You wake up feeling suspiciously warm, refreshed and less fatigued. As your heavy eyelids slowly lift, allowing your blurry vision to focus, you realize that you are somewhere else. You make a small motion with your arm, feeling the featherlight fabric slide on your warm skin. As you slowly inhale, the moist air fills your lungs pleasantly, until a weird stench stings your nose.

The smell of sulfur. Your vision immediately clears out and the sleepy haziness wears of, revealing familiar red walls adorned with golden decorations and dark floors.

'Wakey-wakey. I thought you are done for,' you hear Korrilla and turn your head to your left, looking at the woman examining you. She looks just the same as you saw her the last time; her sharp eyes are emphasized with a bold dose of dark eyeshadow and her lips are tinted with a violet matte lipstick. 'No rest for the wicked,' she adds and you aren't sure if it's a taunt or a friendly banter.

You carefully lift yourself on your left elbow and place your feet on the cool floor, before sitting on one of the beds near the hexagonal rejuvenation pool.

'What happened? Did I die? Is Raphael here?'

'Hells, how many questions are you planning to ask?' she raises her eyebrows and tilts her head towards the entrance of the boudoir. You look to the other side, checking if the giant bed between the balconies is occupied. 'You were trying your very best to die, but the pool did you wonders. As for Raphael, he is not here. I was honestly hoping you will tell me why.'

You place your elbows on your knees and support your head on your hands, covering your ears for a moment. As you try to sort out everything that happened, your eyes dart around the gorgeous fabric of the light beige nightgown you are dressed in. You aren't really used to wearing expensive clothes, in fact, your monastery encourages you not to spend money on lavish garments, so it's hard for you to decide if what you are wearing is made of silk or satin.

Korrilla keeps her eyes glued to the entrance until Hope passes through the threshold; Jaheira and Halsin following right after her.
'Tav!' Hope calls out and sends you a bright smile. 'So good to see you awake.'

You slide on the edge of the bed, trying to get closer to your friends.
'Good to see you, too. You look wonderful.'

'And I feel quite nice, as well!' Hope admits.

There is a moment of silence during which the group gathers around you, making you feel a tiny bit overwhelmed. You nod at Jaheira and Halsin; there is a hint of unspoken tension hanging in the air.
'What happened?' you and Halsin ask at the same time, making you chuckle.

'Ladies first,' Halsin raises his meaty hand with a kind, encouraging smile on his face.

You open your mouth and close it the second your eyes fall on Jaheira. She is not smiling, but looking at you quite intensely, clearly expecting an answer.
'I owe you an apology, first and foremost,' you admit after a moment, feeling an uncomfortable sensation setting in your gut. 'For not informing you about what has been going on,' you address the ancient half-elven warrior directly.

'It's alright, Halsin let me know about your adventures since we parted ways.'

'But there is only so much that I'm familiar with,' the man states, gently inquiring you to lift the veil of secrecy.

'Right,' you clasp your hands together on your belly and look at them blankly. 'I have been cursed by Mephistopheles.'

A silence falls inside the room and for a moment you are convinced that everything ceased movement, even the ever-raging wind carrying the sulfuric scent of Avernus. The lazily floating steam from the pool, dancing behind the silhouettes of your companions tells you otherwise.

'Yea. There's... There's that,' you say and glance around their faces. Korrilla is the only one who seems to be picking up on the comedic aspect of the scene.

'Cursed?' Halsin asks, spitting the words out in shock.

'Yes, so remember the scar on my back? It's actually how I got cursed. Raphael has the same one, which spreads across his chest. And only yesterday... Hold on, how long am I here?'

'Two days,' Hope informs.

'Two days?' you ask, taken aback.

'You slept like you haven't rested for a month,' Korrilla adds.

'That's actually very accurate,' you admit and take a deep breath in. 'So I know this only for two days... Wait, how long was I in the prison?'

'You were in a prison?' Hope asks, her eyes wide open.

'Never mind, last time I was conscious,' you settle for the safest way of describing the events on this chaotic timeline. 'I remember talking to Raphael and it turns out that I can become, possessed in a way?' you say, but there is uncertainty in your voice.

'Oakfather bless us,' Jaheira murmurs and shakes her head to the sides in disbelief.

'By Mephistopheles?' Korrilla asks and Hope looks at her worriedly.

'Apparently so,' you sigh and hide your face behind your hands. 'I can't go back to your settlement now, Halsin.'

'We need to figure out what this means, first,' he advises and crouches down; there is a deep frown on his face as he processed the information he was given.

'What abou-' you begin but Hope cuts you out.

'How did you end up in prison?'

'Oh, right. So I met up with the Dawnmasters and there was a woman that Raphael spoke to, they made a deal and when the Dawnmasters came, I think she just cut her hand and the scent of blood did something to me and I started attacking people around. They threw me in jail after.'

Korrilla's eyebrows travel a little bit further towards her hairline.

'You most definitely cannot go back to Moonrise Towers,' Jaheira admits and Halsin lifts his head to look her in the eye. 'What have you gotten yourself into?'

'Some deep, vast, stinky sea of shit,' you groan and hide your face from Jaheira's sight. You were always a bit smitten by her presence. Despite her years, she always radiated a wise, incredibly strong aura and as a leader you really enjoyed hearing her input. After a moment, you decide to break the silence. 'Where is Wyll and Karlach?' You part your fingers to look at Hope from behind your hands.

'They had to leave a while ago. Some of Zariel's devils were trying to snuff them out and Karlach decided that they should leave before they attract a bigger threat,' Hope states.

'Really? Why would Zariel bother with this place?'

'What do you mean, why? Isn't it obvious?' Korrilla comments. 'Owning the House of Hope is an advantage in itself. It is a mobile base with vaults, rejuvenation pool, portal room and a prison, it's a miniature, less conspicuous version of the flying fortress.'

'That does make sense, actually,' you think to yourself and nod.

'What about your plans to reshape this place? I haven't seen anything besides this room yet, but boudoir looks the exact same.' You let your hands fall from your face as your eyes dart towards the other part of the room, where the huge portraits of glorified Raphael are still occupying the space on otherwise empty walls.

'They turned out to be quite impossible,' Hope admits, a little bit annoyed. 'Sweet Raphael made sure no one else will be the master of the house. His magic sealed the portals in a way that absolutely no one can use them. And the spells also cannot be lifted, not by me at least.'

'Not to mention that the House stays afloat. The infernal engines are powered up and we can't control them,' Korrilla joins in. 'Not even enough to safely bring it down to the ground. It will crash when it runs out of the lifeforce fuel.'

You see Jaheira make a movement with her hand, trying to get your attention before she speaks up. All of the heads glance at the woman as she begins:
'Let me make something clear. You fought him inside these walls, right?'

'Yes.' You nod.

'And you vanquished him, did you not?'

You stare at her for a moment before affirming again.

'How in the Nine Hells is he still alive?'

You shake your head and open your mouth to respond, before the realization hits you. You tilt your face and slide your hand across your mouth.
'Gods... I don't know,' you whisper and quickly recover. 'Haarlep mentioned something about Mephistopheles pulling strings to bring him back,' you recall and look back at Jaheira.

'Who is Haarlep?' Halsin asks, getting your attention instead.

'Um, it's mine and Raphael's common... acquaintance,' you wave your hand dismissively.

'That's very odd, nevertheless. In my long career as a Harper I've never heard of anything like that before.'

'Really?' you ask and she nods. Your eyes jump back to Korrilla, who stays suspiciously quiet. 'You know something, don't you?'

'What makes you think so?' she taunts.

'Just a hunch.'

'Mhm,' is all she responds and drops the subject. You let the disappointed look in your eyes speak for itself before turning your attention to her sister.

'How was I transported from the prison?'

Halsin and Jaheira exchange glances, then inform you about the missing part of the story. How Halsin was worried about your prolonging journey, how he sent a letter to the tavern asking about you and the meeting and how the response never arrived, which led Halsin to contact Jaheira and together they ventured out to look for you. But despite their best efforts, they were unsuccessful with their search and when they found a local farmer who was willing to share some information, they found themselves snatched back to the Moonrise Towers and left with your bloodied, almost lifeless body. Raphael didn't offer any clarification and he disappeared just as fast as he showed up.

After their story, you ask to be pointed to a bathroom, which happens to be near the portal room. It is just as opulent as the rest of the mansion. You take your time and wash your face and floss your mouth, while admiring the masterwork of the golden mirror frame, depicting devils struggling in the never-ending Blood War. Then, you join the group and Hope reminds you of another one of your basic needs - food. With hunger now taking over most of attention of your mind, all of you are led to a kitchen to share a warm and delicious meal.

'You seem a little bit tense or angry maybe?' you try to strike a conversation with Jaheira. The half-elf looks at you askance before rotating on her chair to face you fully. You sit down next to her at a long, almost empty table.

'I will be open with you. I think what you did was foolish and I am disappointed with your decision.'

'Oh,' you breathe out weakly and turn your gaze to your almost empty bowl.

The woman inspects you for a moment and places a hand on your shoulder.
'But even the greatest warriors have their weaknesses. What you have done is already behind us and being mean about it will not change a thing about the past. Though, I should tell you right off the bat, I will be mean about it,' she chuckles and squeezes your arm. 'What was even your motivation?'

You brace yourself and look at her like a puppy facing a disappointed master.

'I see. I won't push any further,' she responds blankly. 'Well, as much as I dislike that you didn't let me or the others know about your plan before going to Cania, I do appreciate you sharing the details of the curse. I understand that the backlash is very complicated and not something you have expected. But I want you to know that this does not change my opinion about you,' she shares honestly and you look at her with immense gratitude.

'Thank you, Jaheira, you have no idea how much it means.'

'You looked like this is the main thing bothering you,' she admits. 'I was watching you when you were telling us about what happened since we last caught up and you could barely meet my eye,' she places her right elbow on the table and tilts her head a bit, inspecting you again. 'You are ashamed of it, aren't you?'

You look away from her, then trace the edge of the bowl with your finger and turn your attention back to the woman sitting next to you. On the other side of the kitchen, Korrilla, Hope and Halsin are engaged in a casual conversation about the settlement in the Moonrise Towers. It seems that Hope might be inclined to joining it. After all, she wanted to have some kind of a contribution to the community of refugees of the Blood War and there is quite a lot of tieflings appearing at Halsin's door.
'I am, yes. But it's more complicated than that. I am ashamed because I know how repulsed I should be by him, but I am not. I've been to this place before. I've seen my share of horrible things, but I still look past it, trying to see some humanity within a half-infernal creature and... Maybe I am not ashamed at all but just...' you trail off, feeling even more uncomfortable. Your lips twist downwards and your palms fall to your legs, shoulders giving up under the sudden weight in the joints.

'Afraid of being left alone with it?' she asks gently.

You nod once.
'That and also being a danger to the people I love. I am afraid of losing myself. I've only felt like this once before the curse. It was when we were facing the Netherbrain and when Orpheus was finally free and we heard that one of us has to become an ilithid.'

'I can imagine.'

'It was soul-shattering. I was scared out of my mind. I wanted to do everything I could to support Lae'Zel and her cause, because of everything we found out about the githyanki people and their queen's oppression. But I just couldn't force myself to transform.'

'Do you feel guilty?' Jaheira asks.

'Of course I do!' you say a bit louder and Hope glances your way. 'It should have been me. I should be the one to do it.'

'Why?' She leans back a bit, watching you with a keen eye. When you struggle to find an answer, her features soften. 'You can't possibly be mad at yourself for not wanting to lose your soul, that sounds ridiculous.'

'I just wish there was another way,' you rub your knuckles, looking down at your knees. 'But I will not make the same mistake twice, no matter how scary it may seem. I will not let any of you get hurt.'

'So you would rather be hurt yourself?' she inquires.

'Absolutely,' your determined gaze meets up with her cautious one.

'Ah, with your amount of self-sacrifice one could become a chosen of Illmater,' she chuckles and points her finger at you with a smile, before her face turns grave. 'Let me give you a piece of advice, girl. Do not make assumptions that you are going to be a burden to someone, allow the other party to make that decision themselves. In the times of the greatest crisis, only the true lifelong companions answer. Tomorrow, we are going to meet everyone again,' she reminds you and your brows relax. 'And it would be best if you sorted some of your feelings inside,' she points at your heart 'before that happens. All of the ones you fought alongside with are adults. Let adults make their own choices. If they turn your back towards you, allow them,' she makes a pause and takes a breath in. 'And if there will be no one beside you, it means that I had fallen.'

You look away from her face, feeling a sting of tears in your eyes. Your breath catches in your nostrils and Jaheira makes a loud 'aww' noise before pulling you in for a hug.

'There, there. I will still jab you occasionally, though.'

You smile above her shoulder, allowing a happy tear to fall across your cheek.
'Thank you so much, Jaheira.'