15 Reaching Out

Hill Fawkes was hating his life right now. When he had been given that mission by Roland, he had never expected it would end up like this. Now, he had been kidnapped and held captive by tentacle monsters. "When I get back to Neverwinter I am going to give Roland a piece of my mind", thought Hill Fawkes.

Phyllis was traveling to Graycastle with her captive in tow. She was going to find out how this Roland person knew all of their secrets. Since she had been entrusted by the rest of the Taquila witches to represent them, she was determined to do her best to discover what Roland was intending and to find out whether he would be a threat or an ally.

After they entered Neverwinter, Phyllis told Hill Fawkes to get out and tell Roland that she was here. Fawkes ran away from Phyllis as fast as he could, eager for this to no longer be his problem. He came to the castle and asked to meet with Roland.

Soon, a messenger entered Roland's office and informed him that Hill Fawkes was here to see him.

"Tell him to come in", said Roland. Roland was confident that Fawkes was successful; if he wasn't then he wouldn't have come back like this.

Roland waited a few minutes before Fawkes entered his office. As Roland opened his mouth to speak, Fawkes suddenly began yelling hysterically. "Why did you have me do that! I got captured by these tentacle monsters. They were the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life and I was totally sure that I was going to die. That Plan B of yours was awful. I don't think I will be able to sleep well for months!"

"Uh… well…" Roland was trying to figure out what to say. "Those creatures you met are actually quite nice once you get to meet them. Nothing bad would have happened to you… probably".

Fawkes started muttering under his breath. "Quite nice he says. Nothing bad, probably eh." He didn't look too happy about the whole situation. Then he straightened up and said, "One of their people came here with me. She wants to speak with you. I think she said her name was Phyllis"

"Oh, tell her to come here then", said Roland.

Hill Fawkes left and reluctantly went back to Phyllis to tell her Roland's response.

Meanwhile, Roland began thinking. Since Fawkes had to resort to Plan B, the Taquila witches are going to be very suspicious about how he got his information. It seems he is going to have to reveal everything, including the part about Steven and how they are all part of a story. If he is going to tell others about this secret, then he should probably tell Anna and Nightingale too. If they found out about it later without him telling them, they might not be very happy with him.

So, Roland called Anna and Nightingale into his office and told them, "There is something important that I need to tell you two."

"What is it?", Anna asked.

"It is about how me and Steven came from another world", Roland said. "You see, me and Steven aren't from the exact same world, there is just one tiny difference. In Steven's world, we, and the world we are in right now is all part of a fictional story. So, Steven has read about all of our lives and he knows what will happen in the future. When Steven arrived, I was able to get information about the future and I used that to change things."

Roland noticed that Nightingale didn't quite look genuinely surprised. He asked her, "Did you already know?"

"Yes", replied Nightingale. "Steven already told me before he left."

"I see…" Roland turned to Anna. "Are you distressed by this information?"

"It is a bit off putting", Anna said. "Know that your life is fictional in another world. But it is real to us so we shouldn't treat our lives any differently."

"That is good", said Roland. "Now, I am about to have a meeting with a bunch of witches who have survived for a few hundred years underground. When finding them I ended up revealing a lot of information that I couldn't have known. So, I am going to have to tell them everything."

After a few minutes passed, Phyllis entered. "Your Highness, my name is Phyllis", she said. "I am speaking on behalf of the Taquila witches. You seem to know who we are and what we do."

Roland then began explaining how he was from another world and brought over all of this technology. Then he explained how Steven came from another world and how he knew the future. Throughout this explanation Phyllis became more and more incredulous as the tale she was hearing sounded simply ridiculous.

Phyllis sat in silence for a moment before saying, "Do you expect me to believe that?"

Roland told her, "I know all about everything you all are doing. How else am I supposed to know without having an outside source of information. In addition, you can see from my great technological advancements here in Neverwinter that it is something out of this world."

Phyllis didn't have any way to rebut his statement. "I will think about this. Can I talk to you again in the morning?"

"Sure", answered Roland. "I will get a room set up for you."

The next day, Phyllis used the Five-Colored Stone to contact the rest of the Taquila witches. After hearing about what Roland said, they were all shocked. After discussing amongst themselves, they decided that they didn't know whether Roland was telling the truth, but the only part that matters is that he knows a lot of information, and it is clear that he does indeed have some way of knowing things he has no business knowing. As a result, they decide to trust him for now.

Then, Roland announced that he wanted to visit them.