Mature Content Warning: Whiney and angsty at times. Some foul language.

Author's Note:

Chapter 29: The Low-Down

The long night passed. Morning came and went. As time passed the inhabitants of the shrine would occasionally go out to the rock that Scott sat upon while he stared off into the distance. He had not spoken much or eaten today. Whatever he had to say had completely occupied his thoughts.

Afternoon came at last and several people began to appear at the shrine. The first to arrive were the Sakinos accompanied by the unexpected arrival of Cerene's friend and classmate Annie.

The reunion was tearful and filled with joy. Scott smiled softly as he heard the noise of multiple arrivals. It was nice for Cerene to see family. They were good people and it would do all of them some good. At least today would provide some definite good.

The afternoon wore on and several people teleported in, including Delia. Apparently Pirouette felt she needed to know what was going on. Scott would not begrudge her that. The Elf was in charge of the security and every day running of the elven sanctuary where all of the transformed former Demi-Humans lived. If Pirouette was involved so was Delia, even if Scott had never directly spoken to her.

At last everyone had arrived that needed to be present. Scott looked up at the slowly setting sun and sighed. His heart was burdened with knowledge and his head was filled with chaotic turmoil. He did not relish the thought of explaining to his closest friends that he had been withholding information solely because he was not sure it was a good thing to tell them.

A few more minutes passed and Scott stood up. In the distance he heard someone, he thought it was Makina, say, "Hey, Scott's up!"

A clamor of voices could be heard from behind the man as he gazed outward. It was time. He had to face this. Nearly a year of silence on his part had led to a situation that left no alternative.

He turned slowly to them, in the distance he could see images of people he knew and some he did not. He saw them as a crowd of people that he had willingly chosen not to arm with the one weapon that might have turned this war from a near impossible battle, into a potentially survivable scenario. The people of this world that he had come to aid and to protect only a year prior were arrayed before him. They were the people that he felt that he had failed.

Scott took a deep breath and started walking toward them. A few minutes passed and all eyes remained on him. Finally, he arrived at the crowd and with a softly spoken, "Excuse me." he stepped through the gathered throng and moved into the shrine. Several of the girls followed after him as he walked to the kitchen and silently grabbed a glass cup and filled it at the tap.

He could feel all the eyes on him, a sense of recrimination and grief overtook the man as he drank his water and impulsively his hand squeezed tight shattering the fragile material.

A loud crack emanated from his direction that caught the attention of several people. The sight of blood pouring down into the sink caused an uproar as the girls started to move toward their injured master.

"Master!" cried out Yoko. She stopped short when he turned to look at her with red rimmed eyes and tears sliding along his cheeks. She had seen him badly hurt, but never had he cried like that. It was a complete shock.

"I was thirsty... Been outside all day." he said softly in an apologetic tone.

"Scott... what’s..." began Nina in concern. Scott shook his head softly. "I don't deserve your concern for now... let's just get on with the meeting and you can decide for yourself if I warrant it."

"Meeting nothing! You need to get that hand looked at!" exclaimed Saeko as she pressed through the surprised and startled throng.

"My hand?" asked Scott in an uncomprehending manner.

"Yes, your hand!" snapped the woman.

The man glanced down and sighed at the absurdity of wanting to repair something that was already beginning to heal on its own. The blood had stopped and light scabs had formed. Despite the somewhat deep lacerations the hand seemed to be healing as though he had been stitched up.

"A freakish aberration like me doesn't need stitches for something this minor... But thank you for your concern." stated the man despondently.

"Freakish..?" asked Cerene in confusion. What did he mean by that? It made no sense. Wasn't it a good thing that he could heal so fast?

Scott nodded once more, but refused to answer anything more. Instead he asked, "There are a few more people here than I suspected. Do you think there is enough room anywhere inside for everyone to talk Reina?"

She blinked and turned to look at the crowd then said, "Yeah, probably in the shrine itself. Might be a little cramped though..."

"It is a holy place Reina... Will it be ok to use it like that?" he asked her gently. He was not sure if gods existed, but religions did. People could be peculiar about that sort of thing.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's often used to try and see the truth... and since you claimed that's what all this was about..."

Scott nodded back at her in response. "Then let's go... all of us. It's time for the truth."

The group murmured to themselves as they followed Scott and Reina into the shrine. The light from the constantly lit flame in the center glowed brightly in the otherwise unlit room. Scott walked to the other side of the fire and gestured for everyone to get comfortable.

No one wanted to get close to him at the moment since it seemed important for him to distance himself.

As Scott gazed across the room at everyone over the fire he looked into each of their eyes. He gazed into the windows that guarded the souls of all his friends and those that they respected or loved. He looked into the eyes of the people he had betrayed.

They each grew quiet and expectant as he took a deep breath then said softly. "I am sorry. Please understand how much it pains me to tell you all what I am about to say. While I speak, I ask that no one ask any questions or disturb what I say. I know many of you will wish to ask questions. It is best that I complete what must be said first."

Several members of the gathering nodded and a few looked concerned for Scott. The raw emotion in their faces pained the man greatly as he recalled how he had knowingly betrayed and failed them each in turn.

"I have a story I must tell you. It is a fantastic and hard to believe tale that some of you might scoff at. However, it is still important that I tell it."

The man took a deep breath after the crowd quieted down again before saying aloud, "In a time long ago... A length of time that differs greatly by the telling of this tale... There was once a golden age upon the earth... in this entire solar system actually."

A few grunts of disapproval were heard from some people that Scott did not know. His sensitive hearing picked up the words "brought us here for fairy tales". He glanced at the one who mumble and they grew quiet. An air of tension had sprung up around the somber man that had been almost a physically palpable thing.

"This was an interplanetary golden age. The reason it was such a prosperous time was the existence of a class of people known as the Selenites." admitted the man. This announcement caused a few gasps and several head nods. The girls and the moon cats were of course especially interested in hearing what Scott had to say.

Scott took another deep breath and continued. "This was a time of relative peace and harmony. There were tensions between the Moon Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Earth, different factions of the same interstellar empire. Honestly, I do not know exactly what those tensions were. I suspect it had something to do with trade agreements and the import and export right for exotic materials, but that is neither here nor there."

Aerune nodded. That did sound somewhat right.

"During these tensions the princess of the moon... Known of course as the moon princess... Fell in love with the handsome crown prince of the Earth."

Several of the naysayers groaned aloud at this fairy tale telling and threatened to leave at this point. Scott gazed silently at them and they once again quieted down. Something about his eyes when he looked at them, they could not understand why, but each of them in turn felt like they were in some sort of unspoken danger.

"The name of this princess was Selene. It was also the name of the Queen of the Moon kingdom... her mother." continued Scott as he turned to gaze directly at Cerene.

Several sets of eyes turned to stare at the now wild eyed angel Demi-Human as the implications set in. Why would Scott specifically look at her? She probably had some relation to this princess... especially with a name like hers. It was practically the same name!

"She was engaged to the handsome prince of Earth as I said. His name was Aldemione. Some might know him in his guise as Nocturne."

Nina gasped aloud as what Apollo had called Scott the day before set in upon hearing this. Was Scott saying he was the same guy?

Scott smiled softly at her.

"These were not the only members of royalty in this time, however. Each of the planets in the system were populated by people and each had a royal family. These other planets had princesses and those princesses were known as the great virtues, Guardians of peace and defenders of their respective planetary nations."

Outside of the few mumbling about stupid childish stories no one spoke. This seemed like more than a story to the man so they let him continue.

"The Moon Kingdom had no Guardian of its own. It had no need of one since the queen was far more powerful than any soldier. Each Guardian was also dedicated to guarding the next Selene, queen of the moon and empress of the empire."

"Look, I've had about enough of this!" exclaimed a man Scott did not know. When Scott looked at him he refused to be quiet any longer despite the heart palpitations that he suddenly felt. He continued his tirade. "We came all this way for some important meeting and all you want to do is tell is bullshit kiddie stories."

"Bullshit... Kiddie stories. Kiddie stories such as the nigh-unstoppable creatures that have been showing up to slaughter entire towns after draining them completely of life? I can understand your scorn but do shut up. You have no idea what you're saying."

"What! I will not stand for this insult. I will have you know that I am a representative of the government council and I.." railed the man.

"Am free to go on your way, or free to shut your mouth. This is a meeting that will forever change people's lives. If you don't want to be a part of it, you may leave. However, if you stay you WILL be silent or I will silence you."

"How dare you threaten me... Do you know what I am!"

"Expendable." stated Scott as a rising current of power from within him began to illicit a slow rumbling sound reminiscent of an electric guitar's strumming of a single power cord. The heavy pressure that had been exerted by his presence thus far increased several fold. A few of the people closest to him that had never trained to withstand high-level combat instinctively placed their hands over their ears. Some began to hyper-ventilate.

"Wha... I..." garbled the man as several people stood up and stared at him. Finally, the danger that he faced settled into the man's mind. He grew pale then silent, and then he sat down. If they wanted to waste their time with fairy tales, that was fine by him.

"Right... Anyway, the leader of the Guardians was the princess of Venus, the Guardian of Love." informed Scott as he gazed over at Nina. The girl smiled brightly after being mentioned.

"Even with the tensions between the Earth and Moon Kingdoms it was a happy time, joyful really. Technology and magic were at their height. Even the commoners could expect to live a thousand years. Of course, that would explain some of the ancient biblical references to people that lived for over a millennium."

As the latter reference failed to stick he shook his head and continued. It was a different age, most of the older religions had ceased to exist.

"However, not all were filled with joy. There was one person at least who did not sleep well, did not have joy in her heart. She was either a peasant woman or a shamaness depending on who you ask. Her name was Pheare. Through her jealousy and unrequited love she destroyed almost all human life in the solar system forcing it to begin again from the tiny pocket remnants that managed to survive. It would take many thousands of years before humanity crawled out of the ashes of the interplanetary holocaust that the war had caused."

Aerune was chomping at the bit to ask a few choice questions to the man. How could he possibly know all this?

"Pheare did not act alone. She was possessed by an evil being that either came from outside our reality, or who was formed by solar radiation. This being has several names. Queen Metaria, Metallica, Metala, Metalia, Mettalica or the Dark force. It used Pheare's jealousy and emotional pain to take her.

It Used her as its mortal agent. The armies of Fiends and transformed humans at her command conquered the Earth and then the moon. Destroying the people of the moon destroyed all the other life on the other planets as the power source for the atmospheric element creating technology was a deus ex machina artifact known as the Eternal Starlight. When no one was left alive on the moon to use it all of the others no doubt died horribly on the surfaces of no longer habitable planets."

"Admittedly, the last part is a suspicion and can't be empirically proven yet."

There were a thousand questions begging to be asked. Scott continued, however.

"Pheare and Mettalica were defeated in the end. How it is done differs. Even the method of destruction of the kingdoms differs as one telling had it where the moon princess destroyed both kingdoms because her love with the prince was "forbidden". This seems unlikely, however."

"The two primary ways that this part of the story ends is either with the Queen using the power of the Eternal Starlight to its fullest to cast back the unstoppable armies of evil and seal her away for a time. Then she sent all of her kingdom to be reborn on Earth since nowhere else in the solar system would be inhabitable."

Scott took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "The other ending involved the princess of Venus slaying Pheare with the Divine Crescent, the holy blade of the moon. She dies in the battle herself. Queen Selene once again kills herself by using all of her power and the Eternal Starlight to send her people, especially her daughter, to be reborn on Earth."

The man sighed. He was finally getting close to the end. The questions would soon come flying.

"The next part of the tale... It should have been a fairly interesting series of battles and emotional awakenings that occur to teenage human girls roughly three hundred years ago in a prefecture of Tokyo Japan."

"Should have been?" asked Cerene before saying "oops!" and slapping her hands across her mouth.

Scott nodded. "In the way of things... the reborn guardians and prince Aldemione all meet.. they fight the Dark Empire... and ultimately though all her friends die... the moon princess uses their love and loyalty to help her find the strength to wield the Eternal Starlight and once again destroy or seal away Pheare and Mettalica."

"The Eternal Starlight had the power to allow people to live on planets that were uninhabitable... resurrecting the dead was ridiculously easy. The princess had no greater desire than to live a normal life with her friends. After defeating Pheare, her dead friends were resurrected... but because the princess wanted to be normal none of them had memories of the battle.. none save for the two feline advisors who had not directly been involved in the fight and thus had not died." continued Scott before glancing down at the two lunar felidae.

The man shook his head and continued. "This would not be the final battle they had all craved, however. A series of very powerful enemies appeared one after another. Finally the strongest threat of all Whortaxia arrived. Almost all life was on the verge of being wiped out once again, but the Moon princess once again facing off against the threat defeated her not with violence, but with the compassion in her heart...

She cried after the battle, her friends were dead. However, they did manage to be resurrected so everything turned out OK in the end."

Scott glanced over at the corner of the room and walked over to grab a broom. Then he walked back to his spot.

"Soon I will be done speaking and can answer questions." stated the man as he gripped the broom.

"I have told you a story as I know it. Now it is time to tell you how I know it." began Scott with a slight waver in his voice.

He looked up at his friends and the others that were gathered. "First, for those who do not know.. I am not of this Earth. I am from a parallel reality. I was not born here."

A few mumbled words, some harsh, some confused, were heard but they quieted down. “If you doubt that facet of my tale, look it up in public record. It is a known fact.”

"In that reality we have television shows, books, movies, videogames, and manga that we adore."

Few people saw that as anything to remark about so remained quiet for the most part.

"The strange truth is that this entertainment media is actually an apparent window into other realities. I know the story I just told you, because I used to watch it every day. I was a major fan..."

"What..?! You wasted out time by telling us about a tv show you used to watch?" shouted the liaison again.

"I also wrote stories and in some small way might very well have helped create the world you are now bitching at me upon." stated Scott to the surprise of all. A host of questions were whispered swiftly and he waited for them to settle.

"Whether, it was merely that I chronicled some stories or actually made them reality I do not know. But, I was aware of this world... or at least one similar, for a long while. Either way, I do not know the truth."

Scott took a breath and his eyes closed tight. Then he faced the moment of truth. He now had to expressly inform the people he had grown to love that he had betrayed them.

A twin trail of tears slid along his cheeks before he slowly opened his eyes. "I have betrayed you all."

"What?" asked Makina in confusion. She did not understand. How did him watching television and possibly creating their world, best not to think about that last part, mean that he betrayed them?

Scott sighed tiredly. "Don't you get it...? I knew damn it! I knew... I knew everything to a point. I still know things. Things I haven't mentioned yet. I've blatantly kept information from all of you! I thought it was the right thing to do since I don't know if my information is right or true. But, there are things I could have done. There are things that I could have said! Our battles, my failures... They could have gone so differently."

He heard loud gasps as the implications began to settle in. He had not been honest and forthcoming with them.

"I failed and betrayed all of you. Because of that, and my recent actions on the bus mission... I must step down as any sort of authority figure. I can't be your leader. I don't even deserve to be among you." he finally admitted.

His heart hammered in his chest. The moment of truth had passed. He had admitted that he had been keeping secrets from them. He had admitted what he felt was his betrayal. This was the thing that he had feared more than even facing the Dark Empire. To die fighting for those you care about is one thing, to have to stand before those people and expose yourself as a horrible person was a different sort of fear altogether.

"Can we ask questions now?" asked Pirouette after a few minutes passed. She had several she wanted to know answers to at the moment.

Scott answered with, "Yes, but I will be passing this broom over to this side of the room." while pointing to the left.

"Only the one holding the broom can ask a question. They can only ask one then they must pass the broom to the next person. This way only one person speaks at a time and everyone gets at least once chance to ask something of me." Aaron was the closest person to him. He could ask questions first.

Pirouette nodded. That did seem fair if a bit arbitrary. If Scott had passed it to the right she would have gone third.

"Think of what you wish to ask. I'll only allow one question before the chance passes to another. Anyone who wishes to ask a second one must do so after the broom comes back to them or everyone else leaves."

"Ready?" Scott asked Aaron. The man nodded.

Scott tossed the broom over to him.

The older man caught it easily and took a deep breath. "Did you intend to lie and betray us, or did it happen because you honestly thought it was the best course of action?"

Scott nodded at him. "Honestly? I don't know for absolute certain that anything I think I know holds true. However, enough of it has that it might be. I never meant to hurt anyone."

Aaron processed that and nodded. He could accept that answer. Suspect intelligence reports were to be taken with a grain of salt after all. If his information really came from television shows then it was probably best that he had kept quiet about the source.

The broom passed to the league liaison. "You do realize that now I can have you arrested for not providing information that would be considered vital to the defense of this nation don't you?"

Scott nodded. "Yes. I also intend to fully report everything I do know. This includes the most likely extremely general location of Pheare's main operating base."

"Oh? Where is that?" asked the man curiously.

Scott shook his head and pointed next to him at a dark elven archmage.

"To hell with your broom, I want answers!"

"Suffer the mystery. Pass the broom." stated Scott with a hint of malice in his voice. He was really tired of this idiot.

"What? I highly suggest that you stop talking to me in this manner. I have a great deal of pull with the council and..."

Scott sighed at the man and shook his head. "Shut up. Just shut up. The only reason you are here is that I had to let the local government know about the information that I might have. That information might not even turn out to be useful. Just pass the broom."

The man started to balk, but finally just accepted that he was not making any headway with his threats and relented. He would be speaking with his superiors about the attitude of this knight.

Alanera, a drow archmage, accepted the broom with a curious expression and glanced up at Scott. "You claim to be the creator of this world. What did you mean by that?"

Scott shrugged. "Honestly. How would you react if you found out that all of your favorite fictional characters were real and existed together on a world you wrote alternate universal fiction about? I don't know if I created the place.. All I know about is that I am aware of many elements of it."

Alanera considered that answer and decided that it made a strange sort of convoluted sense. However, it did beg her to ask the question, "Am I one of these favored... characters?"

Scott smiled and pointed at her next door Neighbor Saeko.

"I see. How interesting to take orders from a male..." stated the drowess with a comical lilt to her voice. She handed the broom over to Saeko.

"When you said my daughter was someone capable of helping to save this world from destruction... You meant that she was one of these Guardians. How did you know? The name Amanda is fairly common and so is blue hair."

Scott considered this. Somehow he had always ‘just known’that a particular girl was a senshi. Well in the case of Nina she needed a bath first... and even then he was not one hundred percent certain until he had seen her transform.

"I don't know how I know. I just know. In some ways it's like I know her favorite food is sandwiches, she wants to be a doctor, is embarrassed to admit she loves pop culture, and likes to read romance novels even if she would break out into a rash if a cute guy ever sent her a love letter."

Amanda *eeped* loudly and tried to cover her face with her hands. That had really hit the mark.

Saeko glanced down at her daughter and nodded. It was not much of an answer, but it was an answer. She passed the broom to Amanda.

The girl took a few minutes to recover but finally asked, "I... Um... I don't know what to ask... There's so much..."

"It's ok... take your time." said Scott softly to her with a gentle smile. The poor girl nearly fainted at the sight of such a thing.

"Uhm.. I... You, you said we were princesses of our respective planets and that we defended our people and the moon princess? How did we do that?" she finally managed to ask between blushes.

Scott nodded. "The Guardians are powered by something known as 'Ero Heart Crystals'. They are either inside you or protected by your castle guardians. You will be able to transform into a beautifully suited soldier of love and exams once your memories of your past life start to surface, one of the cats manages to get you a magical stick thingy, or you find yourself in a terrible battle."

"I-I... OK..." she said in an adorable stutter. She was rather proud of herself simply for being able to talk to him. She liked boys... sometimes, but this was no boy! He was all man. How scandalous!

Amanda passed the broom off to the next person like it was on fire. This happened to be Apollo.

The moon cat placed a paw on the broom and asked, "Where do you think Pheare is located?"

Scott nodded at the cat. "It might not be true, but I think she can be found around the Northpole. This was the seat of power for the Earth Kingdom at the time. In all instances of the story she was banished there."

Apollo nodded. That did sound vaguely possible. He passed the broom over to Nina.

The normally perky blond girl gazed up at Scott with shimmering eyes and asked, "Why did you hide this? I know what you told Aaron, but didn't you trust us?"

Scott winced visibly and turned his head to the side for a moment before looking back at her. He gazed into her eyes and said, "Nina, I know what you just asked. However, that's not the question that I will answer. Instead, I will answer a different one. It's a question that has plagued you for a long time."

The girl frowned at him cutely as that seemed to be a diversion. Was he still trying to hide things from them? Scott reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small envelope. He had intended to give this to her after the meeting but now was as good a time as any.

"I didn't think to check this out since Apollo didn't show up till later. You shouldn't have been able to do this, but apparently you did." said the man enigmatically before moving around the fire and handing her the envelope.

"What is it?” she asked as she opened it.

"Your past Nina..." replied Scott seriously.

She opened the envelope curiously and almost dropped it. Inside the envelope she found several images, and they were mostly of her. They were her from a few years ago.

"Apparently even in this world you made the scene before the other Guardians... and even before I found you." said Scott softly.

The pictures where of Nina as a younger girl wearing a red mask and a modified version of her Guardian uniform.

"You were born in the UK, or what people simply call London in this world. I’m sure many people from my world would be pissed to know that their countries ceased to exist, but whatever... Your parents are known as Johnathan and Sarah Love. Your name is Nina Love. You were reported missing four years ago. If I could have figured out how to contact them they would be here by now." stated Scott.

Nina began to cry softly as she looked at two pictures that were not of her. They were obviously her parents.

The girl cried softly and passed the broom on before moving to the wall to sit down and stare at her envelope's contents. The next person was Yoko.

"Master, did I have a place in the past?" asked the girl. She had felt rather left out of the group at times since she did not have a snazzy transformation sequence.

"I'm sorry Yoko, but I don't think so. If it helps there is another series that I am aware of that reminds me of you. It's called Battle Royale High school. In it you, or the girl in that series rather, will end up receiving an incredible power and train to become a true samurai. She kicks a lot of ass and so do you."

Yoko smiled tentatively at him. "Oh." it was not what she had wanted to hear, but she would accept it. The sad Amazon passed on the broom to Makina.

Makina asked him something that he truly hated to answer, "Were my parents alive in the story you mentioned?"

Scott shook his head. "I'm sorry Makina. Your parents died in a plane crash..."

She sighed softly and nodded. Part of her had hoped at least one of her versions had gotten to spend more time with her parents. The Balvulf gave the broom to Cerene.

"Scott did... Did you... You said there was no Guardian for the Moon Kingdom?"

"No Cerene. There was no Guardian for the moon. That is because you are in fact the reborn moon princess." revealed Scott. It was not the major realization she would have reached in his parody series or its original basis, but she did need to know.

"I am? Me... I... me?" she asked dumbly with wide innocent eyes. How could she possibly believe that!

Scott smiled softly at her as she tried to comprehend the ramifications of being Reincarnated interplanetary royalty. Hopefully she would accept her fate in time.

Aerune received the broom next. "Do you really expect us to trust you after you revealed this?"

The girls glared down at the cat but she held her ground.

"No." stated Scott Simply.

The cat seemed like she wanted to say something but simply looked up at Mr. Sakino.

The man bent down and picked up the broom. "Why did you wait so long to tell us our daughter was safe?"

Scott winced then replied, "Honestly, between the fighting, constant near death escapes, and personal dramas... I forgot."

The man frowned angrily at him then relented. He had removed his daughter from the clutches of that scumbag tamer after all.

The broom was handed off to Mrs. Sakino.

"Has Cerene been alright? I mean, has she been safe?"

Scott thought about the question for a moment then shook his head. "She's been alright, but none of us have been safe. Your daughter is a hero ma'am. She's helped save dozens of lives already and stands as a central figure in a war to save the very existence of life on our world."

Mrs. Sakino gasped and covered her mouth in horror. When Scott had promised to be honest he had proven to be brutally so. The woman would now be both worried sick and very proud for some time to come.

There was a little confusion as to who would take the broom next, Annie or Sam. Eventually Sam took it and asked, "Have you been doing naughty things with my sister?"

"Sam!" gasped Cerene in shock.

"Yes." stated Scott simply. Cerene gawked at him then flushed brightly before letting out a nervous giggle. The girls made a few half-hearted attempts at teasing her, but soon fell quiet.

Sam, thoroughly pleased with his answer, handed the broom to Annie.

"Can you ever bring Cerene back home? I mean... We all miss her!" exclaimed Annie as both a question and a plea.

"Certainly. We'll need to go to town soon anyway, and you two can do whatever it is teenage girls do in town."

"Wow, really! Thank you!" gushed the red haired girl. He was so nice to allow that. Cerene beamed a happy smile which he returned softly.

The broom passed to Delia, whom Scott had not met. She asked, "So... just how much do you know about people specifically? I’ve heard that you knew a little about my home world."

Scott gazed softly at her. "I wish you and Karne could have had far longer time together. You were a very sweet couple even if his cluelessness and single minded devotion to training often frustrated you to know end."

Delia blushed lightly and shook her head. She really did not know what to make of that. When her mind moved into X-rated territory she gasped at him like a dying fish. Had he seen...

Scott smiled at her softly then quirked his eyebrow in a special sort of way that conveyed his thoughts on the subject. The elf girl passed on the broom like it was the stick of death.

Now it was finally Pirouette's turn. The dark elf gazed down at the broom for a moment then looked up at him. "I... want to know what you know about me and... Vashra... I know it is a petty question considering the world is at stake but..."

Scott gazed softly at her and smile gently. "You may be a dark elf, and subject to certain inappropriate attitudes and prejudices, but you have a heart more loyal than anyone who I can think of. I know about what transpired in your home land.

I know of how you, Vashra, and the surviving Tardot set sail from there to find a new land and eventually came across Geminalia. I know of Barbariel.. I know of Ederu and the risks that you took in that guise. I know of your unwavering desire to restore your lover to true life and sentience instead of have him be the puppet of-"

"That... That's enough. Please, that's... enough..." she whispered softly. Tears came unbidden to her eyes. He had always known about her secret pain. He had chosen not to speak of it then and she did not want him to speak of it now. Shakily she passed the broom on to Kaina Harm.

The sorceress frowned at him and asked, "How did you break my petrification spell?"

"I knew the source god of your ancient magic. I also knew someone that could defeat his power. Also, I’ve seen tits before, so they hold no mystery for me." replied Scott simply.

Kaina frowned at him then shook her head. He had probably read about it somewhere. She passed the broom to Ashe Naile and then considered his statement about tits. Her eyes widened with the realization that he was one of the only men who had ever gazed upon her breasts and lived to tell the tale!

The half dark elf gazed silently at him for a moment then asked, "Is there anything that I could have done to avoid being here?"

Scott blinked. This was a question he could not answer. "Honestly, I don't know. You never came here in any of the stories. Though to be fair I only write the story up to the point where Dak Sneida rips off his own throbbing penis to free you from the Red Anal Curse of the Abused, then later gets resurrected by the awakening power of An’Alsex the god of destruction."

"What are you talking about? Why would I have the Red Anal Curse?" she asked.

Scott shook his head. She had asked her question. The dark elf growled at him, but relented and handed him the broom.

"Does anyone else have a question?" he asked then.

Over a dozen hands went up immediately. It seemed everyone had at least one more question.

Scott sighed to himself. It promised to be a long night.

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