Nayoki freezes. Stares at her for a long moment. 

:...You are not lying: she says finally, wonderingly. :But - it ought not be possible - it was a hypothesis Leareth considered, he knew of no way that time travel could be done in our world, even with magic...: 

She doesn't seem to know where to go with this; she keeps looking at Azabel, uncertain. And, again, with not-quite-fully-concealed terror. 

:Can you let me out now:

:...If I do take off the compulsions, would you be willing to explain to me - or to Leareth directly, if he is willing - exactly what is going on here?: 

:I want a guarantee of my safety and my freedom after the explanation:

:I understand. I - will have to ask Leareth, but it will not take long: 

Nayoki rises, then stops at the door and gives Azabel one last piercing look. :If Leareth is to speak with you, he will want an agreement from you that you do not intend to kill him. Do you?: 

:Has he considered not kidnapping people if he doesn't want them to have killing him as a possibility in mind. Just a thought:

Nayoki's lips actually twitch slightly.

:My impression is that not kidnapping any people did not actually reduce the rate of assassinations, historically, but perhaps you can ask him. I will be back very shortly. There is food and water in the cupboard, if you want it: 

And she ducks out. 

Aza gets a cup of water - realizes she can't clean it by magic right now - puts it back. She is trying not to spiral into despair because it would be SO embarrassing to start crying while being interrogated by her boyfriend's two thousand year old evil future self. She is not sure where she will go after this. She can probably gate to Urtho's remaining Tower if she gets close enough, which Haven might be, but once there she doesn't have a plan at all - she could go to White Winds, which while it supplies mages to the war is not itself a party to it, and go from there? - Ma'ar was always jumpy and defensive but he didn't kidnap innocent people or even seem like that was appealing to him -

More than five minutes later, but less than ten, there's a knock on the door again, and Nayoki's mindvoice. :I am here to remove the compulsions - may I come in?: 

:Yes:

Nayoki comes in. She looks...less scared, maybe? But more stressed in some other, hard-to-describe way. 

She doesn't say anything, just makes eye contact and then reaches in with a delicate tendril of mage-energy and neatly snips the compulsions.

Then she steps aside and gestures at the open door. :You are, of course, welcome to Gate out; if you are indeed an Adept, Haven ought be within your range. However, Leareth is interested in hearing your side of things, if you are willing, and is waiting. He would meet you unarmed, has given me his word that he will not harm you nor make use of mind-controlling magic, and will let you depart in peace afterward:

She looks worried, but mostly very tired. 

This is much more Aza's speed. She gives herself a little mental shake to make sure all the compulsions are fully out of the way and her clockwork ticks as it should, and she nods and follows Nayoki.

Nayoki leads her in silence down a windowless stone hallway.

Eventually they stop at a door, and she opens it. 

A man dressed in black, dark-haired and dark-eyed, rises from his chair. :Azabel?: 

He is almost as thoroughly shielded as Nayoki, but unlike her, he doesn't have native shields against Mindhealing Sight. 

Yeah, she's gonna look. Just - to have a picture of what happened to her friend. :That's me:

It's certainly the strangest mind she's ever seen! For one, it...seems almost to be made of a conglomerate of different metals, different styles of gear, but taken apart and reassembled into an elegant, ruthlessly efficient machine. Maybe that's what it looks like, when someone takes over another person's body and makes it their own. 

For anyone except her, it would be difficult to interpret at all, from a single glance; it's as though nearly all of his essential load-bearing driveshafts are tucked away, buried and protected beneath layer upon layer of what must be intensely honed combat reflexes.

But Azabel has seen Ma'ar's mind, in detail, and the similarities are recognizable. Enough to guess at what must be hidden underneath that impassible surface. 

The self-stabilizing internal gyroscope isn't visible, but it must still be present, somewhere in those guarded depths; the signs of it are everywhere, if anything it's far more extreme than with Ma'ar. Leareth's mind is one with no attachment-points, carefully optimized to hold steady by himself, without friends or allies, century after century. 

...And, even without any emotional leakage, Azabel can tell that Leareth is scared, just from the patterns and reflexes currently active in his mind. Scared, and confused, and curious, trying-to-understand, searching for answers to an impossible puzzle... 

He looks into her eyes, his expression utterly neutral.

:I am told that you knew Urtho. Did you -: A pause. :Did the two of us ever meet: 

:I think... that you don't know me:

:...I see. Why do you think that?: 

:I read some of Urtho's journals the Valdemarans have. They were - about - a past I wasn't in. I don't know why:

Leareth goes even more still. 

:- You are saying that you did know Urtho, and - the implication is that you knew Ma'ar, but that I, specifically, do not know you, and our respective pasts contain incompatible events...: 

His eyes lock onto her. :There is more than one world. More than one - version of this world - and yours is somehow much earlier...: His eyelids flicker slightly. :That makes far more sense than time-travel. What, exactly, is different in your Velgarth?: 

:Just me, I think. And the date. I guess it could be another world but that makes much less sense of the fact that nobody's come looking for me yet:

:- Well, how long have you been here? And what were the details of your magical accident? If it is another world, it...seems quite possible that time passes in parallel, in both worlds, and that replicating a low-probability accident might take a great deal of research: 

:A few days. I was in Urtho's office waiting for him and there was nowhere to sit and I moved an artifact off a chair and it did this. It didn't come along:

Leareth nods. The curiosity-seeking pathways along the surface of his mind are especially bright and active, but after a moment he tucks them away. 

:I doubt I can replicate it merely from that description, to find you a way home - certainly not in weeks rather than years, and I am rather busy with other matters. I...: 

And he hesitates. 

:- Do you have truth magic?: he asks finally. :There are some things I would say to you, and it would be convenient if you could verify my honesty: 

:Yes, I do: