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You're quick enough to do it, and the gap in the bars is just wide enough that you might have a chance. She's pacing back and forth very near your cell, fortunately enough, and she has a habit of casting long glances at the dungeon door. It wouldn't be hard to take advantage of that, though you'll want to wait a bit. You can still hear footsteps of other guards nearby in the hallway, and you want them as far away as possible when you make your move. You're going to need to run.

The only potential difficulty is that when the guard's not looking at the door, she tends to stare straight at you. And she's not just staring, you realize after a moment: she's gathering the courage to speak. "There's something I wanted to ask you, if I ever got the chance," she says softly. "Whatever misunderstanding it is that brought you here, I'm sure you'll sort it out. And I've always wondered…what was it like, that first moment in Pasema, when the seal on the portal split and the demon burst free?"

It should be a simple answer, one you've given a hundred times before. But tonight, the question stabs at your gut in a way it hasn't in years. The question, and the certainty that you can't tell the truth.

The truth, of course, is that you were much less concerned when that first demon emerged than you are right now in this cell. Because, just like every other aspect of your legendary journey to save your world, that demon was absolutely fake.

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