I know Serah. She has grown considerably. And one thing I know about her is that she can deal with stress really well now. She can also defend herself if needed.

1. I think out of everyone, Landi needs Rae. She is the least mature, unpredictable. But most importantly, probably thinks all of this is her fault (lucky panties and all that).

I don’t think Rae Rae wants to comfort Landi. But I think she should comfort Landi. It would do her some good to comfort Landi. Alternatively, Dotti is a cute fox girl and I want to see more of her. But that’s like, a passive effect of Dotti existing, so, grain of salt.

1) Landi most vulnerable (actually its Pierre but we can't let on that he's important)

Landi

Landi needs you most at the moment

Stay silent.
He's lived in a bog made of lies. An autocracy built on hollow nuances and twisted virtues.
If he doesn't wear many faces, he's the designated suicide bomber. You can't trust where he's going.

>>1122835
Àgreed.
This stinks of a lesson hes planning on teaching.

But we may not be allowed to stay silent so if that is the case... we should pick the one capable of withstanding any cruelty he may be planning.

never trust a pretty boy. him calling them soft does not scream good intentions... 2.

Landi

Raelynn 2026/05/03(Sun)04:56 No. 1126155 ID: 89e385
File 177778420360.png - (135.55KB , 1163x477 , LF8 21.png )

This is a test. Every instinct I have screams it at me. Even so, I can’t help my friends if I don’t step into it.

“The fairy,” I say.

“Good,” Ailín nods. “I told Fergal to disarm her. You can confirm that we emptied her dimensional storage of the most important items.

Fergal. The brute.

My heart sinks.

Ailín walks me to the spot, far from the bunker, where Fergal has disarmed Landi.

She’s whimpering. Muttering under her breath, softly, eyes unfocused, sweating and shivering.

“Vivi… it hurts so much,” she grits her teeth. “How did you stand it? Vivi, please, I need you… Vivi…”

Bile rises in my throat.

I know that, given enough time and healing potions, they can recover, but I remember the time we fought the Spirit of Bloodshed and Landi didn’t take well to the potions. If her mental state is too scarred, for too long, even those might not help.

“Fairies are troublesome,” Ailín says. “Full of tricks, contracts, spells. Even more dangerous if they are Summoners, and so difficult to keep them from making a quick escape no matter their skills. Fortunately, clipping their wings every so often will make escape impossibly painful.”

“Should have let me cut them off entirely,” Fergal growls.

“Do you ask to cut the legs off every captive?” Ailín asks. “No? Then please, stick to tradition and what is proven effective.”

I hate this. I hate it all. I hate that Landi’s being tortured all because of this stupid plan and it’s all my fault. Doubts fill my mind. If this is what they’re doing to Landi, then what are the others being put through? Worse?

I don’t know, and it terrifies me.

Pragmatism and preparation can only excuse so much. That your captors don't have more creative methods of subduing a non-human target after decades of duty shows exactly what your brother has been filling them up with: combat manuals and a directive to sacrifice themselves for their dear leader.

If they are cruel inside, then there is little left to do but nyx this plan and subdue your captors. But this reeks of a dictatorship. Your brother has seen the monsters that the worst of humanity devolved into... he has become one. He will likely embrace those monsters while murdering humans and elves alike.

You want revenge? Sever the head and watch the worms squirm underneath a rotting body. But keep your rage in check for now. The beings in front of you have been hollowed out. Hatred towards them only matters when they become people again.

She put her trust in you, so you have to see this through.

The guilt you're feeling is mislaid, it rightfully belongs to them who hurt your friends so callously. keep it inside, when the time is right you repay them for these sins.

But you have to stay strong until then. Ask to see the items he mentioned.

So your ex-boyfriend doesn't trust fey, that's not an excuse to torture them. Giving any prisoner to Fergal is a mark against his character. Ask him to- please... find a new jailer. Just give her to Pierre's jailer, not Serah's as she was her familiar. One powerless fairy is hardly more taxing to watch over than a human.

Been awhile, and I'm thinking about Landi's Djinn partners right now. Do they realize that Landi has Djinns on her side? Hopefully they didn't get that information out of her, but perhaps we made it here in time before they started questioning her and only disarmed her.

One thing I wanna do is ask the status on her standings with them and see if they can help in your upcoming battle with your brother, especially how her standing with salt is considering some issues she had.

But before we can ask Landi, there are two things we'll need to do.
First we will have to be alone with her even if you have to confirm she's been disarmed to do it like Ailín wants us to. It should be fine if we check as long as we have those Djinn kept a secret.

Once we are alone, second step is to try to give Landi from therapy to get her mental state better before she can help us.

Tell them you have a more foolproof solution. A contract. Landi can sign a contract stating she cannot attempt to leave until her prison door is opened and she is released (or something to that effect, which would allow her to escape if a prison break succeeds).

Or, maybe something that's easier to sneak by the guards... a contract stating she cannot use her wings at all while she is in camp. That way, they won't have to clip them, and it won't make a prison break any easier.

Raelynn.
Let the anger you feel sharpen your will.
Focus yourself.
>>1126159
Yes.
He knows contracts exist and weird fae rules. Lets use that.
State that she can only open her storage to her party members and never with outsiders nearby.
Bound on a contract level to prevent theft.
To get them to Back away and let you talk quietly.

Raelynn 2026/05/31(Sun)22:11 No. 1127400 ID: 89e385
File 178026546574.png - (7.64KB , 500x476 , LF8 22.png )

Landi’s pain is so intense that I can feel it myself. Why did I even agree to this plan, if I knew it was going to put my friends through such suffering?

I can feel myself being drawn back to my first battles, when I had such hope of being a Seer for the Circle. It hurt then, too. The battle was too intense- I could feel the agony then, as I can now from Landi, all around me, overwhelming me. I wasn’t meant to be a warrior like my mother and father. Like my brother, too.

I’m just me.

A surge of warmth flows through my mind, from head to toe filling me with a firm, resolute confidence. Taranis. His faith in me. My friends’ trust, conveyed through him.

My Circle thought of connection like this as a weakness. But here, now, it’s something I need.

Landi needs it, too.

“Did you separate the alchemist’s bombs from the rest of the implements? Weapons, potions, elixirs?” I ask Fergal. I look over the emptied inventory. There are items missing, but I don’t tell Fergal that. Perhaps Landi is better at hiding things in her dimensional pockets than Fergal is at searching them. “You have emptied her inventory, but it is hard to see if any of it is about to explode.”

Fergal frowns. “That’s what those containers are? Bombs?”

Ailín groans.

“Separate them. Carefully,” I instruct them. “This fairy is the human warrior’s beast of burden, and her supporting enchanter. Assume that that pile is highly dangerous and explosive. The human warrior and this fairy are contracted.”

“Do you know the terms?” Ailín asks.

“I do not,” I say honestly, remembering the time my mind fizzled trying to read Dotti’s contract. “But I do know that they are inviolable. If you form one yourself with her, she would be bound to follow its terms. Including that she not try to escape.”

“Bah!” Fergal scoffs. “A fairy would bend its words to their own benefit. I trust no such paper.”

“Trusting a fairy contract to accomplish your own goals, instead of the fairy’s, is foolish,” Ailín nods in agreement. “If you can convince her to not attempt any escape, that would save her from further harm.”

That excuse is all I need. I bend down to Landi and hold out my hand.

“Serah’s Fairy,” I say softly.

She keeps shivering. I’m worried- if she breaks down and summons Salt with what little mana she has in a desperate effort to stop her pain, it could be disastrous.

I take a small risk. I know fairy names have power for them, even nicknames, but this is something I can’t hold back if I want to reach her. “Landi.”

She looks up at me.

“Vivi? No… Rae?”

I hold out my hand. “I’m here, Landi. I promise I’ll look out for you, if you promise me you’ll stay strong.”

“Serah, too,” Landi says. “And Dotti. And Kayk, and Pierre. Don’t let them hurt like this. F-fucking promise me.”

“I promise I’ll make sure they don’t… hurt as much as you do,” I say.

Landi lets out a deep, long sigh and stops shivering.

I look up to Ailín, pointedly ignoring Fergal. “Give her a sip of healing potion so she doesn’t freeze to death. Fairy dust and wings keep them warm.”

Ailín points to Fergal, who rolls his eyes but pulls out a stopper to measure out a drop or two. For a moment, I want to tell him to give more, but then I realize something. I’ve actually managed to convince Ailín- and Fergal through him- to follow my directions.

That is something I can work on. They’re not overly suspicious of me. They’re not binding my hands or doubting my advice.

Serah’s plan worked. I have some freedom of movement, and some credibility. If I am informing the Circle about a serious threat- like Serah’s bombs, for example- then I can probably get Ailín to take me to another party member without arousing suspicion.

Or I could go directly to my brother and see what’s become of him. Seeing him fight the Censor war party might give me more insight as to how he is leading the Circle.

Or… I could simply talk with Ailín. His interest in the outside world could be a ruse… or it could be genuine. He has hurt me in the past- but we shared moments before where he understood me better than anyone else. His own twisted affection might be useful, if I can trust myself to trust him again.

Rae has freedom of movement. Choose one path.

1. Suggest a dangerous party member to the Circle, so Rae can visit them. Spends time, and does not help Rae’s bonds with any of the Circle.

2. Ask to be taken to Rae’s brother. Will give her insight as to his mental state and leadership style. Will also shorten the time the rest of the Party is kept in interrogation.

3. Spend time with Ailín and/or Fergal, and tell them about the outside world. Taranis can visit one of the Party members while Rae does this and report their status, as he doesn’t need to focus on her safety at the same time.

2. Help them all at once by shortening their stay in elfin hospitality.
And keep those fingernails sharp for when your brother's eyes are in reach.

2) have to see what we're up against

2) Get the reactions from the top first, and you can learn what kind of environment the grunts are stuck in. You'll also spread their attention away from your party if the boss needs extra bodyguards to keep him from you.

3. Maybe that little bit of time with them to talk to them about the outside world and what you went through would be enough to spark something, maybe support Rae against her brother, and maybe even bring the circle to a newer better direction over one of domination. Of course we might not be able to convince everyone in the circle, but getting as much as we can might make the difference.

2, No point in dragging out the party's suffering and making Rae suffer by seeing them in pain. Let's get straight to the point.

As much as i want to suggest going straight to brother, to stop the pain.
It may be that this is worth considering.
>>1127411
We have some indication there is more flexibility of thought among the group than we hoped.

However, seeing brother fight and how he leads is important too. If its a limited opportunity, that could be more important.

1) Go see Kayk. The threat is that she’s a dragon, obviously.

Ugh.

2) Time for the painful family gathering.
We can should also talk to Ailin and Fergal about how they and the Circle have fared these past few years, and how Ciarán has led them.

Raelynn 2026/09/20(Sun)05:06 No. 1132156 ID: 8d91b3
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We walk until the clouds thicken around the Censor war parties. I hear snaps and crackles of magic and wood under tension. My Circle’s treants had bending the enchanted (some would say cursed) hard-shelled nuts, flinging the explosives high and fast into the air where they burst into thousands of bits of shrapnel. If Apricot had been flying through this…

No. She’s not here. She won’t have to fight my people if I have anything to say about it.

There were seven summoned celestial griffons that converged here, each carrying about three or four Censors. I get a few glimpses through the treeline and can only count that five griffons remain. Those that came too close to our lands have learned the hard way that the Circle’s reach is long.

Ailín leads me to the hilltop where the defense is being led by my brother. He stands surrounded by squad leaders awaiting orders, each commanding a reserve of rangers. I finally get a clear view of him, and…

This is my little brother Cici?

He’s grown taller. Harsher. Leadership has ground away at his features, building muscle and lean angles where any softness might have lay. Before I was exiled, I was taller, but now he has grown just a little above me.

I am forty-three years old. Ciarán is three years younger than me. The elves of old would barely see us as capable of making our own decisions, let alone guiding our people, but here we are.

The squad leaders are relaying information about how the Censors have used slow-fall spells to land safely on the ground after their griffons were shot down. I hear a deep voice, so unfamiliar, commanding to hunt down the survivors and bring them to our camp. My little brother, so eager to prove himself, is gone. In his place is a man whose course is written in the lines across his face.

He turns to see me, recognition bright in his eyes, but I don’t recognize him.

“At last,” he sighs, and his smile is anything but warm. “Ráichéalín, it has been so, so long. My elder sister, safe and sound.” He gestures to the Circle around him and they obediently part, giving Ailín and me a clear path. Ailín guides me to him, then knees once he is just outside blades’ reach.

I tense. He is armed, as am I. The familiarity we once shared, of siblings with the same hopes and dreams, is gone. He steps in. His arms are wide, spread far above Imbolc’s grip. He comes closer, and… and…

Raelynn 2026/09/20(Sun)05:06 No. 1132157 ID: 8d91b3
File 178988079952.png - (24.97KB , 525x425 , LF8 24.png )

He embraces me.

“I’ve been so worried for you,” he says, truth poisoning his words.

How dare he?!

I blink rapidly, forcing tears from my eyes, frustration and fear and anger boiling within me, freezing my arms, tension in my entire body.

My mental link with Taranis fills with concern, and I instinctively push him away. No, my mind rebels. Keep watching. I need your eyes. Please.

I realize I’m shaking as he holds me.

“You’ve returned, sister,” he says, too loud. A performance. “Safe from the outsiders at last. Alone for so long, away from your people, I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been. But at last, at long last…

You’re home.”

A small clamor amongst the Circle. Is it true? I’m welcome here? Even after all my failings?

He whispers in my ear as the possibilities flutter in the air, before crashing to the ground.

“Mother’s spirit ordered you to kill me, didn’t it?”

1. She did
2. It did

That's an oddly specific question to be asking us. What made him think we spoke to mother's spirit? There could be multiple reasons why we could have come here, and he specifically gravitated towards that. Careful, he might have already gotten information from their interrogation with Serah or Landi. Keep in mind what we shared with Landi and Serah in future conversation.


2. Anyway, if we want to keep his guard down and think we're on his side, the best way is to pretend we are like-minded and call mother's spirit an "it"

Don't play his game.

Tell him to ask you that again, louder. So everyone can hear.

2) if thats the phrasing he's using then go with that.

STAB HIM. NOW.

No mercy for souldrinkers or their minions. You can apologize after you're dead - but if you tarry, you might cease to exist. Same for him, I guess.

phrasing is important. 2. it did, but i didnt

She did- n't have to.

>>1132165
Yeah.
Mirror.
If shes an it to him, refer to her as it.

Raelynn 2026/09/26(Sat)17:48 No. 1132368 ID: 8d91b3
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There’s not a doubt in my mind that I did speak with our mother’s spirit. Ciarán choosing to seek out the soul-devourers- the Airceacháin- must have changed how he sees the remains of who lies beyond the veil. If I want to connect with my brother and see inside his mind, I’ll need to mirror it, if only for a short while.

“It did,” I say softly.

“It remembered Mother’s threats. Shades are so stubborn…” Ciarán steps back and smiles. “And now, we are both free to make our own decisions. You haven’t stabbed me yet, despite what it told you about my plans. I appreciate that.”

“Free?”

“Yes,” my brother says, “Free. Free from Mother’s insistence that we continue fighting her way. Following her plans. If you had been free to choose your own fate, Rae, would you have chosen to be a warrior? It was her decision to make you a Warseer, not yours.”

I don’t say anything. I don’t need to.

“The Circle sent you away. I didn’t fight it then.” Ciarán says. “And if I had the chance to relive that moment… I would still stay silent. I would tell you, as you were exiled, that I would be happy you had the chance to be far from the fighting. Now you have returned, and given us great gifts we would never have received otherwise. I thank you.”

He means my friends. Kayk. Dotti. Serah. He doesn’t know about Pierre, but if he remains here for long…

“There is not a doubt in my mind that now, the Circle Uí Liatháin can put a stop to our people’s fighting,” he says, and his voice turns harsh. “Sister, we are elves. We can live for hundreds of years, but we have spent generations fighting and dying over petty squabbles. Don’t you see? With Mother’s death, without her bloody, senseless traditions, I can finally force the other Clans to fall in line.

A dragon, sister. We have a dragon,” he says, excitement bubbling into his voice. “A fox spirit. A human noble, with her knowledge and connections. Add to it the weapon no other Clan would use, the one only we can control… the Airceacháin.”

I can’t let that go. It’s too monstrous; the devourers are abominations that my parents would beat us if we said their names.

“That weapon I won’t name,” I say, “Will turn the world against us, including the fox spirit you are so excited about. Do you really think a fox would be willing to stay near them, much less fight along side them?”

“No,” my brother says, and his smile spreads. “That’s why I need your help. You understand how to keep a fox spirit in one place. You have been to the Terrorscale lair. You have ingratiated yourself to the human.”

Oh, no…

“Mother was a bitch,” my brother says, “But she was right about you. You are the one to see our future. You can bring us victory. Ráichéalín, there is no one but you who can keep the reins on these outsiders. Because if you can, then I do not even need to use our weapon of last resort.

“Tell me, sister. Tell me you’ll help end generations of fighting. Tell me! Tell me you’ll give us back our lives!”

1. Lie
2. Tell the truth

White lie. He wants to end generations of fightings, and I’m sure we do too, but his way is evil.

Tell him you will help end the generations of fighting, but don’t tell him it will be in your own way.

You do want peace after all, and ending generations of fighting in your way and not his is working towards that same goal

2. Despite everything, he's your brother. You owe him more than a knife in the back. He's been honest with you about his intentions, so return the favor.

Your brother's actions created a spirit of vengeance that almost got members of your party killed some time ago. In capturing your companions, Rae was forced to weigh who she could let suffer, knowing that pain was inevitable for at least some of them. You were forced to confront your brother after only checking in with Landi, knowing that her torment would be dragged out if you didn't act sooner.

It is not inconceivable to you that your friends would fight this war for you if you asked, but it is a request you would never make of them. The Circle has brought nothing but pain to your party, and they deserve better than to fight for a guy who treats them as weapons above all else.

He never even asked you about them. He went on about how useful they could be, but he never asked who these people are to you, or how you feel about their treatment.

He wants freedom for the elves and de-sapience for everyone else. He's playing to your ego by claiming you're still a farseer.

But you were never a farseer. All you can see is the people all around you. He doesn't see them at all, only pieces on a game board. Souls are a currency to him, and he'll never realize his giving away his own to a devourer until it's too late.

Put him down. Elvenkind must learn to live through gentrification, and they'll learn on their own terms, not his demands. They've got the time.

Don't speak. Stab.

He's so close. Yes you have seen the future, the end to fighting, the end to useless traditions and past grudges. Its out there, out in the world. Your people only have to seek it.

And you can still have revenge on those that tried to destroy your people, as the best revenge is to live well.

So you can in honesty say the answer to his question is yes

The truth.

the thing about opening your heart and intentions to someone is that there is an expectation of sympathy and understanding. your brother is not a person that sees anything outside of his own ego and ambition. if the whole truth was told, this plan would fall apart wouldn't it? you can't tell the truth without making your own feelings obvious

yes, you'll put an end to all this. don't say more, he'll already fill in the blanks

>>1132385
The phrasing here
Its not a lie, its the truth.
Even if its not the truth he thinks hes hearing.

Raelynn 2026/10/04(Sun)22:44 No. 1132608 ID: 8d91b3
File 179115384019.png - (57.70KB , 974x527 , LF8 26.png )

In memory of our youth, I owe him the truth. To the man he has become, I owe him nothing more.

“I will help end the fighting,” I reply instantly. “You are my brother. Our paths split, and… for the better. Your way will not make peace. I met these outsiders you want me to control, and their hearts will be closed to you as long as you treat the soul-devourers like a key to victory. You say you can control them? That makes you a devourer in their eyes, too.”

“I have heard these words before,” Ciarán says. “My Circle sees the Airceacháin as a necessary evil. Once we have secured our power and ended these wars, they will no longer be needed. The mere threat of unleashing them on a human city will keep our people safe for the generations we need to return to glory, before the humans tore us down from our high perch. Now that we are upon the ground, lofty ideals are beyond our reach. Now we have only blood and dirt. The humans saw the truth of war when they fought us then, and I see it clearly now.”

“Even if you can control them,” I say, “The fox spirit and the human noble you just captured, they despise the devourers. The dragon you want to enslave? Her mother threatened to kill the fox spirit for far less than what you’re proposing to do. Brother, your way of ending this war without more bloodshed is. Not. Possible.”

“Nothing is impossible,” he says. “My successes have proven this. Now, the only thing standing between me and total victory… is you. These outsiders will not be permitted to leave. I cannot let such an opportunity escape. Do you intend to challenge me, sister, to a duel to the death, as Mother wished? Or can you make your own decisions?”

“To the death?” I keep my face neutral, but my stomach churns. “I could challenge you for leadership. Or challenge your methods and prove myself stronger, you weaker. End this by forbidding summoning the devourers.”

“You are not even a warrior any longer. Why would I agree to risk my position? Risk our people’s greatest weapon? You would need to offer something in return. What could possibly be more valuable than a human noble, a fox spirit, and a dragon on our side? Anything lesser would doom us to a future of more pointless fighting and death.”

I grit my teeth. If he wants me to offer up my party’s services to him, it wouldn’t work. I could, in theory, offer my friends a binding fairy contract to assist my people in the war and end it with all their power, including by fighting… and for Kayk, perhaps her sister, Tanwen, could take over those duties. Somehow, perhaps even Mai herself could step in and assume the contract, since she is famous for offering her services in war… but here, my brother has done so much already to risk her wrath, who knows how that could play out?

Ciarán takes a breath to say more, but is interrupted by a scout approaching.

“Ceann Cath,” she says, saluting. “The two griffons’ worth of Censors have been successfully isolated from the main group. They are being harried toward our main camp and are cut off from their aerial support.”

“Well done,” says my brother. “Encircle them and capture them when they are in the correct position. We have no need to take casualties from any of their surprises. Be cautious.”

“Yes, Ceann Cath.”

Taranis? I quietly reach out through our mental link, divinely protected from my people’s senses.

I feel an affirmation back.

Follow the downed Censors. Await my instructions. They might be useful if things go badly for me here.

“So,” my brother says, turning back to me. “What will it be, sister? I do not want to kill you, but if you challenge me… I will not lie, my life would be far easier if I had both our family’s blades, and no longer had an elder sister at risk of being captured by my enemies, or turning against me. But would you really throw your life away for these outsiders?”

Do I accept the duel?
1. Yes, to the death. Killing him would disrupt my Circle’s cohesion and remove the person insisting on using the devourers as a weapon.

2. Yes, to submission, with forced conditions on the loser. Far, far more complicated than killing him… but perhaps I can bring him back from the brink, somehow. If I win, I can make my case to the whole Circle watching. And he would still be alive, with the knowledge and drive to summon the devourers. Maybe I can offer him, and the Circle, something better than this insane plan of my Brother’s.

3. Other.


Do I tell Taranis to contact the Censors?
A. Yes. I can use Taranis to contact the Censors and my own party’s contingencies to create enough chaos to break my friends out, and escape.
B. No. I could later, but if I did enlist their help, I would be doing exactly what I was raised not to do: side with my people’s enemies and lead them to our dens. I would be the worst kind of traitor.

>>1132608
Let me tell you a secret, Rae. Humanity has damned itself across many worlds because they held a world-ending power. Because even those who could control that power could not control the way its mere existence enticed the young and ambitious into greater schemes.
"Proximity to power is more corrupting than power itself."

Even if he could resist the temptation to continue using the soul-devourers for control, and even if he had the rituals destroyed outright... it would be too late. He'd awaken greed in the hearts of meta-humanity. They would know that the world would bow to whoever re-summoned the monsters. Some would do anything to ensure no-one could ever step on them again. Some would sacrifice everything to step on everyone else.

But these humans have no idea. They are relatively innocent. That makes them worth fighting for.

1) And it makes him worth killing.

1) ...When your ancestors forged the sacred pacts, did they ever conceive of a king who would sell his kingdom's souls to demons? @#$% him and @#$% your old kingdom. They're so small compared to what they plan to destroy.

To the death. Contact the censors. Even this is not stooping to his level of summoning the devourers.

1
and
B because even after your brother dies, the circle will need a new leader, you, and you can lead them to be better people. having them see you as a traitor will just have them continuing to cause trouble for everyone. This insures that they won't follow someone even worse than him

1B. there should be a balance in what you've been taught and what you believe in. fighting for your own beliefs, your own values, what you personally respect in your people and your history will never be easy. if you cannot stomach the person you'll become by making a certain choice, then fight like hell so the one you do want to choose succeeds.

>>1132608
Im saying 2. B
Not because i particularly think he should live, but i worry about how raelynn will cope afterwards

Killing him is the only way to eliminate the threat of the devourers, whether he summons them, or someone else who can pry the knowledge from him. As for the Censors, I think we should save them as a last ditch response. Our initial plan didn’t involve contacting them, and until it relies on that, it’s a better play tactically to not betray your people, for diplomacy reasons already stated.

B, We can't side with the Censors without putting Pierre's freedom at risk. We might escape in the chaos of their battle, but given their persistence in following us here, I doubt they'll let us leave with their stolen asset.

2, If you wager the loyalty of your allies and offer to put it in a binding fairy contract, then you have an excuse to gather your allies so that you can bind them to the contract's rules. From there, you can let Serah and Landi take on some of your burden by writing the contract in a way that subtly favors you over your brother. Perhaps an interference clause that guarantees no other member of the circle will intervene, but gives you friends ways they can help you without ceding victory?