How can I save the world if I'm no longer the hero?

At the very least Joan didn't feel nauseous anymore. Though it was hard to say if it had faded with time or because the meeting with the mayor was over. She was almost halfway back to their temporary home before it fully faded.

Now all she felt was frustrated.

Which was why she was glaring at Penthe. The latter of who was out of her armor and just looking back at her, with a mildly amused look on her face as she ate her lunch. "I did tell you I was looking for Dixon."

"You didn't tell me that Chase was, though," Joan said.

"He's looking for many things," Penthe said. "Not just Dixon, but yes, Dixon is one of them."

"Why is Dixon even here?" Joan asked. "Last time I saw him, he was going to turn me into a demon, break my legs or sacrifice me to the Inferno God."

That knocked the amused grin off Penthe's face. "Did he really try that?"

"Yes, he did," Joan said bitterly. "The Demon Lord needs allies, doesn't he? But why is Dixon so important? Dixon didn't even exist in many of the timelines. I imagine that was due to your interference."

"I wouldn't know," Penthe said with a shrug. "Perhaps he was well hidden. Perhaps I erased all signs of his existence. It's really hard for me to say as I have no memories of those timelines, I just know they existed."

Joan gave a sigh and rubbed her forehead, she swore she could feel a headache coming on. "So what happened to Dixon, anyway? You never told me the whole story."

Penthe reached out to grab her drink. She took a long, slow swallow of it before speaking up. "I suppose I never did tell you, did I?"

"I wouldn't be asking if you had," Joan said. "Well, okay, I might forget but I at least try to remember important things."

Penthe shook her head. "You ask a lot of questions, did you know that? I remember the Hero in past timelines being far more direct, the run straight into the problem sort."

"Well, when I do that now I end up nearly dying repeatedly. So I try to be just a tiny bit more cautious. Not a lot more cautious, but a little bit. I don't think that's really important now, though. Are you trying to hide things from me?" Joan asked.

"Always," Penthe said. "But, very well. There's little to any harm in you knowing this. I believed you were still the Champion. Even if things didn't quite add up, I still saw you as a real threat. But my prior attempts to stop you had proved… ineffective. I required the help of the Demon Lord. Or rather, one of his more powerful demons."

"Did the Demon Lord always have the ability to control demons? I mean, that came from the Hungry One, right?" Joan asked.

"He did not, that power was actually new," Penthe said. "Quite new. He had nothing like that in the past. My memories on it are still quite… foggy, admittedly. But I believe it was an ability he developed not long after the Devourer of Minds was slain. After that, everything got strange and conflicting." A frown formed on her lips and she pushed her plate away. "Perhaps I should have realized what the Hungry One was doing. Attempting to drive a wedge between us. The Hero without the Guide. We were already on the edge of destruction as it was, I just fell directly into its trap."

Joan blinked and slowly moved forward. She, timidly, reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I mean, you didn't know. None of us did. You were just trying to do what you thought would save the world."

Penthe gave a low chuckle before nodding. "I was. I made it much harder for you, though."

"I make it much harder for myself, so it's not like that's new," Joan said with a small grin. "Besides, you came around so it's fine. Dixon?"

"Right," Penthe said. "The Demon Lord never truly trusted me, but he needed me. So he sent me with the person he could trust. Dixon. I needed the help of his Titanslayer. But it wouldn't obey me, it would only obey Dixon. So… I needed a Dixon. I knew that Chase was both one of the Chosen and a changeling, so he could take on the role. But I didn't know how important Dixon could be in the future. I wanted to kill him, but Chase refused. So instead he left him as a prisoner with some of his colleagues. But by the time we came back to him, he had escaped."

"And so he probably thinks you want him dead or worse, huh?" Joan asked.

"Possibly," Penthe said. "Chase knows people, but that demon is slippery. He just disappeared months ago. Which is even more frustrating, because if he believed us he'd likely come along willingly."

"Yeah, who would have thought betraying someone and imprisoning them would make it really hard for them to trust you?" Joan asked in a teasing tone. She received a glare for it and quickly glanced away. "Sorry, couldn't help it."

"Other than that, how did your trip to the mayor go? Did she give you any problems?" Penthe asked.

"No, she's another fan," Joan said with a small shrug. "The Chosen have so many of them. Unfortunately, she believes that… other… rumor."

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"Other rumor?" Penthe asked.

"That I'm Hardwin and Emeline's daughter," Joan said with a groan.

Penthe, amazingly, actually snorted at that, a hand moving up to cover her mouth. "That's ridiculous."

"I don't think I've ever seen you laugh before," Joan said, a grin forming on her lips. "Is it really that silly?"

"Considering you're not even Hardwin's daughter to begin with? Yes," Penthe said. "Still, the ruse has its uses. Other than that?"

"She said her aid was denied by Chase," Joan said.

"Funny," Penthe said, her hand moving up to grip her chin. "The aid she did offer was denied, but Chase said it wasn't actually aid. A token gesture, at best. Possibly one to slow him down."

"Ahhhhh," Joan said. "So he doesn't trust her and she likely doesn't trust him, right?"

"As far as I can tell, yes," Penthe said.

"She said she'd help however she could," Joan said. "If we could get Hardwin to come down here she'd probably cut off her own arm and give it to him if he asked."

"That… would be unlikely to aid us," Penthe said. "For now, we have to trust that Chase knows what he's doing. This is his home, after all."

"If you don't mind me asking," Joan said. "Can I ask you something personal?"

Penthe gave a sigh and turned to look her in the eye. "Yes, but I cannot guarantee I'll answer it."

"I know," Joan said. "But… how did you know who Chase was? I mean, I knew who he was, because I'd met him almost a thousand times and spent decades around him. You found him when even I couldn't. How?"

"I'm the Guide," Penthe said. "I could hardly do my job if I wasn't able to locate the Chosen, now could I? Some, admittedly, are harder than others. Korgron was surprisingly difficult to be certain of."

"Really?" Joan asked. "But she has all the subtlety of… well…"

"Of one who is the living embodiment of the God of Pride? Yes," Penthe said. "Unfortunately, her being a demon made it quite difficult to pick out the Chosen aspect of her. I suspected and figured it out long before the Demon Lord had, but even then it was difficult. Chase, on the other hand, was unique. He sticks out like a pillar of light in the darkest night. I wasn't even aware changelings could be Chosen."

"Really?" Joan asked. "They're not much different from humans, are they?"

"They're incredibly different," Penthe said. "Humans, dwarves, elves and demons all share a common ancestor. For there to be Chosen from them makes sense, as the original Chosen were all from them. Changelings, on the other hand? They're from another world entirely. Like some of the threats that have seeped into our world from others, they're creatures that have bridged the realms between worlds to end up in ours."

Joan blinked a few times, her mouth falling open. "W-wait. You mean like… the Realm of the Fae?"

"Possibly," Penthe said. "Or elementals. Or any of a dozen other worlds that can be connected to ours by beings with enough power."

"That's amazing," Joan said softly. "I didn't know that. Have you ever been to another world?"

"Only the ones closest to our own, like the Realm of the Fae," Penthe said. "As the Guide, I'm not able to travel far from our realm."

"The Nameless One said that to me," Joan said. "He offered me a way out from this world. Said he never could when I was the Hero, but now he could. A world where… this wasn't happening. Is that… what it's like? Out there? In other worlds?"

Penthe was silent for a few moments before giving a shrug. "I… do not know. Possibly. Only the gods know what other worlds are like. At times bridging the gaps can be done, but it is far from easy and incredibly dangerous. The worlds in question may not work well with the nature of our world. You could end up in a place without air, where water floats, where everything is fire but doesn't burn."

"That sounds awesome," Joan said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. Penthe stared at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"Not… quite the words I would use," Penthe said. "Unique, perhaps."

"Have you met the gods?" Joan asked.

"Not in a long, long, long time," Penthe said. "The interference they can offer is limited. They offer the aid they can, but to interfere too much risks removing… well, what makes the world worth living in to begin with."

"But you have," Joan said. "Are they… nice? I mean…. I've done some… troubling things in my adventure to uhhh… save everything. Do you think they…"

"Took it personally? Unlikely," Penthe said. "If you are worried about divine punishment, it is rarely given. The gods have more important things to worry over than a Hero who is not as… heroic as they may demand."

Joan let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. And ummm, thanks for talking with me, now. It's nice to have someone to talk to who understands all of this in a way that's… well…"

"Being older and younger than one truly is can be an experience few could understand," Penthe said before giving her a small smile. "I'll admit, I never thought I would have someone I could explain such things to. Even if the nature of our abilities are different."

"Yeah. So, ummm, are you and Hardwin going to--"

"And now this talk is over," Penthe said, shaking her head.

"Awwww, come on," Joan said with a pouty face. "You and he were such a cute couple in some of those timelines. He really is--"

"Go away," Penthe said. "And stop being a brat."

"Fiiiine, and never," Joan said before turning to leave. She paused halfway to the door. "You'll tell me when Chase finds Dixon, won't you? No running off without me like everyone tries to do?"

For a few moments Penthe was silent, before nodding. "Yes. I can't guarantee you can come, but at the very least I'll let you know."

"Thank you," Joan said before leaving her behind. Though, she couldn't help but wonder if Penthe would keep her word.