07.07x2: Mage Towers

[ShadowOfPreservation]

Lyra watches her curiously for a moment but simply says "Alright" and will step through.

[Rasanam]

Ruby follows Lyra, and lets the gate close behind her. Then she takes the lead, getting to about halfway through the tower, before the two of you come around a corner and find a second Ruby - except that this one is quite dead, having apparently failed to disarm a blade trap.

"So." Ruby (the live one) says. "Got an explanation for this?"

[ShadowOfPreservation]

As soon as she'd seen the tower, Lyra has a sinking feeling of where this conversation was going to end up. As they walk, Lyra toys with the idea of calling Rasanam for help but he'd already been interrupted in his efforts too many times. "I do, though it's complicated. How complete of an answer would you like?"

[Rasanam]

"I'll take the complicated answer, then; I have nearly all of today free."

[ShadowOfPreservation]

"The Ruby guild needed a strong leader, someone that could keep Scion in hand and change the direction it was going. Our research lead us to you. The magic we used, found you, chose you, but it seems that in this timeline or this dimension, you were killed and not in suspended animation. It lead us to the version of you that we could still save." Lyra leaves out specific details about Pattern and Shadows unless pressed. If she is, she'll frame it in terms of something similar to planar travel only to locations previously unknown.

"We didn't intend any deception. It's just that bringing you our of the state you were in bringing you back to a different Acra than you knew was going to be enough of a shock. We didn't want to add to it."

[Rasanam]

"I see." Ruby ponders a bit, and then shrugs. "Regardless of this, I do still owe you - so I'll get your Ruby guild cleaned up. But I'd like the option to go home when that's done."