Recover your senses after the battle

Black snakes coiled all around you with burning scales, scorching your arms and legs through your surcoat. The heat was unbearable, but the darkness was worse. You felt yourself falling further into an abyss, losing your sense of self. A hand reached out in the darkness. It was tremendous. Its grasp was inevitable. Its fingers stretched not just over you, but over the whole world. You saw countless other figures falling all around you, thrashing, making motions as though they were screaming, but without making a sound.

You then felt the most terrible feeling of all: surrender. You felt yourself silently committing to serve the giant, unknowable figure, if only it would spare you from the fate that was about to befall all of the others.

You suddenly bolted awake in a cold sweat, as a voice dragged you out of the terrible nightmare. The burns were, unfortunately, real. The darkness and the sense of dread, however, dissipated. You'd been brought back above-ground. A healer of the church was working on your wounds while your saintess knelt nearby you.{if Helmid = True}

"Sir Lavender... I'm so glad you've awakened and that you will soon be back in good health. There is... much to speak of," your paladin greeted you, squeezing your hand and offering a somewhat strained smile.{endif}{if Amulette = True}

"Finally, your face flickers back to some facsimile of familiarity!" Amulette cackled, perhaps trying to be in high spirits to offset the despair she'd seen you experiencing in your nightmares. "Aaah, but all is not as you are aware. There is much to mull over..."{endif}{if Rosary = True}

The sobbing sister Rosary grabbed you against her soft body in a bear-hug, pulling you tighter than was probably appropriate for a healer dealing with an injured person. Her eyes were wet with tears. "Sir Lavender! I thought you were dead! Oh, by the grace of Geod, you've returned to us! After that dreadful demon and her... her lies... I was so worried!"

You understood the dreadful demon part, but the lies weren't familiar to you. You asked her to elaborate.

"Oh... well... It's all nonsense, but she left us with a cruel deception. I'll tell you what she said, but you should put no stock in it." Rosary wrung her hands as she continued.{endif}{if Belit = True}

"Oh crap, he's awake! Vin! How are you feeling? I thought you'd bitten the big one!"

You looked up to see Belit's freckled face smiling down into yours. She sounded pretty care-free, but you could tell from the redness of her eyes that she'd probably been crying until just recently. You decided not to tease her on that, given the circumstances.

"Hey... I hate to spring this on you when you're just waking up, but we've got problems. Weird problems. The 'false saintess' turned out to be a 'dark saintess' and... well... it gets complicated."{endif}{if Bangaal = True}

"Huzzah! You've awakened, Lavender Vin! Bangaal was worried after my portal did not work, but it appears you are practically unharmed!" Bangaal celebrated, hugging behind your neck and pushing her breasts up against the back of your head.

You wanted to debate her on the 'practically unharmed' part, judging by the stinging in all of your extremities, but you decided to let her off since she was proving to be a nice pillow.

"Oh, and Lavender Vin? How do they say... the broth thickens! The soup... is more full? What is the expression again?"

You asked if she could explain it to you without using an expression.{endif}{if Liens = True}

You'd hoped you'd wake up to find a saintess acting as a soft lap-pillow for you, but the saintess kneeling next to you was Liens, and your near-**** experience hadn't turned her any sweeter. You supposed you should be grateful that she was at least kneeling down with you.

"You're awake. Good. Because... Things have gotten... Complicated. Annoying. Confusing. Fuck..."{endif}

Unfortunately, the sense of confusion you felt would only get worse, as they told you the surprising outcome of the battle you'd missed. Mertz was in custody, but the woman, Dame Nil Riiche, had escaped. Before she left, she made some truly outrageous claims. The woman had declared herself a dark saintess and showed a hand-print mark that looked as real as those of the other saintesses. She'd claimed the true purpose of the squires who had remained unaffected by the barren plague was to sire with dark saintesses and bring about the tangible form of the demon lord.

Her strength had been so great that not one of the saintesses had laid a finger upon her. It sounded like it was a miracle she'd let you live.

Everyone around you was saying the same thing: that her words weren't worth considering. You wanted to believe that, but could you afford to doubt the words of the woman who had all the leverage? It sounded like as long as you were a squire, unaffected by the barren plague, you'd be her target some time in the future.

For now, at least she'd left town and you lived on for another mission.