Alptraum kept watch this time. The vermites could be heard milling about outside, but apparently they've learned not to intrude on the vampire bat. Or else the occasional snort from Phlagaea as she keeps snapping awake spooks them too much. Given that the green priestess is a Yodhgorphat, and her head is resting on Alptraum's chest, it's probably for the best that the snorts are dry ones.

Alptraum moves slightly and yawns. He reaches towards his clothing pile and fishes out the dagger. "I should check in with you and fill you in on my little chat with ol' mister evil," he mumbles, then looks down at the green bat.

"Hmm, wha?" Phlagaea mutters. "I'm not gonna call it ol' mister evil… "

"No, no," Alptraum says, then shakes his head. "I'm talking about the evil dragon bound in the dagger. I need to speak with the holding spell in the realm of the bound immortals. I could try to take you along if you want to go. You could meet a dragon."

Phlagaea wakes up a bit more at this, her ears fluttering against Alptraum's nose. "Is it safe?" she asks, curious. "Or is it like the dream realms of the Seven Sisters?"

Alptraum nips one of her ears. "Safe enough," he notes, resting one of his arms around her. "Nothing bad has happened to me there yet. I'd advise staying away from the dark skinned, pointed eared, humans, though. They make Yodhblakat look tame and kind."

"Ummmm, I'll just stay next to you then," Phlagaea says, and takes a quick sonic image of the hut. "We'll wake up… or whatever… if something disturbs our bodies, right?"

"Yes. That we will. Worried something might try to mess with us?" Alptraum inquires. "All seems quiet outside. I'm sure Mave is probably in her tent cradling those eyes or licking them, or something even more gross."

"I hope Lilith is alright," Phlagaea says, then looks at Alptraum, nose-to-nose, and asks, "So, what do I have to do?"

"Hmm. You, nothing. I think it's all up to me. Just hold onto me," Alptraum says, then kisses her nose tip. He then brings up the dagger in one hand, and puts his other hand near it. "As for Lilith, she's frighteningly resourceful. I'm sure she's fine. I could try to bring her in too later if you want to be sure. Not sure how well that will work, though."

"Bad enough I have to share you with a dragon," Phlagaea notes, grinning girlishly.

"And Roogi, should she ever come back and try to force herself again," Alptraum notes and shakes his head. "Which I doubt. Anyway! I'll be passing out now, so don't be alarmed… "

"Okay, I'll… uh, just wait I guess… " Phlagaea says, and lays her head back on Alptraum's chest.

Alptraum smiles at the bat, then pricks his fingertip on the tip of the dagger. He focuses his mind on Phlagaea and waits for the disturbed feeling that occurred last time he did this…

A long, slow fall down a dark tunnel, with no sounds at all, and the feeling of velvet and smoke…

The lights in the huge room are flickering a bit – at least, the ones that are still lit. The uncountable desks are empty now, with the only activity coming from the central stepped platform. Creatures are still working there, and a glint of gold and blue reflects back in the inconstant light.

Claws dig into Alptraum's upper arm where Phlagaea grips it hard.

"Ow!" Alptraum hisses quietly and hugs Phlagaea. "Relax, it's safe in here. This is their processing center of some sort. Between you and me, I think they just play some sort of strange chair and paper moving game."

"It seems a bit… well, not what I expected," Phlagaea admits. A moment later, she asks, "Can I have some clothes?"

"Ah, hm. But, I like you like this," Alptraum says teasingly…

Phlagaea pinches the other Eeee. "You're naked too, you know. Or is there something between you and the dragon I should know about, hmm?"

"Heh. Talking to her is like arguing with a stubborn mother," Alptraum notes, then closes his eyes and furrows his brow. He visualizes basic robes for both Eee, hoping he can resolve the clothing issue himself. He's sure he won't hear the end of it if Kaira notices.

There's a sense of weight, and the light robes are there, although they are hardly the height of fashion. Phlagaea doesn't seem to care at the moment, however.

Alptraum pulls the robe. "This is why I'm not a clothing designer," he notes, grinning. "Come on, let's go have a chat with the scaled one," he then says and heads towards the platform.

The creatures serving at the platform are different from the ones Alptraum recalls. These are less humanoid, and might even be considered 'monsters' by their appearance. One that glares at the pair of Eeees with a ruby eye looks to be made of stone and dirt, with scraggly green and brown moss for hair. Others look even worse, some with faces that seem more suited for the dark bottom of the ocean.

"Hello? Kaira?" Alptraum calls out. He watches the strange creatures carefully. He then tries to smile at them and note, "We're here to see the boss."

The secretary monster just grunts, and a scaled head swings around to look down at the visitors, taking a few moments to actually focus on them. Kaira isn't even using her cuter anthropomorphic form now, and looks like she hasn't taken a break for some time. "Oh… Alptraum? Is something wrong? And what… oh, your girlfriend, right? It is female, isn't it?" the dragon asks, still not looking quite focused yet.

"This is Phlagaea. Yes, she's my girlfriend and yes she's female. I don't find males attractive, you know," Alptraum replies and makes sure Phlagaea remains close. His brow furrows in concern and he says, "And I hate to tell you this, but you look awful. Are things going that badly?"

"What makes you think things are going badly?" Kaira asks, looking suddenly suspicious. Phlagaea leans in close to Alptraum and whispers, "Are you sure she is the god of this realm?"

"Two reasons. One, you look like death warmed over. Two, Vorg contacted me," Alptraum says flatly. "I had a long talk with him."

A few of the monsters pause in their tasks of mauling the button-covered boards in front of them and look at Alptraum. Then, abruptly, the room is gone! In its place is a little garden, floating through a featureless sky like some miniature sky island. "Did he attack you?" Kaira demands, sitting in the middle of it all. "And did you have to say that out loud in front of the help?"

"No, he didn't attack me," Alptraum replies calmly and sits down. He motions Phlagaea to do the same. "You asked me why I suspected something was wrong. You honestly didn't look coherent enough to have understood me if I tried to be subtle about it. Plus, I'm not sure they even understood me."

"I can only hope none of them understand all of what you said," the dragon notes. "But I'm sure they all recognized 'Vorg'. But he's locked away, so… how did he talk to you, exactly?"

"He brought me into a dreamlike realm, thanks to a high magical surge in the area coupled with the fact you were distracted and strained," Alptraum replies.

"I'm not strained," Kaira insists. "That's just a vicious rumor meant to undermine reconstruction efforts. Bloody stuck up elves… " she rants, her voice becoming just a long grumble at the end.

"Is she always this grouchy?" Phlagaea whispers to Alptraum.

Alptraum nods to Phlagaea, "Most of the time, yes. She needs more fiber in her diet, or something."

Alptraum looks back to Kaira. "Now, if that were true, he wouldn't have been able to contact me," Alptraum points out, then shrugs. "What he said may be of more interest to you, though. It was all about you and me. And your intentions towards me. I'm not saying I believed anything he said, mind you. But it was interesting non-the-less. He said you seek to destroy me as you destroyed him. And that getting me to use the dagger as I have allowed you access to my soul. Particularly, getting me to tap some of his powers instead of using my own."

"What a load," Kaira says, waving a claw dismissively. "I'm not anywhere near deciding if you need to be destroyed or not yet."

"Wait… what?" Phlagaea asks, if a bit quietly.

"So, you are trying to pry into my soul and find that out, then," Alptraum notes calmly and seemingly unconcerned.

"I'm trying to determine what you are, Alptraum," Kaira replies. "Something I imagine you'd be interesting in yourself. So of course I've been prying and spying as much as I can, that's only common sense."

Alptraum pats Phlagaea's leg in an attempt to comfort her. "Nothing to worry about yet," he whispers in reassurance.

"You could have told me," Alptraum says.

Kaira actually blinks a bit in surprise. "That would have made you self conscious I think," she finally says. "Besides, I assumed you'd expect me to do it in the first place."

"I was mistaken," Phlagaea whispers. "She's exactly like I'd expect a god to be."

"To some extent, I did," Alptraum notes with a shrug. "If I were that worried, I wouldn't be here now. I certainly wouldn't have brought Phlagaea in, in any event. I would have buried the knife and left you. But, I figured you would want to know I've been contacted and exactly what I was told. All this does is disappoint me a small bit, I did think we were allies and trusted each other."

"Allies don't trust each other," Kaira says. "What gave you that idea? In any case, the experiment had to be made. I just underestimated the impact using those powers would have in here. It won't happen again," she says, trying to sound reassuring.

"There has to be some level of trust, or I don't see how I can be of any further help to you," Alptraum remarks. "And yes, allies do have to have some level of trust between them, or they cannot act effectively on information passed between the groups. It's a waste of effort and energy to have to question everything." He then points a finger at Kaira and says, "You should be thankful I do have some level of trust with you. It's why I came here and told you all this. I'm not blind or completely stupid; I know Vorg was attempting to form a rift, as that is distinctly to his advantage."

"Here you see typical dragon logic," Alptraum whispers to Phlagaea. "In other words, the dragon is always right."

"Forgive me, Alptraum," Kaira says, dipping her head. "I'm not very good at making friends, being a horrible spell of destruction and all. But I certainly can't hope to fulfill my mission without staying in your good graces. I can't make you do anything you aren't willing to do."

Alptraum raises his hand. "I'm not mad, and there is nothing serious to forgive yet. All I'm asking is to have a little faith in me. If we sit around questioning each other, all we're doing is helping him. You told me Vorg is incredibly old and incredibly evil. He could just as easily try to manipulate you. Consider this; while tapping into his powers … what if he made it seem like I was doing it? Could it then be possible you mis-evaluate me? Would that not be how he might try to do things?"

"Before now, I hadn't considered it possible for him to even be aware that anything was happening," Kaira notes, laying down on the ground now. "Until I can be certain of his containment, we cannot make any more attempts to use magic involving the dagger. Besides… I don't know when the staging areas will be repaired and ready for another attempt. There's a minor civil war going on at the moment."

"How long will it take for the chaos to be quelled? And, is there anything we can do to help?" Alptraum asks.

"Just don't talk to any elves," the dragon says, with a sigh. "All of my 'allies' turned on each other after the shake up, when communications broke down between the various Echoes. Allies can work towards a common goal, but if they really trusted each other they wouldn't be allies, they'd be friends. Friends are the ones that stay with you even when the walls are falling down."

"I certainly know about that," Alptraum mutters to himself and glances towards Phlagaea, thinking briefly back to Babel and his rescue of her. "Well, barring anything horrible, I'm still here, if it helps," Alptraum offers. "Some battles are worth fighting, even ones that seem hopeless."

"Nothing is hopeless if you have enough patience," Kaira recites, holding up a single talon. "And… uh, you have someplace to bury all the bodies. You can probably ignore that part though."

"It's more sanitary to burn them," Phlagaea says, nodding.

"And you are immortal and cannot be destroyed," Alptraum points out. He then looks between the two and says, "Okay, I'm not sure you two should ever be alone together."

"Why, I'm getting to like her," Kaira notes.

"Because you two together would spell trouble for me," Alptraum notes. "The last thing I need is you two swapping ideas of how to keep me in line."

"I don't try to keep you in line," Phlagaea says. "Or is that what you think I'm doing when we… summon vermites?" she asks, eyes narrowing.

"No, no," Alptraum says and sighs. "Nothing of the sort with regards to that. I just don't want you picking up her bad habits," he adds and points at Kaira.

"What bad habits?" Kaira asks, looking innocent – if a bit grungy. "I think I've been very hospitable. Or are you talking about the backrubs?"

"I'm talking about not filling me in on possible outcomes, like the room exploding. You have a bad habit of leaving out important information," Alptraum points out.

"I didn't know there'd be an explosion," Kaira insists. "And I already apologized for that. You have to admit it was pretty impressive though!"

"You can say that because it wasn't your butt on the line for getting blown up," Alptraum grumbles.

"See what I have to put up with?" Alptraum whispers to Phlagaea.

"I missed the show," Phlagaea says, frowning. "I was stuck in my room when it happened. I bet it really was impressive… "

Alptraum rubs his temples. "If you call a mutating bat to plant woman shooting fire out of her mouth and disintegrating into powder impressive," he mutters.

"Oh yeah, this huge fiery fountain of light and power bursting up from the base of the tower," Kaira says, spreading her hands. "Very… masculine, really. Might have been some aspect of Alptraum that caused it, even. Is he like that in bed?"

Alptraum rubs his temples harder. "Please don't answer that," he mutters under his breath.

"I don't kiss and tell," Phlagaea says.

"Hmmm, I'll have to find out on my own sometime then," Kaira mutters, rubbing her chin. "After I get all this mess cleaned up."

Alptraum hugs Phlagaea for that, then lets out a small 'eek' at Kaira's comment.

Alptraum coughs and says, "Speaking of the mess, can we help out in any way at all?" he asks.

"Heh, you're soooo easy to tease, Alptraum," the dragon says, chuckling.

"Everyone here needs Alptraum to get them out, right?" Phlagaea asks. "So… if he told them to stop fighting and stuff, they'd listen wouldn't they?"

"That might be something to consider, if I can get the communication links back up," Kaira notes.

"That's completely logical, and sadly highly unlikely. The egos of the groups involved are rather … " Alptraum starts to say, then blinks at Kaira actually considering it. "What will re-establishing the links take?"

"I've already got the goblins and trolls working on it," Kaira says, then gets up and shrinks down to her humanoid form, although her robes are more… plaid.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one without any fashion sense," Alptraum notes with a grin.

"Here, you'll need these," the dragon says, holding out some metal sticks that look like miniature oars, except that the blades are bent out at right angles. "We can talk about what to say while we play miniature golf. I've even got a windmill hole… "

Alptraum peers at the sticks. He takes them, then offers one to Phlagaea. He shrugs to the other Eee while noting, "She talks a lot about these strange games. May as well play while we're here. When in the kingdom of weird, may as well be weird with them… "

"You'll love it," Kaira promises, then grins. "Trust me."

"You know, a dragon saying trust me and grinning like that inspires the direct opposite," Alptraum notes with a grin. Still, he puts an arm around each of the ladies and says, "Come on, let's all have a fun night playing this 'golf' game. I think all of us could use the fun. So, the one with the highest score wins, right?"