[IC] The Narrow Path

[Skinner35]

"No... You mean Aith... Don't you?" He says, realizing that this choice could ruin his entire mission. He wouldn't ask the other two for advice, since they didn't care. But this would either leave him with a heartbroken, and enraged Father. Or a heartbroken, and depressed Daughter. Or this could mean the others. But, he didn't care for them as much as he did for Maggie and Athe's relationship as a family. He knew what it felt like to lose family, and he refused to let that happen.

[Gardevoiran]

You must be confident in your answer, Skinner. Death's voice boomed through the room as Brock and Westley begin to speak.

"... Aithwale is the more apt choice, what with him being a bear and a man of incredible strength."

"Y'sure it could be the bear though? Jen's an actual knight, to be frank. I'd say it's you, Brock, but we already know you can't make another deal."

"I know, that's why I'm going over the options..."

[Skinner35]

"We cannot lose Athe or Maggie, and that's final." He said sternly, with emotion. "I will give a part of myself before any of you. I would even give the Goblin. But we need everything we can get." He said, standing up.

[Gardevoiran]

"Problem with that, though. You've already made a deal with Death, when you picked up my book. Making another deal is nigh-impossible."

"Skeleton's right. You'd needa series of runes 'n summonin' circles to properly do so, 'n we don't got that time."

Above Magdalene and Aithwale floated a blue clock, the hands quickly spinning around the face as your first minute has been used. You're unaware of the circumstances that will occur when the clock finishes ticking away, but you get the feeling that you might not want to know.

[Skinner35]

"Fine... FINE." He said as he slumped down, accepting defeat. "If we think logically... We need the Mage more than the bear... Now, take him and leave." He said, as he stood up and walked back outside, to sit on the stone.

[Gardevoiran]

You step outside the door, only to find yourself at the sight of a carriage crash, a baby's crying softly piercing your eardrums. Standing in front of you is an old man. Shaggy, but short white hair decorating his head. A large, but well trimmed white beard decorates his face, and it's very clear from his absent shirt that he's quite brawny and built.

His eyes turn to face you as they meet yours.

"... quite the restless soul, aren't we?" the man addresses you before he turns back to face the carriage crash, smiling as if it was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on.

[Skinner35]

"Depends. But, this isn't the weirdest thing that has happened today." He said, as he walked next to the man. "I'm guessing that this scene has great importance to you." He said, watching the fire. "Heh... Almost reminds me of... Ah, nevermind." He continued to stand there, he then began to feel emotional pain, as he thought about what he did. "So. Who are you?"

[Gardevoiran]

"... him," the man calmly says as he points to a much more grungy and raggedy man with black hair, yet still clearly built, approaching the carriage crash. He walked slightly hunched, unlike the man that's standing beside you, and you can clearly tell he's been through a lot. The scars on his body were rather fresh, while the man beside you had fair skin.

"This was the day I'd never thought I'd have. The day where my life would change." The man beside you talks as a small tear rolls down his face. "In all of my time on this great world, I never understood how I managed to overcome my savage instincts on this one day."

[Skinner35]

"Seems like you lost everything to." He said, watching the man. "Everyone goes through hell, but some people never leave it." He whispered to himself.

[Gardevoiran]

"I didn't leave hell. I found my own little slice of heaven in it." The old man smiles as he sees the grungy man reach into the carriage, only to pull out a small child, seemingly that of a gnomic origin. Her hair was orange and bright in the obscuring mist, shining against the fire of the burning carriage wheel off to the side.

"That girl. That girl had gone through so much pain before she could even talk, let alone stand on her feet." The old man beside you places his hand on your shoulder. "I could've taken her out of this world right there, but as savage as this old bear was, I decided to do something else."

The grungy man began rummaging through the wreckage, only to pull out of the rubble and broken boards a small picture frame. You can barely see the words in the mist, but you can tell it was a family. A short dad, likely a gnome. A rather tall mother, likely a human. Then the little girl.

"... some of us aren't in hell for our deeds," the old man grumbles. "Some of us are meant to guide others out of it."

[Skinner35]

"So you're Aith." He said softly, standing there. "I'm sorry. This is my fault." He said, bottling the pain away. "I wish you safe travel into the afterlife. I will protect her." He said, looking at Aith. "You are a good man. You don't deserve this."

[Gardevoiran]

"We all have a time to move on, Tobias. Some of us prolong it, some of us hasten it, but there's a select few people who know when it's time for them to go." Aithwale turns to face you before he continues. "You didn't choose the wrong choice Tobias. My time was nearing, and I was ready to see what the afterlife held for me."

The grungy man stands up, holding the girl close to his chest, as he began to walk back into the woods. The wreckage began to fade away as you see two large gates open behind Aithwale. Beyond the gates is an impossibly dense line of trees, purple-tinted wildlife grazing beyond it with the occasional werebear roar echoing beyond the fence.

"Take care of my daughter. She better not show up here before you, if you know what's good for you."

[Skinner35]

"Thank you. For everything. I wish you rest." He whispered, turning back, towards the door that led into Brock's home. He didn't know how to explain this to Maggie... But, he had to face it. As he thought, before going through the door, he decided to not explain this to anyone. Aith's eternity was reserved for him, so he wouldn't let Brock nor Westley slander that.

[Gardevoiran]

You reenter Brock's home, only to find Magdalene alone in the bed you found her in, hugging her legs and looking out towards the window. As soon as she hears your steps, she looks towards you with an bit of a saddened expression. Her voice tells you a different story however.

"... is he happy?"

[Skinner35]

"Yes." He couldn't think of a comforting way to say it. "He is resting now." He then sat on the bed and stared at the ground. "Before he fully departed, he told me about the day that he found you. He told me about how you helped him overcome his savagery." He explained, hoping that she didn't resent him because of this. "He called you his 'guide out of hell.'"

[Gardevoiran]

Magdalene fell into your lap as she continued looking out the window. "Everything he said was true. He was the best dad I could ask for."

You see Magdalene shift around a bit before she sits back up, kicking off her bandages on her foot as she attempts to stand. She almost collapsed on her foot, but she did finally manage to keep her footing as she looks at you. "C-can you help me go outside. The sun always cheers me up."

[Skinner35]

As she stumbled, he bolted up to help her. "Yea. The weather outside is beautiful." He explained as he helped her walk. "Looks like you're healing nicely. Shouldn't be too much longer until you can walk on your own again." He mumbled as he opened the door.

[Gardevoiran]

"I-I can walk on my own! I can't do it well, but I can do it!" Magdalene stammers as she breaks free from you, walking a grand total of four steps before leaning against the nearby wall. "See?! Four steps! I can do it!" She giggles slightly as she gets back to your side.

You step outside to see everyone from Brock to Eve there in front of you, even the newly-met Abigail accompanying them. In the middle of the group rests Jen's tent with your Goblin facing it. "What's going on?" You hear Magdalene whisper to you.

In the very far distance, you see a built but transparent man facing the group, a smile on his face, before he turns away and vanishes completely.

[Skinner35]

"I don't know." He whispers back. He doesn't make any noise. He honestly didn't want to have to explain to everyone what had happened. He also just wanted time to think about what to do, considering that Maggie isn't fully healed, and the team would most likely slander his name for sacrificing Athe.

[Gardevoiran]

Eve turns around to see you and Maggy there, and she waves jovially at you. "Hey Toby! Your goblin is gonna make the tent bigger!"

Maggy looks up at you with a bit of a worried expression. "B-but isn't Gobbo inexperienced?"