Part 1
"Yurn, I need to speak with you before you leave." Sirene said to the Templar, after he had returned from Gustav's Workshop. "It's about who you encountered there."
"The stitched woman? She seemed paranoid but harmless." Yurn answered.
"Not here. Come, to my personal room." Sirene said, shaking her head. She took Yurn's hand and led him to the end of the hall upstairs.
"This is just a dead end, Sirene. This some kind of game?"
"Tik." Sirene responded. The world around them turned gray and froze in place. The dead end of the hallway shimmered and became a door that creaked open, revealing a magnificent room full of luxuries of every kind. As they passed the threshold, another voice could be heard.
"Tok."
Yurn turned to see who spoke it, but found the door was gone, replaced by a solid wall.
"What just happened?" Yurn asked, turning back to Sirene.
Sirene smiled. "We're in a pocket dimension at the moment Yurn. This is a long story I need to tell you. Please, have a seat." Sirene motioned to the 2 large chairs at a table. Yurn sighed and took a seat.
"I don't suppose I have a choice. So, what is this about?"
"First, Yurn. How much do you know about me?" Sirene asked, leaning back in the chair. "My age, where I came from, anything?"
Yurn sat and thought for a minute. “I must confess beyond your title, The Reaper Mage, and your fame and or infamy, I don’t know anything about you at all.” Yurn admitted with a sigh.
”We’ll start with the easy ones, then. How old do you think I am? Any guess is a good one, so go on then.” Sirene asked him, smiling.
”I heard tales of you from my grandfather, so no less than 500 years old.” Seeing Sirene begin to chuckle, he shook his head. "Much, much older, I assume?"
"I was born on... well, I'm not quite sure, to be honest. We didn't have written records back then. I know the season and the year." Sirene said, folding her hands on her lap.
"No written records? By the Gods Sirene, how old are you?" Yurn asked, wide eyed.
"I was born in the Winter of Ironhand 7499, to a pair of farmers in a kingdom long lost to time. I had seen my homeland continually renamed for over a thousand years. Mercifully, the past 750 years have brought some stability to it."
Yurn was stunned. To think someone this old who wasn't a God even existed! "I... don't know what to say. It's going to be 9893 in a few months so you're..."
"Over 2500 years old." Sirene finished. "Eigengrau herself taught me the spell that gives me my immortality. She called it 'closing the loop'. I didn't know what she meant until only 40 years ago. The phrase is... appropriate."
"I am a mage of a little skill, so I know your school of magic is in fact not death but time. I'm guessing it... no. It couldn't. That's impossible." Yurn said, lost in thought. "You stopped your time?"
"Not quite." Sirene said, laughing. "Time cannot be stopped except in totality. Lady Eigengrau told me her records say I am not fated to die. So she taught me a spell to lock my appearance at any age I wish. It's technically a time spell, but also not. It's the only time spell she will allow anyone who is not me to learn."
"So if you taught me that spell..." Yurn began to ask.
"You could be as youthful as you wished to be until the day you die. It does not delay your death by a single moment." Sirene finished.
"Intriguing. however, I believe we're getting off track. You wanted to speak with me about Liddell." Yurn said, leaning forward.
"Indeed. A thousand years ago, give or take a century, is when I first met Liddell. What do you suppose that means?" Sirene asked, eyebrows raised. "Don't answer that. Just think on it. Amaranth Liddell is the most dangerous person you've ever encountered, for many reasons, but most of all for what she is."
"What she is?"
"She's a Saint, Yurn. An actual Saint." Sirene replied, narrowing her eyes.
"She's Saint Liddell the Abandoned?" Yurn asked, shocked.
"Now you understand the danger she poses."
"She's a Saint. What's her miracle that has you so worried?"
Sirene didn't answer. She looked away from Yurn and wouldn't resume eye contact.
"What's her miracle, Sirene." Yurn asked again, in a more demanding tone.
"Abandonment. Decay. Rot. Death. Just as the entire world once abandoned her, it abandons you. She is not a 'good' Saint, and never was. She was a cautionary tale."
"By the Gods. She's a walking plague." Yurn said, his expression of shock plain to see.
"We don't know for sure it's Saint Liddell yet, so we need to ask someone." Sirene said thoughtfully, standing up. She made her way over to the bookshelves, but turned around and stood with her back towards the books. She clapped her hands twice in quick succession, then tapped her right foot on the ground once. "Eigengrau, a moment of your time, please."
Yurn watched as frost began to cover the entire floor of the room. He pulled up his legs to avoid being caught up in it. When he looked back over at Sirene, Lady Eigengrau was standing in front of her.
"This is unexpected, apprentice." Eigengrau flatly stated to Sirene. "What do you need?"
"We may have a problem. Where is Amaranth Liddell's soul?" Sirene asked, her arms crossed.
Eigengrau's eye twitched. "I think you already know the answer, apprentice. It is as you feared. I do not care the method, or the mortals recruited. Kill her. Send her soul back to me so I can ensure final rest." Eigengrau turned and walked over to Yurn. "Templar."
"Yes, Lady Eigengrau? How may I assist you?" Yurn asked, slightly unsure of himself.
"You are at a divergence, Templar. Your fate changes drastically if you choose to help."
"For the better or worse?" Yurn asked.
Eigengrau shook her head. "I cannot explain it, but it seems someone else wants to. A moment." Eigengrau's divine casting circle appeared around her feet as her body and clothing glowed. The black hair lengthened and turned flame red, the grey robes turned blue and white. Her black eyes turned to a more normal green.
"Eigengrau, was this really necessary?" Sirene asked with a sigh.
"Of course it was, apprentice!" Eigengrau shouted back at her. "Now then Yurn, you've got questions I can see that but there's no answers. Understood, Sirene?"
"I... of course, Lady Eigengrau." Yurn said, then chuckled.
"So, the divergence point. The stick in the mud didn't want to tell you, but if you don't help my Apprentice, you die in less than a year. You better help her with this."
"I what?" Yurn shouted. "How when why?"
Eigengrau laughed. "Nope, can't tell you anything beyond that! Even I don't know! Just that you do. So you're going to help Sirene with this issue. Apprentice, if you end up over your head, we'll hand it over to Vordea but expect a lot of collateral damage. Alright kids, have fun!" Eigengrau then snapped her fingers and disappeared in a puff of grey smoke.