Save your pixie.

Delphi darts around through the sky above, to and fro, like a violet shooting star filled with sugar. You squint your eyes, and upon closer inspection, it appears as if she's grasping her head in distress. Her tiny body sparks with chaotic magic energy. Immediately, you start to glance around for the best way to reach her. She needs your help, even if you aren't certain how to provide it. As you scope the area, your ears catch the incoming footfalls of somebody behind you.

It's Nyllia. At first, she steps forward calmly, but it doesn't take long for her to notice what's ahead. She slowly reaches back to wrap her fingers around the handle of her blade, but remains where she is while casting her eyes upward. "What is happening?" she asks.

After seeing Nyllia's deeper self so often, it's easy to forget that how she acts around others isn't so much a performance as it is another element of her personality. She is a noble knight of righteousness. It's just that sometimes, she needs a break from all that. Right now, however, you're seeing the hero everyone admires. The sun may have set, but you could swear she glows. Soft, pink locks flow over radiant, silken skin. Her silver armour, always polished, shines like a mirror. Ever vigilante, the beautiful adventuring hero Lady Nyllia Tesgella is here to help.

"I don't know," you respond. "It's Delphi, but something's wrong. She must have reached 10th level just like I did. When it happened to me, I lost control. Elok wanted me to fall to his will, but I broke free, and that's what eventually led me to living here."

You glance around once more before squatting down. You prepare yourself to leap. While keeping your eyes on the frantic wisp of purple light above, you take a deep breath and then Bunny Hop. To land something so precise would be impossible, so you instead send yourself high in the air, even above the rooftop of the castle. Then you tap your heels together and activate your Boots of Herbes. The evening wind is extra chilly this high, and you can hardly even see the two girls below, but you slowly descend until your eyes once again catch Delphi the pixie not far away.

Then you hear maniacal laughter.

Delphi cackles wildly. She's still too distant and too tiny for you to see what's happening, but you can hear her clearly. Then, you hear the surprised gasp of Nyllia below her. At an alarming speed, Delphi had sent out her purple bands towards the elf without you even noticing, and it seems she's already caught. Like a fish on a hook, the elf is reeled in. She struggles in her bindings, but they've wrapped around all of her limbs as well as her torso.

"Hey, Delphi!" you shout. "Whatever's happening, you have to fight--" You widen your eyes, but it's too late. You're completely in the open, floating in the sky above her, so there's little you can do to dodge the magical rope that binds you. Just like with Nyllia, you're pulled in closer.

Now that you can see her more clearly, something has changed. Delphi's skin is a demonic, dark shade of grey, and where her irises once were are strange swirls instead. She has a wide grin, and even now she hasn't ceased her laughter. It's like she's having the time of her life.

"You have to... fight it," you repeat.

"C'mon, let's go for a ride!" Delphi shouts. Then with a jerk upwards, she drags both of you through the air, and quickly over the walls of Castle Phoenix.

You squint as the wind blows against your face. Your home is disappearing behind you as she takes you far into the mountains. You grasp at the glowing purple band around your torso and pull in an attempt to reel yourself closer. "Delphi," you say. "You gotta put us down. Whatever's happening... isn't you. Remember who you are--"

"You talk too much!" She peers a glance back down at you, and a moment later, you're yanked down towards the ground.

She releases both of you in tandem into a clearing in the woods. A single torch has been planted on the end of a long wooden shaft directly in the center. You slowly pull yourself back up, glance over to Nyllia to make certain she's all right, and then peer your eyes forward in shock at what's before you. Immediately, you grab your sword and draw it, perhaps faster than you ever have before. Three shadowy figures stand ahead, and you recognize each of them. The first is Anastasia Phairgem, the second is Meti, and the third is Elok Daven himself.