Speaking of which!

I had managed to drag myself out of the bathing chamber and to my bed; sleeping in a thankfully uneventful manner. No visions, memories, or meetings with gods tonight. Once awake and dressed, I began the last of my packing, and gathered my things. I proceeded out into the hallway, where I found Scott waiting.

"Hey, Chap. Got a minute." He asked.

"As far as Cilla's told me about dragon's lifespans, I have an eternity."

Scott snickers. "It won't take that long."

I follow him to an empty dining area; two bland, yet nutritious looking meals already made.

"So. I've died this loop." He says, sitting at the table. "Which means... things are a bit different now; for me, at least."

"What do you mean?" I ask; taking my own seat, and taking a few bites of my breakfast.

He sighs; that depressed grimace which had become his default expression souring even more.

"I'm not entirely sure how this curse works, yet... and only now; after that reset, has that fact started to truly wear at me."

"Does that matter?" I ask, already halfway through my plate. "I thought the dying would be the worst part; not the reset."

"Quite wrong, Chap. Quite wrong." Says Scott, stirring about his food counter-clockwise; staring at it. "If my **** is setting back time for all of Ruyanei, then... am I a curse, myself? Keeping everyone in a static loop? Ugh... I used to find comfort in the idea of the second possibility; that my **** simply shifted me over to one of the endless identical parallel timelines... now, with all of you... that's an even worse poison."

"Parallel... timelines..." I mutter; understanding the concept only partially after a few screeds from Klyde about something called "Comic Books."

"Yes... do you understand how that might make me feel?" Asks Scott. "Seeing familiar faces, but knowing they aren't truly the people you know?"

I wince at the thought, saying. "A bit too well; what with the imposter Tomoko..."

The Tailor looks as though he's about to smack himself. "Oh, sorry to bring up that little thought."

"It's fine." I say; pushing my plate aside to rest a hand on Scott's shoulder. "And, hey. It doesn't matter what your curse does. If it's setting us back, then fine. I'll live the same week with you and the others as many times as it takes to get through it. And if it's that timeline thing; any version of us should be glad to have you."

Scott looks away, clearing his throat as he pulls his glasses down; wiping his eyes, and speaking with an ever slightly cracked voice. "...Thank you."

I'd ask him what it is that got him in the last loop, but... not right now. He needs time.

Finishing breakfast, the two of us are soon met with the others, who in turn have to get some food in their gut before we make the trip to the city gate. The walk itself is still as awful as ever; a constant uphill stride for a distance one could describe as "too fucking long" given the circumstances. Once at the gate, we're allowed through as before; taken through the winding path, and out of a side passage. We even get to spot the mass of rocks that Rocky shed to become his smaller, more portable self.

"Can we take a small break?" Asks Klyde, sweating like a pig. "I think my legs are falling off..."

"You're the one wearing armor for no reason." Said Ashes; who herself had decided to go without her own armor for the uphill treck, instead letting Zana keep it in her bottomless hat.

"I have an idea!" Says Sammy; sloshing over to Klyde, and grasping him like a plaything.

The poor Elf barely even gets to yell before Sammy starts sprinting down the road on her own; which I imagine is causing Cilla to blow a gasket as she starts screaming after them with her usual call of "Dolts" and "Idiots." The rest of us are **** to follow, passing the now closed corral; the one used as a trap by the Twin's Emissaries, Gom and Cae. The sight of that damned placed brought thoughts of their offer to my mind's forefront; and thus, my Others.

"Ariel." I say, walking over to Gabriella. "Do you know anything in particular about my... newest targets?"

The Alma glows, and the voice of the Martyr God rings out. "I've looked into any information on them in the Heavens records so far. We know that they're all hybrid creatures, like you, and that they have at least one class; being humanoids..."

My ears perk up; knowing their Classes and Races would certainly be a good first step. "Tell me everything you can."

"Honestly, not much. We've never had direct sightings of any of the three; only rumors from captured monsters. You're probably to only one on our side whose seen them, even indirectly."

Our jog after the others stops; it seems Sammy had worn herself out, and was splayed out in a puddle on the road.

"Tired..." She groans.

"Man, she's all over my armor..." Grumbles Kylde, dusting himself off after having been Klyde-napped by the Slime; for some reason, he seemed to be shaking a bit as well.

Cilla prods at the puddle a few times. "Sammy, you don't even have muscles. How are you tired?"

While the others continue their attempts to somehow organize our mess of a party, I think on Ariel's information.

If they're all hybrids, than what are they... Urgog is a Orc of some kind, but I've no clue what else is mixed in there with him. L0G is clearly a Machine, and given his ability to shape his body like a liquid, a Bioferric; one those machine slimes. Naimad seemed to be a one-for-one copy of myself, a Driftling; there was no other reason for the God's Eye to tell me that two of my kind exist... and he it seems has more of our memories than the other two, given he's taken Damian's face as his own.

In terms of class... if they were given the same sort of blessings as me, then they would have two each, given each of them are human-sized. Urgog had the clear appearance of a Monk; and given the Other he is derived from, Barbarian would be a clear choice for his second class. L0G... I'd say Logic's need for detail would push him towards Artisan, but the second class... Sorcerer? It would make the most sense, given he took up most of our collective intellect. Now, for Naimad. His presentation as a leader points me towards Knight; Ashes father had told me that Knights usually found themselves at the front of things. For a second class... well, with all of his talk of being a God... prehaps his other Class is Priest; preforming miracle after miracle, channeling the faith of his subjects to soften the cost of his Songs.

"Hey, Monster? You ok? You're falling behind the group." Says Ashes, poking my head playfully. "And, you look like you're head's about to pop; what're you thinking about?"

Indeed, the group had started walking again; Sammy no longer doing her best impression of a puddle.

Pulling myself from my thoughts, I speed up my pace along with Ashes to catch up with the rest of the group. "I'll tell you later with the others when we rest somewhere."

"Ok. Talk to you then."

What about their Cores, blessings, powers, or Gods forbid; cheats... ugh. Thinking this much isn't for people who have lingering inter-dimensional brain damage...