It was too sunny to get bad news. That was on Brie's mind as she was summoned to the Announcement Council, one of the many councils in the Skarlax realm. The Announcement Council was one that remained strong and unified in spite of conflicts among the five sub-realms. The duller councils that covered all five regions seemed to side step the wider drama, something about the boring gears of bureaucratic machinations kept things steady. They met at a beachside base, a beautiful one at a lake that touched all five realms. The set up looked almost like seven lifeguard posts aligned in a circle. As the council folk looked down on Brie, she wished she was swimming in the waves past them rather than listening to this.

"Could you repeat that?" Brie asked.

A stodgy older woman adjusted her glasses as she read the announcement again from a scroll. "Brie de Meaux, carrying on a time honored tradition of the Skarlax realm, you are to be wed to Magie de Madawaska, Dark Lord of the Early Realm."

"It's pretty self-explanatory," Another member of the council said. The others agreed.

Brie knew the threat of marriage would fall on her one day, but she thought she had more time.

"Do I get a say in this at all?" Brie asked.

"Your say is upholding this time honored tradition," Yet another ancient-looking council member said. "This go around it's another wedding between the Early Realm and Umpteenth. Simple as can be."

Brie scoffed, but knew things would be worse if she had a fit now.

"Thank you...honored council members," Brie said, eyelid twitching as she forced a smile.

It'd be better if it was raining. A horrid, dreary storm to match how she felt having her future set in stone. A future solely with Magie. But it stayed sunny, almost taunting her as her pace quickened down a street, turning some heads as some asked if that was actually the Umpteenth Realm's dark lord passing them by. Soon she was running, stinging tears at the corners of her eyes. She didn't know where she was headed, but she needed to go anywhere else.

Brie thought about asking her parents for help, but they'd just say the same thing as the council, she knew it in her bones that it would be a fruitless endeavor.

Eventually on her run she decided she wanted to be away from people altogether, opening a portal to a realm where only monsters lurked. Nothing technically living, just monsters made of Elka that attacked on sight. Fending off wave after wave of enemy didn't help Brie's situation, but it was cathartic in a way. Brie wasn't sure how long she went on battling, turning a sea of Elka monsters back into goop, then going to the next realm like this, but it must have been quite some time. When she was exhausted by this, she knew she should head home. She leaned on a post that looked like it once was a street lamp, before this world was overrun by Elkaic monsters.

"Whatever shall I do, random street lamp?" Brie asked. The mangled pole of course didn't answer. "Marrying Magie...I can't think of a crueler fate to be forced into."

Brie went "Mhm, mhm," as she imagined the street lamp's response.

"You get me, random street lamp," Brie said. She leaned a bit harder, and the pole gave way, turning into Elka for a moment before spindly legs and knife hands shot out from the post. "Drat! An enemy all along! Traitor!"

Once that monster was dealt with, Brie made the unfortunate choice to try one more realm, to work out just a bit more in battle. She ended up in one with enemies stronger than she expected, ones that took the form of armored knights. At least it was finally a rainy day there, as a thunderstorm welcomed her as she was dragged into a bleak castle, heavy shackles on her wrists. She thought about staying, letting these monsters free her from a marriage to Magie with a life of captivity. That almost sounded appealing.

Then the guards brought Brie to her cell, slamming her down across from the most adorable girl she'd ever seen. It was still curious how Derby of Hope had ended up there, but Brie supposed the answer to that would be found one day.

It was a sunny day much like the one where Brie found out about her marriage.

The Announcement Council would never have guessed I'd find someone else to marry, Brie thought. Well, fake marry! But they don't need to know that.

That adorable former prisoner was still playing on her phone while Brie played at the water's edge, but that was fine. She didn't have to do everything with her fake bride/friend. Instead she found herself playing in the water with Derby's friend Sage.

This may prove a good opportunity as well, Brie thought. Perhaps I can further confirm my suspicions.

Brie waited for her chance to strike as Sage built a sand castle. The dark lord inched closer to one of the sand towers Sage had crafted and tapped her foot against it, crumbling it like the Elkaic monsters she'd fought.

"Hey! What was that for?" Sage asked.

"Might I suggest building your castle away from the shore?" Brie said. "It's like you're asking for the waves to get it."

"Maybe I'm OK with waves, but less so for people knocking my work over," Sage said.

"Hm, you're normally so calm and collected," Brie said. "You almost let you mask slip there," She chortled to herself. "That was quite good, wasn't it?"

Sage's expression remained blank. Brie was about eighty percent sure Sage was somehow the Masked Dark Lord, which made little sense to her, but also made a great deal of sense. The Masked Dark Lord was so rarely seen, maybe they've just been in this world.

Brie knocked another bit of the castle down without thinking.

"Are you trying to piss me off?" Sage asked.

"Mayhaps," Brie said. "Or mayhaps I am wondering if I should show you a shred of trust after you tried to claim a bounty on my head."

Brie's next strategy was to be a bit more direct.

"What do you mean?" Sage asked.

"At the convention," Brie said. "You tell me to be cautious when we were at that ramshackle station in the sands. But you were also one to try and pick up that bounty."

Sage started to repair the sections of the sandcastle Brie had wrecked. "Maybe I should have built it further away."

"So, deflecting to not answer me, eh?" Brie said, readying to kick down another part of the castle.

Sage held up a single finger. "Skarlax bylaw 102.3c-Z states that if a bounty is declared on any citizen of the five realms, three failed bounty attempts would require the bounty be re-reviewed, essentially throwing it out. Hypothetically speaking, if I or someone with a similar mindset took on that bounty and failed to collect it, and banked on a certain someone also trying and failing at the same task, I would be helping you long term."

"So you're just admitting it then?" Brie asked.

"I never admitted to anything," Sage said.

"How else would you know Skarlax's laws then?" Brie asked.

"Maybe I just like studying laws in different void nodes." Sage said, winking.

Infuriating. But there was something oddly pleasing about Sage even at their most scheming. Maybe it was just their handsome appearance, but there was charisma past that, too, not just their ability to charm people into being their thralls, just something oddly enticing about them.

"You know, you'd be somewhat charming if you didn't cloak yourself in pointless vagueness and mystique," Brie said.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Sage said.

"I'm sure," Brie sighed. "Well, I suppose I will go back and check on Derby of Hope, see if she wants to stroll around, possibly."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you,"

Brie whirled. That wasn't Sage's voice, but a familiar one nonetheless. A cloaked figure stood behind Sage, one Brie had spoken with before.

"Pave Du Nord," Brie said. "Magie's least favorite underling."

"Actually, I'm her most favorite, I won the poll!" Pave said, losing her cool within seconds, brow already sweaty.

"What poll?" Brie asked.

"The popularity poll between all of Magie's underlings, I won handily, I'll have you know, and—"

"Actually, never mind that, I don't care, what were you saying about Derby...? Of Hope...?" Brie asked.

Brie looked around, zeroing in on the spot her friends had set up at. No one was there. That didn't necessarily mean trouble, but Brie still felt a twinge of fear in her gut.

"Oh, right, the vital message I was sent to deliver," Pave said. "And not just deliver, a checkmate move that I executed flawlessly."

Brie leapt at the mage, but just as she should have touched her, Brie tumbled forward into the sand instead.

"This is just a projection, Brie," Pave Du Nord said. "In fact, I've also put a bubble around us, so don't bother asking for help."

"I wouldn't ask for help against a weakling like you," Brie said. "If you did something to Derby, you'll regret it."

"Well, I'll get to that," Pave said. "Your bride, the powerful and wise Magie de Madawaska, the Darkliest and Lordiest of Dark Lords, also sometimes simply known as the Darkliest, has sent a message for me to deliver," the mage cleared her throat. She, or the projection of her, unfurled a scroll much like the one that had delivered the news of Brie's marriage to Magie. "Brie de Meaux, Dark Lord of the Umpteenth Realm, and my future wife. I am incredibly displeased by your actions. I would have had you at your forever home already, but all of my bounties on you failed. And for moral reasons I refuse to drag you back to our glorious kingdom myself, so I am resorting to new measures. I have sent my greatest mage to lead an army of Elkaic monsters to the pathetic world you have absconded to. Not to attack you, as I know your might, but to make a different move. I've been watching you, Brie de Meaux. And I learned about all your new friends."

"What did you do?" Brie asked, teeth gritted, fists clenched. Sage reached forward to stop Brie from leaping at the projection of the mage again.

"I said, I'm getting to that!" Pave said. "Now where was I, you made me lose my place! Ah, there we go. Brie de Meaux: I have captured all of your new friends, and brought them with me to my castle. If you want to see them unharmed, you will return to me and marry me like you were supposed to. In my incredible kindness, I am giving you a few hours. If you do not appear before me in person, you will never see your little friends again. Sincerely, your love, Magie de Madawaska."

Pave rolled up the scroll. "And that's the message! Your friends were so easy to capture with Magie's perfectly summoned Elka monsters, they barely put up a fight! So the choice is yours, Brie. Stay in this world and keep running away, or face Magie. I know what I'd pick, but I'm not a coward like you. Ta-ta!" Pave's projection vanished.

Brie wasn't sure how long she stood there, but at some point she fell to her knees, she felt the grains against her knees.

It was too sunny, too nice a day for something horrible like this. Derby was in trouble. Magie had Derby. Magie had Derby's family. That new girl Lacy was probably taken, too.

"Magie de Madawaska...you've committed a grave offense..." Brie muttered to herself.

Sage, to their credit, didn't use this as a moment to strike or reveal they were in on this all in some scheme involving multiple dark lords.

"What do you want to do?" Sage asked.

Brie sighed. "There's only one thing we can do."

Brie didn't want to go back any time soon, but she didn't have a choice now. She conjured a portal, took a deep breath, and leapt to realm of the most powerful dark lord in the Skarlax realm.