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"You know," said X's avatar thoughtfully, "I don't think I've ever seen the sunrise before."

A lightbulb went off in his head.

"Well," said Brian, "if I don't have your permission, may I at least have your forgiveness? I intended no disrespect to you. I wished only to do all that I could to keep her safe." Now, thought Jared, while he's distracted. Carefully he moved, reaching a few inches to tap Winter on the shoulder- discharging his binding as he did so.

Brian raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose you're just going to ignore her disrespect?"

Jared felt the Silence of frozen time flow over him like a wave crashing on the unmoving shore. Careful, he thought. He doesn't know you aren't frozen. With his power, he began to weave a binding he'd seen used only once before. A binding to bind the soul of a dream artist, to limit their power- or remove it entirely.

Jeffery looks at Vapor with concern. "Be careful, okay?" he says.

"Sure," says X's avatar.

I've never talked to you before, said the voice neutrally and unequivocally.

So he decided to find out.

"I made a deal with Fate," says the Fallen King, and... something ... appears in his eyes for a brief moment. "In return for a favor, he made my power their weakness." Wind suddenly begins to whirl around Rish's head. In it, a voice can clearly be heard. I am not your kin, thank you, says the voice, with a soft, cold edge. You would do well to avoid making that mistake again.

"I can't disagree with anything they've said," said Jeffery. "But before you choose... you should know the danger you face." He looks her in the eyes, concern for her shining through. "Right now the main thing keeping you safe is that mimes don't know what you are. If you learn from Rish, fight in her war, you won't be a secret any more. And because you are my daughter-" "And my granddaughter," interjected Brian. Jeffery nodded. "-and your grandfather's granddaughter, the mimes will capture you without hesitation. They fear what someone of your power could do were you to join us in our fight against them." "For all Rish's talk, I don't think she'll protect you," added Brian. "I agree with the Prime's assessment- whatever she wants with you, your safety is not her number one priority. And despite what she may think, the mimes are no lightweights." "I would love to see you grow," said Jeffery earnestly. "If that's what you want. But if the mimes get their hands on you..." He shuddered. "They can make you forget who you are. Turn you against everyone you once loved. And they will. I..." he trailed off. "I don't want to lose you again." @Vapor The withergeist the Fallen King had been playing with forms into a likeness of him. "They do recognize the rules of creation," he says. "All rules. Even yours. It is you who seem not recognize the rules for what they are- equal standards. Do you think that your laws are greater than Fate?" The likeness of the Fallen King snorted. "Aridith did not defeat Baalhan, although he could have if he had truly tried. No, it was an agent of Fate who defeated him, defying what he claimed as 'divine law.'" He arched an eyebrow. "And what would have have stood had Fate not intervened." "Yes, I doubt," responded the likeness. "For Silence stands still and implacable, unmoved even an inch as the waves of chaos roll in. Enemy of mine he may be, but I cannot deny he is a true agent of Fate. As long as Fate decrees it so, it shall be."

"You say that I speak boldly?" said the Fallen King with amused incredulity. "Listen to yourself. 'I am inevitability.' 'Divine Laws rule all.' The mimes are pretty full of themselves, but even they recognize that no single, unchanging law could ever govern a reality of multiple Authors." He laughed openly. "And the fact that you even bother to mention Aridith... well, your colleague's encounter with him hardly ended well, did it?" He snorted. " And this apocalyptic threat? The leader is holding it off without so much as breaking a sweat. Explain how they're doing better than you, if you're supposedly so much more powerful than they." Brian raised his hand in a supplicatory gesture. "Of course, of course. She has a right to know the truth."

"Well of course he doesn't know your laws," said the Fallen King. "But like he said, your cohort aren't the only ones writing the laws. You severely underestimate the power and understanding of the mimes."

"I should hope my son knows what he's talking about," said the Fallen King. "Given that he learned it all from me." "That's reassuring, I suppose," said Brian drily. "I'm more worried about what other people intend," said Jeffery quietly. "I will not allow my daughter to be captured by the mimes. It would be better if she died." He shivered. "At least death is reversible."

"Don't worry," assured Brian. "They're very well trained."

"Wow!" said the Fallen King mockingly. "A truth! Clearly your word must be gospel!" He snapped his fingers, and a dark thing emerged from the shadows and lurked at his feet. He sat down on it and leaned back with a sound of satisfaction. "Ah... that's good." He folded his hands together. "Look, given your long, long career, I don't doubt that you've said a truth at least once." He raised an eyebrow. "But, to be perfectly honest, I don't think that's quite going to convince me of your sincerity." His left hand played idly with a withergeist that seemed to have mysteriously appeared. "My son was telling the truth, you see. Vapor's powers are a mere fragment of a seed at the moment. Barely enough to make a flea sneeze, which - since doesn't have full control over her power - is pretty lucky for the patch of reality she happens to be standing on." He shrugged. "Not that unusual, compared to other prospective dream artists. On a scale from zero to a hundred, where zero is an utter lack and a hundred is the most powerful dream artist alive, the average for those only beginning is about zero point zero zero five. A Fate-centric measurement estimate, to be fair; but the point still stands. Vapor isn't unique for what she is." He looked at Rish calmly and directly. "Which means that your insistence on having her specifically stems from some other cause. One you aren't telling us about."

Three hundred years later.

"And," continued the Fallen King, "you appear to have lied to my son about your reasoning. Correct?"

The laugh was bottled up.

"Oh, he wasn't attacking you," said a new voice. "He was summoning me." Jeffery turned in surprise as a figure emerged from the shadows behind him. "Inadvertently, of course," said Jeffery's father. "But I should hope he'd be happy of my help regardless." He stepped forwards out of the shadow from which he had made his entrance. "My name is Brian Larue- although I am more commonly known by my title." His eyes glowed with blackness. "It would seem that, for some inscrutable reason, you have taken an interest in my granddaughter. Is this correct?" @Nathrangking

There were a couple of oligarchies, however.

"That wouldn't tell us anything," Jeffery points out. "What would it show? That Vapor could attain ultimate power? Like I said, I already know that. The real question is what Rish wants with Vapor specifically. Her future isn't clear enough to tell you that." Narrator X interjects that for reasons of Narrative freedom, this should probably be objectively true. Jeffery's eyes widened. "Mime?" he seethed. "You call me a mime?" The shadows in and around him begin to deepen. "You go too far, goddess." Narrator X notes that Rishmaveta is being rather presumptuous.

To give to their cousins.

The conflict had driven him into quantum insanity.

Jeffery shook his head. "If she had that much raw power, reality around her would already have begun to break down. I've seen her Narrative energy leaking, and it's not that powerful. Sure, she has the potential to achieve that level of ability, but so does any dream artist." He gazed directly at Rish, arms folded. "I am no fool, Rishmaveta. Yours is not the only council that governs reality. You make a mistake assuming you are the only one who understands the rules." @Nathrangking