"That makes sense. I - you know that I love you, and won't stop loving you -"

"That's - I don't know if that's reassuring, exactly. Part of it is that we don't even - we just have Precentor Valentina telling us that she's probably evil. We don't know what that means in terms of actions. I - I don't know, I imagine you might stop loving me if I was literally Hitler, and my evil wizard version is probably not as bad as literally Hitler but, like -"

"I would probably tell you that I felt obliged to try to kill you, if you were literally Hitler. I don't actually know that I'd stop - loving the person I know, even if you had stopped much resembling them - we don't really know enough for a lot of this, I just don't want you to worry that if Lastwall decides they disapprove of you or if it turns out your evil wizard self is Hitler I'll change my mind about you."

"Oh. Yeah. I'm not worried about that. I love you and I trust you and - I'm not really worried about what people will think about me based on what my wizard self is like. I know you won't change what you think and - if Lastwall does they're being stupid but that's their right as Americans. Not that they are. I'm just… worried about what it actually does say about me, to me, until I know what she did and why?"

Iomedae nods. "Yeah. I think if it were me I'd be - a lot less sure that I'd like the result of - going through the world the way I feel like I ought to. And that'd be - really upsetting."

"Mhm. I just - feel like I'm doubting everything, like - should I keep trying to be a wizard myself? Or maybe I should, because - it seems like if I were tempted to do terrible things it would be when I'm scared - but maybe that means I shouldn't do things like learn magic where - there's more that I can do, in a short time, if I'm panicking - but that just feels like saying 'maybe I shouldn't be able to do any things'"

"When you were very, very scared yesterday you patiently pointed out to Jeres your rights under your agreement with him and then made some purchases that amount to a rounding error in your ownership of industry, like, all of it, and then came and gave me hugs. And I guess Sendinged the Lord Watcher but that was not actually at all evil to do."

"Yeah but if I was that scared and had phenomenal cosmic powers who knows what - no, never mind, I'd just wish for you to be back here. Or, like. Left the Dome and done that. Maybe there's an intermediate level of cosmic power where I do stupid evil things though."

Iomedae considers it. "Like, if you could get to me but only by murdering Jeres, but you were strong enough to do that?"

"Like that, yes, if he were being more obstinate about keeping me in my room and I couldn't get out by talking and I could get out by hurting him -"

"I can see how - if there were a lot of situations like that - it would mean that having more power let people be more evil. But I think in most situations, like, the best way to solve problems is not literal murder even if you have a gun...this is less true on Golarion but I think it's still true, when you have the resources we do. And magic also allows for - escaping Jeres -"

"That seems true to me but - maybe I should just stop obsessing over what it means that the other me is evil, when we don't actually know for sure whether she is. Otherwise I just keep imagining - things that are definitely not the right thing -"

"Yeah. We can - ask for updates, on what her deal is, and worry then. …and help her, if she needs help."

"She's a nine-hundred-year-old ninth-circle wizard. I can't imagine what help she might need that we can give."

"This is Marit," the voice says over a Sending the next day. They considered alternatives. Marit thinks that hypothetical lich Alfirin who considers herself to have declared war on Iomedae's church yesterday is more likely to kill him than to kill a random paladin, but also much more likely to be possible for him to productively talk to than a random paladin. And - they don't know why, yet, so much is at stake here for Asmodeus, but Marit is not likely to go on to die in some fight where there's more at stake. "I'm in Vigil trying to fix what they did to their history books. I'd like to talk, if you would."

Well. She's lost enough things she cares about, in this war, and she already knew her secrecy was one of them. Lastwall wouldn't use this for an assassination. She will probably just get lectured again, because that's what old friends do, apparently, but maybe she'll be proven wrong about that. It can't really hurt more than everything else does. "Unless you say otherwise, I'll be there in two hours. I'll speak with Lastwall's leadership after, if they want to."

Oh. Possibly this is going to be less complicated than he expected. Probably a lich wouldn't have said that. He does not waste another Sending saying that he'll see her then. (He does tell Lastwall's leadership to expect this.)

She's there in two hours. She tells the guards she's expected and they take her to the library.

Marit has a holy book and is annotating. His face isn't very expressive anymore but he turns to see her. "Thank you for coming. I assumed you'd want me to come to you, really. There's a private room across the hall."

Sure, they can go across the hall, though she doesn't really expect privacy, per se, in this conversation. "Why would I make you come to me? You can teleport more cheaply but I have business here anyways. What did you want?"

"- if you asked Iomedae to leave you out of the books she would have. I assume that's - why she let you remove yourself." The more he's seen the more sure he is that that's what she did. "I - don't like having this nonsense in print, and everyone in Vigil knows it's missing something now that Iomedae and Arazni had a big public argument about it, but - if there are particular lower-cost elements - or if this is very important to you still -"

"That would be a favor I don't particularly consider you to owe me. And wouldn't accomplish anything actually important anymore... They did it to themselves, actually, I just - helped."

"I see. I'm not persuaded that I don't owe you any favors - Lastwall thinks you've been helping them with the war - but if you don't particularly want to spend it here then I'll go ahead and try to save them from themselves."

"Was that all? Check if I'm willing to talk, offer to do me a favor and leave parts of my life out of the books?"

"Well I was going to try to delicately approach the question of whether there's any possible way Lastwall could productively set up talks with you but then you just said you'll talk to them while you're here, so I have of course taken full credit for my astounding diplomatic skill in arranging that. I - don't really know where to start, with anything else? Are you all right?"