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Max heads home, writes up everything he remembers from the trip to the moon with Cam and Adana, and then when his girlfriend gets home, he presents it to her happily.
"Also," he adds, once she's been updated. "The portal hub in Pantheon got a ton of renovations, I think we're calling it the Belfry now. It's very cute."
castmyown
ask_nicely
"I don't think you actually understand. Where I come from, it is a kill on sight offense to summon an unbound demon, because that is the fastest way to put them back. Because demons are worse than angels. Once there was a rogue angel and it was a smart and strategicly sound decision to nuke him, despite the fallout in the surrounding area. It didn't work. It took months to track down the person that summoned him in a hospital somewhere, because he had another face, was incapable of moving or speaking or asking anyone to kill him and was reduced to mentally being a vegetable, until at last they ran a DNA test and figured out who he was. That only happened because the angel was in a rush, if he'd been more careful there would have been no trace to figure out the man was the angel's summoner and he would have kept running rampant. And do you know what he was doing? Turning people into furniture. Literal furniture, that could think and breathe. But they couldn't move, or speak, or even scream. He force-fed them so they wouldn't die, until the area was hit with the aforementioned nuke, and even then someone had to stop by and mercy kill anyone left. That is what I am capable of, I am obscenely scary."
ask_nicely
"I'm pretty terrible at lying, I'm not going to pretend I'm not actually terrifying. I'm not threatening you, I'm not planning to do anything in particular, actually, I still want a solution where you're not dead or in a fate worse than death. I'm saying, in most cases, I pretty capable of stopping even scary people from genocide."
ask_nicely
"Okay. That, right there? Is racism. You've never sat down and spoken to her, once, you've put her on the defensive by trying to kill her, kidnapping her, and torturing her. You have no idea what she's like. She hasn't killed you, even though it would be tremendously convenient and not even permanent, she hasn't tortured you in return, hell, we haven't even gone looking for any family of yours to see if they share your values. She is not whatever you think sphinxes are like."
ask_nicely
"Except. I only recently got here. The 'let's not kill the dragon, even knowing where he lives' idea? Was decided before they found me or my boyfriend. She didn't even know I existed."
"And you have other friends who can, for example, resurrect the dead. It is clear she values the good opinion of - whatever organization operates here."
ask_nicely
"The 'peryton assassin,' as you so eloquently called him, is another version of me. Except male, and a peryton instead of an angel. Actually I'm the odd one out, they didn't think to start looking for female versions of us until they found me, the rest are all male. Phix is an alternate of my boyfriend, as a woman. My boyfriend is also the odd one out, we seem to come from the a place where everyone's gender swapped."
ask_nicely
"Yes they will," she sighs. "I know, because half of their heads work almost exactly like mine. Do you want me to psychoanalyze Max for you? I can, I'm pretty sure I've figured out why he's murderous."
ask_nicely
"Nope! Actually he'd be insulted at that statement, he's with her because he wants to be, not because he 'belongs' to anyone."
ask_nicely
"Okay. Just - let's go on a mental trip, for a little while. Forget all of the - sphinx and dragon talk. I am going to tell you a story, from their perspective."
ask_nicely
"Once upon a time, a boy is in high school, and meets a girl. He thinks she's pretty great. They start dating, because she continues to be pretty great. Then, they get attacked. The boy knows some magic, so he manages to thwart it. They are both very happy about this, because neither of them particularly want to die. He teaches her magic, because not only does she want to know it, but she is now in personal danger, and he doesn't want his girlfriend to die. Then, they get attacked again, and thwart that time, too, except it attacked through the boy's sister. For a little while, it seemed like his sister was either going to be a person-puppet forever or dead. But after that, things were kind of quiet - they get back to their plans and hopes and dreams and being teenagers and whatnot.
"Then, they are attacked again, except this time, his girlfriend is kidnapped. Out of his lap. There is nothing he can do to stop this from happening. He is scared, and worried, and angry, and he knows whoever responsible was trying to kill her. So he goes to save her. Turns out, she was being tortured for information she doesn't even have. He saves her, but he can't manage it without an awful lot of death. But they started it, and they're torturing an innocent teenager, and it's looking like it's either them or his girlfriend, and that's really not much of a choice, is it? So, they go back to their lives, wary and worried about what will happen next, except -" She takes a deep breath.
"Magic happens. Deus ex machina, if you will. Extremely powerful, older versions of themselves show up and say, 'Oh, hello, you are us, we know you will act responsible with magic. We'll let you have some of ours if you let us have some of yours.' And lo, the concept of sharing was invented. Now, the boy and his girlfriend are still worried about being attacked, so they ask their other selves about finding whoever's responsible. Because the other selves are awesome, they do. They know where the person responsible lives. But. They do not want to actually murder anyone in cold blood. It's all been self defense.
"'Maybe,' they think, 'Now that we have killed a bunch of people, the person will leave us alone.' Because, of course, that was all they wanted. To not die. So they leave the person alone, but they keep an eye on him, just in case."
She sighs. "So! Then, of course, they're attacked again. Except this time, with the help of their other-selves, they win, and they have the person at their mercy. The boy is sick of worrying and being scared and wants more than anything for his girlfriend to be safe. And, this person does not show any sign of stopping, any time soon. He does not want to kill him because he is angry, he wants to kill him because that seems to be the only way this will stop."
Adana looks at the dragon. "That's why he wants to kill you. Because he wants you to stop trying to kill his girlfriend."
"Then, they are attacked again, except this time, his girlfriend is kidnapped. Out of his lap. There is nothing he can do to stop this from happening. He is scared, and worried, and angry, and he knows whoever responsible was trying to kill her. So he goes to save her. Turns out, she was being tortured for information she doesn't even have. He saves her, but he can't manage it without an awful lot of death. But they started it, and they're torturing an innocent teenager, and it's looking like it's either them or his girlfriend, and that's really not much of a choice, is it? So, they go back to their lives, wary and worried about what will happen next, except -" She takes a deep breath.
"Magic happens. Deus ex machina, if you will. Extremely powerful, older versions of themselves show up and say, 'Oh, hello, you are us, we know you will act responsible with magic. We'll let you have some of ours if you let us have some of yours.' And lo, the concept of sharing was invented. Now, the boy and his girlfriend are still worried about being attacked, so they ask their other selves about finding whoever's responsible. Because the other selves are awesome, they do. They know where the person responsible lives. But. They do not want to actually murder anyone in cold blood. It's all been self defense.
"'Maybe,' they think, 'Now that we have killed a bunch of people, the person will leave us alone.' Because, of course, that was all they wanted. To not die. So they leave the person alone, but they keep an eye on him, just in case."
She sighs. "So! Then, of course, they're attacked again. Except this time, with the help of their other-selves, they win, and they have the person at their mercy. The boy is sick of worrying and being scared and wants more than anything for his girlfriend to be safe. And, this person does not show any sign of stopping, any time soon. He does not want to kill him because he is angry, he wants to kill him because that seems to be the only way this will stop."
Adana looks at the dragon. "That's why he wants to kill you. Because he wants you to stop trying to kill his girlfriend."
ask_nicely
"You, technically, could. And then we would resurrect her. But that fact doesn't mean dying isn't traumatizing. Or, for that matter, torture, which you definitely did."