AndrewRogue: ~Is it safe for Hunter to take it?~

SirAlexTheFirst: ~No!~

SirAlexTheFirst: <Run. Hang on to the sword with all of your might and run.>

AndrewRogue: ~Going!~

AndrewRogue: ~Hells, I can't move.~

SirAlexTheFirst: <Break out of it.>

AndrewRogue: ~How?~

AndrewRogue: (Damnit Alex, you're making me want to take Pyschic Warrior levels again ^_~)

SirAlexTheFirst: <Believe in yourself and your superiority to this curse. You are my chosen. You have the sword. They cannot hold you.>

AndrewRogue: ~You're right. I have chosen this way. This is what I will do. I will NOT BE STOPPED!~

SirAlexTheFirst: <Then, do not be stopped.>

SirAlexTheFirst: Once you have grasped the sword again, with purpose this time, the world seems to dim around you. Voices fade into dull buzzes, the room around you is blurry and unimportant. A quiet voice whispers to you, "Do you want to wield this sword? This sword with the history of a world, with the legacy of light?"

AndrewRogue: *for the first time in her life, Aria sounds confident, sure* "I have made my decision. I will not falter. If it must be done, I will weild this and defend the light."

SirAlexTheFirst: The whisper won't go away. "Are you defending the light? Who do you serve?"

AndrewRogue: "Who do I serve?"

AndrewRogue: "I will serve Amaryllis and its people. That is all I can do. If you indeed wish me to defend the light Patron, then tell me who you are! You ressurected me and gave me the name Lanathan! Am I doing your bidding, or am I working for the good of Amaryllis!"

SirAlexTheFirst: The whisper... whispers, very softly. "Child, I am not your patron...."

AndrewRogue: "Who are you then?"

AndrewRogue: *quietly, a little dazed*

SirAlexTheFirst: "I am what you hold."

SirAlexTheFirst: Now the other voice comes back to you, piercing the fog. <Aria! Don't listen to it! The sword has a will of its own, and it will try to take advantage of your fury, your ecstasy! Remember who you serve!>

SirAlexTheFirst: And the whisper: "What do you serve?"

AndrewRogue: ~Who are you?~ *to Patron*

SirAlexTheFirst: <I am the one trying to bring justice to the world. I will guide you in leading a new era, a breakthrough, a movement from the stolidness and the growing stagnation and to a new dawn, where we will lead the world to victory and shepherd them on the path that is best for them.>

AndrewRogue: ~We will what?~

SirAlexTheFirst: <You heard me. We will change the world. We will bring the dreams to life, and all will be fulfilled. The long wait will be over, and this world will finally be what it was intended to be - a paradise.>

AndrewRogue: ~And are we to do this for the people, or against their will?~

SirAlexTheFirst: <For them. They will will it.>

AndrewRogue: ~Then this is for the people's wishes? We do not do this for ourselves? We do not do this despite their wishes? I will NOT be Verity!~

SirAlexTheFirst: <We do this for the world, for its purpose, and for those who have fallen. The people's wishes are immaterial. Whether you or I gain from it is also immaterial.>

AndrewRogue: ~And why are the people's wishes immaterial? They are the ones of this world, they are the ones that matter!~

SirAlexTheFirst: <They are parts of the world. Fragments of a dream. You are no more than one yourself, even though you are the one I have selected to carry out my destiny. The world matters. History matters. We do not serve the mere whims of the people, for they cannot even imagine what we will bring them to.>

AndrewRogue: ~I cannot believe that the it is the world, the history that matters. It is the people.~

SirAlexTheFirst: <There are no people. Realize this.>

AndrewRogue: ~How am I to realize this? How am I to acknowledge this? Do I cast aside those around me? Do I deny the deaths of my companions? My emotions for all around me?~

SirAlexTheFirst: <YES!>

AndrewRogue: ~I CANNOT! I'm sorry, but if you must, take back your gift, return me to where I was! THIS IS WHAT I CANNOT DO!~

SirAlexTheFirst: <You must! I command you! Lanathan! Serve me and put your temper down!>

whisper "What do you serve?"

AndrewRogue: (Can Aria respond to outside mental calls at this point?)

SirAlexTheFirst: From what, Hunter?

SirAlexTheFirst: No

AndrewRogue: ~I cannot! I will not! If this is the end to which I serve, take back your name and take back my life! You ask of me something I cannot do!~ "Erryx, I serve Amaryllis! I serve the people! I work to bring them happiness!"

SirAlexTheFirst: Like a snapped twig, the Voice is gone. The whisper remains for a brief second. "I am not named Erryx, child."

AndrewRogue: "Who are you?"

SirAlexTheFirst: "I am named Excalibur."

Then the world fades back into being. You are conscious of being in great pain. You don't have to care if you don't want to.

AndrewRogue: *she can just ignore the pain?*

SirAlexTheFirst: Yeah. Spell's almost over anyways