"You don't have outer planes here? How do your afterlives work? What do you know about Gods?

Cheliax uses devils because, well, most wizards are Evil. They are dangerous, but if you summon them you can control them, so they're only dangerous to your enemies."

"Well, no, we only have skyplanes. We haven't checked our afterlives, at all. Only thing that makes sense is that you just stop feeling things forever, like you're asleep and never wake up. We're really sure that Gods are just ideas people came up with and aren't real in any way.

Cheliax wizards are evil how? Wouldn't evil wizards use archons or whatever instead? What's stopping them, do archons not want to deal with evil people?"

"Yeah, archons are Good and will not work for Evil people at all, and Evil means... just about what you would expect? Selfishness, ambition, not caring about others, wanting power... Basically putting your life above the lives of others.

Good is working without pay, sacrificing yourself, doing things that you think will help people even when they don't want your help..."

"But back to more important topics. Gods are real, you just need to go to a temple and see the priest there create water to know that clerics exist, and their magic is different from the wizard one, in a way that I can't explain but a wizard or cleric could."

"Wait. What do you mean you haven't checked your afterlives? Can't you scry? Can't powerful wizards just plane shift to them?"

"Ambition and wanting power as evil sounds a bit off to me, but the rest sound just about right. Gods aren't real, we used to go to temples, but priests didn't make water, trust me.

We mean that it's impossible to check the afterlife because people are dead and don't talk about it. There is no scrying. And there are no wizards to plane shift! I'm not sure where you came from or how they did those things, but I assure you, cleric and wizard magic is the same because neither of them are real!"

"I've seen a priest create water. Granted, it could have been an illusion, but that would be a spell too.

Clerics and wizards are real, I've seen them! I might have become one if I had been smarter...

And the Gods are also real, otherwise how would you explain Commune and Miracle?

"Well, if priests could just create water, we'd start having fewer plumbers. Huge amounts of people have spent huge amount of time and energy to discover magic like that, and we can guarantee you that nothing remotely similar has happened in our world. I know of neither "commune" nor "miracle", beyond those done by charlatans doing what we definitely know to be impossible, so there is nothing that needs explaining."

"If your priests can't create water, they're probably just charlatans, on that we agree. Plenty of those. But... I wish I could show you a spell...

You could come to my world, but a Good person like you would probably be in danger immediately upon setting foot in Cheliax, to say nothing of a temple of Asmodeus.

On the other hand, I'll definitely need to get back home today, tell Sofia I'm fine.

Maybe you could come with me, Hell, even talk to Sofia to make sure she's choosing her job freely, and then we can get back to your plane world? I still want to know more about it, it seems so clean and beautiful, and you have incredible wealth and magic."

"Your world sounds very, very scary to me. I'm rather unwilling to risk that danger, but if you bring Sofia back, I'll know enough to try convincing someone willing to take you and everyone else from Cheliax or anywhere else awful. In any case, we'd be beyond happy to shelter you and Sofia, together with anyone else escaping Cheliax. I'm happy to volunteer this home to you, Sofia and any other potential refugees, just to get started."

"It's not that awful. Yes, we are ruled by the Hell-appointed Thrunes, but at least we have peace, and orphanages, and schools....

I think it would be too dangerous for you to accept other people, you never know who is an informant for the secret police, but I trust Sofia and... I'm willing to trust you. For now."

"We can get back to the palace where we met, I get Sofia and some things from home, you wait me in the palaxe and then open a door for all three to here?"

"We have peace, and loving families, and schools built on sprawling green acres. Don't resign yourself to living somewhere like that. I noticed that you're much less trusting than me, what with your talk of me being able to let you into my home without worrying for my life. I guess I'd start being less trusting, too. I'm not sure I can control that the door opens into here, unfortunately."

"So. Earlier I was able to open a door to the palace. If you keep it open for me I can probably get back with Sofia?"

"Well, let's try it?" Cynthia walks over to the door into her apartment, opening it and revealing that it somehow has turned into a door leading into the mysterious intermediate space where she met Sana. "I guess I hold the door open? And you know how to lead Sofia back to here?"

"Yes, I think I do".

Sana walks through the door that Cynthia is holding and immediately looks for a different one to open, hopefully to her world, ideally to her house.

This time it doesn't require any effort, and as she opens it she sees Sofia, waiting directly in front of it.

"Is something the matter? It's been a while, and you still haven't -"

Her train of thought is utterly derailed by what she can now see on the other side of the door. She stares, unbelieving at what's very clearly not her mistress's bedroom.

She speaks curtly, in Taldane "Come on this side, quickly. I don't want anyone to possibly notice what's going on."

She follows, without hesitation.

"Hey, Cynthia, is it OK for you to hold the door a couple minutes? I want to explain the situation a bit, and give her the choice to come or stay"

"Well, I was going to hold the door. So yes, I can honestly wait all day."

Wait. That wasn't Taldane. None of the conversations she's had with Cynthia were! She was too distracted to notice it before, but now that she's spoken to Sofia again, the difference is clear.

"Sofia, can you understand us?"

"Yes, why? Oh. Oh wow, this is so strange"

"Just the last to add on the pile, honestly. So... How are you feeling about a vacation?"

"A vacation? But what will you do without me?"

"I meant together..." - Sana smiles despite herself

"Oh..." she looks flustered - for a Chelish person - "Of course! Where are we going? What do you want to pack?"

"So... where is in fact the interesting question. This Good lady here is called Cynthia, and has offered to host us if we want to escape Cheliax. In her house." Sana points to the door "Which. Is in a different world. That looks like Axis to me but they don't have afterlives here, apparently, so it's probably not that."

She pauses for a second, and then continues.

"... and I think I'm going to take her up on her offer. At least for a while, until I understand if I like it better than Cheliax.

Or until Cynthia realizes that I'm Evil and she's trusting me too much."

"So. Do you want to come?"

"Yes. If you'll have me."

"You don't have to ask me, it's Cynthia that's hosting us."

She looks at the size of the house. Makes a guess to the rank of the foreigner.

"Will you host me, good Lady?"

"Gladly! I've heard so much about how hard your life was, and just want you to be able to feel safe and live comfortably. This is a house only really meant for one person, note, so I'd want to upgrade. But that comes later; for now, please make yourselves comfortable."