Folks, we had our first actual tied result of the CYOA! How exciting is that?! It was between
three options, too. :O I used Google's random number generator to decide which path you went down, and here it is ...
Your Professor told you you’d need a group of dragons to have any hope of casting the Astrolodome Attenuation Spell successfully. Rather than flit about talking to dragons you know one at a time, you decide to
head back to the Library where you saw the
mages. If you can convince them, you might have enough dragons for the spell to work!
You tell Erasmus you’ll see him later and set off towards the Library once again. The route to the library is exactly the same as last time: the sky and the streets filled with dragons enjoying the Festival. The crowds are getting tedious now, but having done this before gives you a distinct advantage. You reach the library and hurry inside.
It’s not any less bizarre to find everything the same as it was last time you came in: Master Azodeus doing his reading, the Tundra student hard at work, and Kells sorting books behind the front desk. You shake your head at the weirdness and wind your way deep into the Library towards the Spellcraft section.
You’re surprised to hear raised voices as you get nearer to the reading room. You’re here at a different time, of course, but it seems strange that they would be shouting now and disagreeing in whispers later. Maybe a librarian is going to come and tell them off …?
“We have to do something!” cries one of the dragons in the reading room. You can’t see any of them yet. You pad closer to the door.
“No, we don’t,” snaps a second voice. “Serenity, we’ve been over this! You were so scared of the practical test tomorrow — and now we have all the time we could possibly want to revise for it!”
Your jaw drops. You can’t believe it. Have you accidentally stumbled upon a group of mages who actually know about the time loop?
“
And we’ll have time to enjoy the Starfall Celebration too!” says a third dragon. “It’s win-win for us if we let it just carry on.”
“But it’s wrong!” the first voice protests, just as you burst through the reading room door.
The dragons inside jump and look around. There are five of them: a Coatl, an Obelisk, a Wildclaw, a Mirror and a Fae, all wearing matching robes in mint green and gold. They are also
much younger than you assumed when you heard them in the last loop. You guess they’re probably student mages, given their appearance and the mention of a test earlier.
“What are you doing here?” the Coatl asks, jumping to her feet.
“Do you know about the time loop?” you blurt out — you’re too excited to tiptoe around the subject.
The other dragons all start babbling at once until one of them, the Obelisk, flares out her wings and hisses, “SHH! This is a Library! We’re going to get kicked out — earlier than usual, I mean!”
You recognise her voice: one of the others called her Serenity. A buzzing silence falls as she turns towards you.
“You know we’re looping too?” she asks in a whisper.
“Yes — and I think I’ve found a way to stop it. The time loop is caused by magical energy emitted by the comet reacting with the arcglass. I’ve found a spell that — I
think — will let it pass straight through without affecting the arcglass,” you quickly explain. “I need more dragons to cast it, though. Will you help?”
The student mages look at one another.
“Of course we will,” Serenity says forcefully a moment later, glaring at her friends. The others look less certain.
“But … I really need more practice with the spells they’re testing us on tomorrow,” the Mirror says, glancing warily at you and then flashing Serenity what he clearly hopes is an apologetic smile.
“He’s right,” the Wildclaw agrees. You realise that theirs was the second voice you heard, the one that tipped you off that they know about the loop. They continue: “We should be taking advantage of the extra time.”
“But what if we don’t do something, and then tomorrow never comes?” the Coatl hums.
“Woah, do you really think that might happen? I don’t want to be stuck in this day forever,” the Mirror says nervously, glancing between the Coatl and the Wildclaw. “Passing a test isn’t worth that! We won’t even get to
take the test!”
The four of them start bickering again over what they ought to do, continuing the argument from earlier — and possibly from the previous loop, too. Serenity shakes her head and gets to her feet to come over to you.
“I’m really sorry about them. We all kind of messed up when it comes to this practical exam, and the loop seemed like a really good way for us to fix our problem. At least, it did at first,” she explains.
“How come you know what’s going on when no one else does?” you ask. “I was practicing wards and I guess that must have protected me …”
“We have no idea,” the Obelisk shrugs. She looks around and gestures at the hefty chunks of crystal inscribed with runes that form the structural pillars of this part of the library. “But if you were protected by wards, hmm … maybe it’s because we were in the Spellcraft section? This bit of the library is pretty heavily enchanted to dampen all magic inside — to discourage dragons from casting spells in here, you know?”
You didn’t know that, but it makes sense. “Lucky you were in here then.”
Serenity smiles. “I guess so. Listen, if you’re found a way to stop the loop, I think we should do it before it’s too late, and I want to help. I can probably convince this lot to join us, too.”
You grin at Serenity: you have secured the help of at least
one dragon and — even better — she’ll remember you in future loops! Now you just need to decide what your next step is going to be ...
Dusk Choice 5
What do you do?
Make your choice via the Google Form linked above.
This Choice will be open until
11pm FR Time on Thursday 30 September.
