both chuckled.

"Who are you though?" Clerissa's Jespar asked Shizero.

"Oh, me? I'm the Prophet," he replied.

"Heh," Clerissa huffed. "That's funny. We have two Jespars and apparently two Prophets." Clerissa looked at Shizero. "Let me guess, some crazy ass near-death experience happened to you and then you somehow developed Arcanist's Fever and when you went to go get it cured, Grandmaster Arantheal told you you're the Prophet and have to stop this thing called the Cleansing or else the world will end." Clerissa took a breath through her nose, keeping her mouth in a straight line, as she looked at Shizero.

The man just blinked. "Yeah, how'd you know?" he asked, a smile on his face. Clearly he was amused by all of this.

Clerissa sighed as she explained: "I've come to the conclusion that two different realities within the Sea of Eventualities have collided. However, how much of the two realities have collided is still to question. So far, we have two Prophets from one reality and both have a companion named Jespar Dal'Varek with them." Clerissa looked at everyone underneath the glow of her magelight. "Now, we need to know where we are, how much of our realities have collided, and find a way back to each of ours respectively." She looked at both of the Jespars. "And find a way to differentiate you two," she added.

Both of the white-haired mercenaries looked at each other and shrugged. Shizero raised a hand. "How about S-par for mine and..." Shizero stopped, trying to think of something for Clerissa.

"C-par!" her Jespar called out, laughing. "I like it."

Clerissa rolled her eyes. "I mean, I guess it works," she sighed, smiling at the stupidity of it. Both of the Jespars chuckled before C-par looked around.

"Well, we can either go north or south," he said, after looking at the canyon they were all currently trapped in. "We could split up and go both ways, but normally splitting up is always a bad idea." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well, what if we take someone from both realities and split up? I can go with C-par and S-par can go with you," Shizero piped up, pointing to Clerissa.

"I literally just said no splitting up," C-par muttered under his breath.

"Why don't we just pick north and go that way together as a group," Clerissa offered instead. "As they say, north always leads the way back to home."

"I think it's more like, 'north will be your guide no matter where you are," S-par pitched in.

"North Star," C-par added. "Not just north, but the North Star." Clerissa nodded and hummed in approval. She turned her gaze up to the night sky.

"By the looks of it, it just now turned midnight," she thought aloud. "If that's the case then..." She squinted her eyes as she looked up and around. "A-ha! There!" she exclaimed, pointing to the brightest star in the sky. Everyone looked up at it.

"It's directly above us," Shizero said, his face scrunching up into a frown.

"Yeah that's not really going to help," S-par added.

"What about the constellation connecting to it," C-par asked his companion who was still looking at the sky.

"That's what I'm looking at. It seems to be pointing..." Clerissa paused, her eyes following some invisible trail in the sky. "That way," she pointed past Shizero. The canyon extended far into the darkness.

"Well," S-par began, "I guess that's where we'll be going then."

Everyone nodded and Clerissa casted another magelight as the first one faded away.

"Quick question, before we head out," Shizero began. "Where the hell is our armor?" he asked, looking around the group.

Clerissa had known her Shadow Steel armor was gone, but didn't even recognize that both Jespars wore simple tunics and pants like her along with a pair of boots. Shizero also wore the same.

"Dunno," C-par said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Are we even in Enderal anymore?" S-par pondered aloud.

Clerissa tapped her chin, feeling around her with her magic. "The energy of this place is very different than that of Enderal or even Vyn in general."

"Does that mean not only did our realities collide, but we could have been thrown into a completely different one?" Shizero chattered out, a look of fear plastered over his face.

"It could be possible," Clerissa replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Let's try to find out," she added, pointing back towards where the North Star led.

She took the lead, her magelight following her and illuminating the way. Despite not having any armor, the group still had their weapons. She kept her sword and dagger sheathed, but fire, ice, and lightning danced around her left fist.

"So you're an Elementalist," Shizero piped up.

Clerissa looked over shoulder and smiled. "How'd you guess?"

"Totally no the fact that you threw a fireball at Jespar and now have the elements swirling around your hand," he joked.

Clerissa chuckled. "You're very observative of the obvious. I'm not just an Elementalist though; I'm a Battlemage. My magic is just as impressive as my swordplay. Although, I am better with a sword than I am with magic."

"How come?"

"I didn't have an affinity for magic until after I became the Prophet. My old companion used to be an Arcanist and tried to teach me a few things, but I failed to light a simple flame upon my finger. Now, I can make an entire blizzard. Course, it takes a toll on me, hence why I like mixing the new stuff in with what I learned as a little girl. Using a sword has always been fun to me." Clerissa smiled. "What about you?"

Shizero got next to Clerissa before smiling. "Magic is a no-go for me. I like sword and shield just fine. Even though I still have a talent for magic, I have kept away from it for a while."

"I'm guessing your talent came when you became the Prophet too?" Shizero nodded his head. "It's strange that we are two completely different people but with the same roles in our realities. Like, we are the same person, but different versions."

Shizero laughed. "Yeah, at first I thought I smoked too much peaceweed, but it turns out that maybe I didn't have enough." Clerissa laughed out loud.

"If that ain't the truth," she smiled.

A sound echoed off the walls of the canyon up ahead. Shizero drew his sword and both Jespars unsheathed a single dagger. Clerissa sent a ball of light into the darkness, waiting for it to reveal whatever made the noise.

The ball disappeared into the chest of a giangantic beast that was standing on all fours. Its head reached midway of the walls of the canyon, its mouth wide open and saliva dripping from its jaws. Sharp teeth glinted in the light before it faded away. However, its red eyes stayed glowing and looked at the group of four.

"Who dare trespass in the Canyon of Realties?" the beast spoke, its voice surprisingly calm and gentle despite the terrifying appearance. It sounded very feminine.

"We have no business to disturb you," Clerissa spoke aloud, the magic that had surrounded her fist dissipating as she raised her hands in the air. "We have simply come here, trying to find our way home."

The beast lowered its head to level with Clerissa. The massive head was a few arm-lengths away from Clerissa who still stood at the front of the group. It huffed and the air hit Clerissa. "You are a mage, yes?" the beast asked, her voice still quiet. Clerissa nodded her head. "You are not of this world. None of you are," the beast added, her red eyes looking at the Jespars and Shizero.

"We are from the same world, but of different realities," Shizero added.

"I see," the beast mused softly. "I may be able to help you." The beast rose her head and looked down at the group. "However, you must pass a trial."

"Oh come on," both of the Jespars groaned.

Clerissa hissed at them to shut up before turning back to the beast. "What is this trial?" she asked.

"You must defeat me."