The Paragons’ visions cleared to show another vision of Zair, the dark-haired, silver-eyed woman, aboard a fully functioning version of The Rigalipio. In it, she read a letter she received from Selina, telling her she would reveal everything to Zair should she get home “to Selina” safely. At the end of the letter, Selina told Zair the Talons were now an obstacle for their “plan” and to eliminate them.
Zair reluctantly got to her feet to fulfill the deed, though she seemed distracted, likely from the truth she had learned from Korrin some time before this vision. When she tried to silence the first of her targets, the man awoke and evaded Zair’s strikes. In the scuffle, a lantern was knocked over and Zair was locked in a cabin. As the crew of The Rigalipio abandoned ship as it sank from the flames, Zair mumbled one last phrase about her regret over Selina’s decisions as she passed out on the bed. As the ship sank beneath the waves, the Paragons witnessed an amulet in the shape of a silver dragon open up and start leaking purple magic around her. Yet again, their vision blurred.
It cleared to yet another event of the past. They stood on a coast with King Korrin and his son Aurum sometime around 0 BD. Korrin told his son they were looking for an ally. He used his light-and-dark blade to cut through a heavy fog, revealing a similar, ghostly Rigalipio. After Aurum used his golden dragon wings, he could conjure at will to bring him and his father aboard, the two found Zair asleep in an upholstered bed. Korrin cursed, stating that she was already being turned into a servant of the Doom. He mentioned that she seemed to be fighting back, but that they should seal her away in the hopes someone better could free her in the future. Korrin had Aurum slice a bit of his palm that seemed to conjure more golden magic that channeled through their clasped hands to Korrin’s palm. He ignited four orbs of golden light to conjure the four golden flames the Paragons recognized that were sealing Zair in the captain’s quarters in present-day. Once the vision faded, the Paragons were back in the cabins of The Rigalipio.
They journeyed to the bottommost deck to find a room split in four by enchanted mirrors. Once they had evenly split into the four corners, three pairs of eyes materialized to attack them. One of silver, one of scarlet, and one of amethyst. Once defeated, the Paragons witnessed a third event.
They were in a castle tower, in a lavish bedroom. In it sat Selina in a white gown next to Zair in a sleeveless red gown that matched Selina’s eyes perfectly. Her right arm was covered a sprawling tattoo of floral designs the Paragons had not yet seen. Zair expressed to Selina her reservations about Selina marrying Korrin, that he was a schemer. Selina tried to allay Zair’s fears by saying that she was in fact a schemer, and that she had her first scheme ready. Selina added with a smile that she would still be Zair’s, as the two shared a kiss.
The Paragons were then warped to the ceremony, inside the white marble throne room of Luxen, around 18 BD. Zair stood at the front of Selina’s line of friends, and she still looked angered. As Selina and Korrin turned to their elven officiator to begin the vows, he gave a sly wink to Zair. The Paragons noticed Zair slide her hand into her bouquet, nearly grabbing something metallic, but seemed to change her mind at the last moment. The vision faded.
The Paragons returned to the top deck and found that three of the golden flames had vanished, leaving the final one. After fiddling with the colored powders and the lanterns around the ship, the final wisp of flame vanished once five of the lanterns were lit, and the one at the prow of the ship was colored silver. Another vision appeared of a young, late teen Selina making her way into the city of Luxen, seemingly having traveled a fair distance. She was accosted by some thugs as the sun set, but the thugs were quickly dispatched with a quite young Zair, her twin blades drawn. She gave Selina a mischievous smirk and offered to teach her how to use “these”, as she gestured to the blades. The vision faded.
With that, the captain’s quarters were unlocked. The Paragons stepped inside.
Inside, they found the semi-transparent form of Sariel still contemplating the same upholstered bed they saw in the void-realm, except they now stood in front of it in the real world. Sariel warned the party that Zair’s very soul seemed at war with itself, and to prepare themselves. Zair began to stir. Sariel’s figure vanished, and the party stepped back onto the deck as Zair gathered her bearings.
Zair seemed to speak in a more sinister tone than what they had witnessed, and her silver eyes had gone to a corrupted shade of amethyst. A purple streak also lined her black hair. On her bare right arm was now a tattoo of a sprawling, inked dragon with glowing silver eyes. She claimed she had a mission to “shatter the mountain”, and that she didn’t recognize any “Selina”. Seeing there would be no reasoning with this corrupted form of Zair, the Paragons entered battle.
Zair dealt a fair number of grievous wounds to some of the Paragons throughout the fight. Every so often, it seemed as though Zair entered a sort of stasis where her dragon amulet attempted to restore her vitality with further Doom Magic. While this was happening, three cloaked figures would try to keep the Paragons off of her. They were glowing similar colors as the eyes in the cargo hold: silver, scarlet, and amethyst. Using golden chains that sprouted from Zair’s amulet, the Paragons sealed the figures away and finally depleted the corruption in Zair until she was defeated.
As she lay slumped against the railing of the ship, the Paragons witnessed the purple corruption drip away from her eyes, revealing the silver underneath. The purple streak in her hair gave way to black, and the silver eyes in her tattoo glowed brighter. She began to get to her feet as the Paragons kept their weapons ready, just in case…