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Professor Hargrave’s study filled with the scent of death as the Goddess Eigengrau appeared in a whiff of smoke. He motioned to the chair he had prepared for her, and she nodded sitting in it.

“You are a difficult woman to find, Lady Eigengrau.” he said, as he set the recording device on the table between the chairs.

Eigengrau sat and looked at him for several minutes, as if recalling a fond memory. “It is good to see you again, James. I eventually heard from my children that you were looking for me. So you discovered the great secret and want to know what happened, is that it?” she looked at him expectantly.

Hargrave raised an eyebrow at this accusation, finding himself being interviewed by the Goddess in turn. “It was a secret? You made no effort to hide it.”

“I walked outside the shape, James. You discovered information from a reality that never was in order to hold this interview. Yet here we are.” Eigengrau leaned back in the chair. “So go on then, ask your question. I might even answer it.”

“The apotheosis of Sirene Ignitis, the infamous Reaper Mage, into Eigengrau, the Goddess of Death.” Hargrave said, picking up a stack of documents. “Everything I found says until Ms. Ignitis ascended to become you, you did not exist. And yet, there are sightings of you going back thousands of years.”

Eigengrau laughed at this. “Oh my, James, must I really spell out everything for you? Let me ask you a question in response to that. What is my purview?”

“It’s death, but I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“Death and what else, James?” Eigengrau emphasized.

Professor Hargrave narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, what else? I’ve never heard of you having any other purview.”

Eigengrau shook her head slowly. “I am disappointed in you, James. I expected you of all people to have figured out my other purview decades ago. Think back to your first trip to Palisade Bay, James. What did I tell you back then, James?”

Professor Hargrave’s eyes opened very wide at this revelation. “My first trip... it was you! Of course it was you.” he laughed and shook his head. “I never could quite recall what my robed friend looked like. I could remember her hair and her odd speech, but not the rest. Of course, now it makes sense, connecting the dots. I understand now.”

“If you think you understand, explain it to me.”

“It was retroactive. When she achieved apotheosis, she retroactively became you. In effect, once you began to exist, you have always existed. Am I correct so far?”

“Very good. You figured it out. When Sirene achieved it, she died and in her place I was born at the dawn of time. The past, present, and future were all rewritten due to me. Only Vordea and the Dead God were able to figure out what happened, once it did.”

Hargrave nodded at the mention of their names. “The 2 other Primal Gods, of course. But death obviously existed without you, so who did it fall under? Vordea?”

“It does not matter, James. You figured out the grand secret. But have you figured out the minor secret yet?”

“The minor--?” Professor Hargrave began, but he was interrupted.

“This portion of the tale is done, James,” Eigengrau began, as she rose from the chair. “There will be no more help from me on this. Sirene may deign to entertain you, when you find her.”

“Thank you, Lady Eigengrau. Until the end of my life, I suppose?”

“Or perhaps sooner.” she said with a smile, before leaving as quickly as she came.

Professor Hargrave sat in his chair for several minutes deep in thought after she left. It almost felt like she interviewed him, but for what purpose? New and exciting questions to research, he supposed, as he began to review his notes. As he played back the recording, he noticed something wrong. It was cut up, pieces were missing. Even as he tried to recall the missing portions they faded from his memory.

“Of course she did.” he sighed with a small laugh. It seems some things were meant to remain secret. “Still, it was good to see her again.”