[ the relief gets a slight twitch of a smile. this is their area, isn't it? a little place of crossover, of familiarity. ]

Mmhm.

[ vax agrees, taking a sip of his tea. the longer revivals are... messy. complicated. the raven queen deals in that specifically - people who avoid death, who pervert the very nature of it. but...

... they had to wait, to get percy. it took a couple days - two long days, before they were able to do anything. two days of misery, of their travels back from glintshore, of vex'ahlia trying to stay strong and breaking down in private by vax'ildan's side. that was only two days. longer feels... ]

Never always a guarantee that what you bring back's the same as what you left, either. [ death changes someone - vax knows it intimately. ]

...But, she told me something like that, once. [ its a memory of an old conversation - standing in the palm of a great goddesses hand, blood soaked and full of questions that got answers that just led to more - but one now he holds close to his chest. vax closes his eyes for a moment, remembering the skeins of the threads, the mask, and reciting. ] "Some destinies require enduring beyond a final moment, and to meet the moment many times, before a final death is to come. Bending destiny is in our influence, but to pervert it is an atrocity."

So I guess it just comes down to that. With whatever's happened here - is it a bending of destiny, or is it how things are supposed to be?