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 of the Abandoned?" Yurn asked, shocked.