The Tower of Passion

"You're a TIME PALADIN?" Liddy burst out. She really seemed so much more comfortable with the open sky and the ocean.
"If you want to be stupid about it, yes" Qaerlyz never let up her stern tone.
"That's incredible." Liddy was looking up at the woman still, nearly twice her height. "And are you a dragon?"
"Yes. And yes. Now." Their newcomer seemed to take the lead immediately, naturally. Fiona was happy to defer - she seemed experienced. "Let's understand what this dungeon intends for us" Qaerlyz looked down the beach - they seemed to be at one end of a cove, the beach stretching for at least a mile and the very tip of the other side of the half-moon raised to a cliff.

"There." The dragon said, pointing at the tip of the cliff.
Fiona straining her eyes, saw... some form of structure.
"Seems as good a place to start as any. Let's go."
"I'll cut across - scout ahead" Liddy set off before anyone could protest.

"She's a support class." Qaerlyz said bluntly.
"Yeah."
"What if something happens? What if there's a sea creature? This is not tactically sound."
"Nope" Fiona really couldn't add much.
"She's gonna do what she wants to though. Lets go, she'll come back to us shortly" She started walking across the beach, wondering how the fully plate-armoured dragon would fare walking over a mile in the sand. One eye keeping an eye on the fast-moving wake, speeding across the cove that was Liddy. Timmy dipping in and out of the water, the two clearly in their element.

**********************************************************
It didn't take very long before Fiona got her answer about the heavy plate on the beach, and as it turned out, it was a terrible idea. Qaerlyz very pointedly did not make a big deal out of it, but she lagged behind regularly. Fiona, whose armour essentially was beach wear was very comfortable enjoying the feeling of sand between her toes. She could tell the stern woman did not want any help and made out as if she was distracted by something every time she waited. 

Which, she was. She picked some pretty shells, looked at colourful birds flying past and genuinely enjoyed herself. She'd not been to the beach since she was a kid - and never somewhere tropical. English beaches were... Well, not this.

This was a paradise.

Qaerlyz had fallen behind again when Liddy suddenly burst out of the waves again and made a beeline for Fiona. It warmed her heart to see her friend so happy. If only one of these dungeons could be a dark room filled with sex toys, and monitors and just let her play her games.

"What's up with the dragon lady?" Liddy asked walking up to Fiona.
"Metal armour, sand, heat." Fiona smiled. "Don't tell her we've noticed though... She's prickly about it."
"No armour gals" Liddy chanted, eliciting a laugh from her friend. She danced around in the shallows for a second, splashing Fiona with seawater. 
"So, find anything fun?" Fiona laughed at Liddy's antics, her friend's joy contagious. But she was curious about what she'd seen on her scouting mission.
"Yes! Well, I don't know if it's fun." Liddy crossed her arms. "It's... It's like a gazebo temple thing - I didn't go too close, there's a brazier and a large orb." Classic fantasy story ocean temple stuff. But what could it do? She wasn't sure, not yet. 
"Anything else?" That couldn't be it - at this point in the previous dungeon, they'd already been fighting Sporlings. This seemed... slower. Maybe it was a puzzle dungeon? It definitely had a different, slower pace. It let Fiona enjoy the beach, which she definitely enjoyed. 

Liddy was about to continue when the sound of clinking, clattering armour approached them.
"Beaches are inefficient." Qaerlyz wheezed. Only a tiny amount of sweat on her forehead betrayed her discomfort. She quickly wiped it away, leaving her immaculate.
"Hey, Qae-Qae" Liddy waved at the woman.
The expression on the paladin's face was not amused.
"Qaerlyz. Mazayl. Franath." She nearly snarled at Liddy, who hopped back in surprise. "Do not shorten it. It is a name of honour."
"Oh... Ok but - that's... Long. What if we're in combat?" Liddy asked. "Honour is good, but I can't shout all that if your heads are about to come off." 
"That's..." Qaerlyz considered. "Reasonable. During high-stress situations, Qae will be acceptable." She nodded.
"Great! Thanks, Qae-Qae, I am always stressed in the tower!"
"I did not permit Qae-Qae." She stared at Liddy. "You are wasting efficiency."
"Right." Liddy gave Fiona a mischievous grin, before barrelling past this entire subject of conversation.

"So I was telling Fi-Fi" Fiona raised an eyebrow at that one but stayed quiet letting the sea gnome continue her shenanigans. "There's a little temple gazebo, brazier, mystical orb, all that. There's a massive stone statue next to it - some enormous monster, big snarly teeth. Looks like an eel's head, but bipedal arms. Scary fella."

Fiona thought for a moment, presuming she knew what would happen.
"Definitely where we need to be." She said. 
Qaerlyz nodded. "Certainly. Still a while to walk to get there. I... I apologize for hindering the party. This is not suitable terrain for me." She seemed... Shameful. Like she had failed.
"It's ok." Fiona didn't want to patronize the woman. "We... Appreciate the apology. But it's fine - I'm enjoying the walk on the beach, Liddy definitely is enjoying the sea."
Qaerlyz looked uncertain. 
"As long as we get to the gazebo and have some time to understand its purpose, I say we're making good pace for today." She had a thought. "Wait. You're a time paladin right?"
Qaerlyz didn't seem happy with the description. 
"If you want to be stupid. I am bound to the god of time to ensure any outside entities attempting to meddle with the continuous pattern decided for us are stopped.  I protect the continuum, to ensure it protects us." That was a lot of potentially terrifying information loaded on Fiona that she chose to ignore for the moment.

"Okay." the Berserker continued. "How does time flow in here - is it the same as in our spheres? And is it the same in every dungeon?"
Qaerlyz looked puzzled as if that's something Fiona should know. Liddy burst in.
"Oh - her sphere's just connected. She's one of the first - didn't have any information to study." Liddy looked uncertain though. "Although I don't really get it either."
Qaerlyz still looked doubtful but seemed to accept that apology.
"It makes sense that you do not understand Liddy. It does not seem like something you would concern yourself with. In short - it is different on every floor. In the dungeon, it depends on the sphere the original dungeon was based on. All of these places exist... Somewhere in the eternal paths. And while it's never too out of sync - at most a day becomes three, to our current knowledge - it is never quite the same. With your sphere, it could be longer, but no extreme outlier has yet been identified. It is something we attempt to track to the best of our ability within the order"
Fiona nodded, amazed but not surprised.
"Time is relative I guess" She muttered.
"Indeed." Qaerlyz looked impressed. "Now, let us not waste it" Qaerlyz set off at as brisk a pace as she could manage, heavy boots sinking into the sand with every step. The Monk and the Berserker quickly followed.

It was another twenty minutes of the paladin struggling through the sand, with the two friends sauntering along behind her. At least letting her pretend to be in the lead - which they thought she appreciated, as they had a conversation.

"The link's stayed." Fiona said.
"Probably cause we fu... We activated it after the boss was dead." Liddy looked out to the ocean, intently studying some birds flying there.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Fiona continued. "How do we tell Qaerlyz about my class?" 
Liddy looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well... You don't have to, you know... GO that far. Just share a passion."  Liddy got a mischievous smile on her face. "And don't call her that - I'm making Qae-Qae stick."
Fiona snorted. "I don't think I have many passions in common with a Paladin of Time"
"Her class is so cooool" Liddy whined. "Like Timmy is great, and I love being a monk but Time Paladin is... Amazing!"
Fiona giggled. She'd never even heard of the concept before - so many paladins, but time? That was new to hear. She'd love to play one in a game.

The thought made her sad, immediately. Thinking about her friends she'd left behind, about Annabelle. It could have been anywhere between a day and weeks since she'd left, from what Qaerlyz said. She shook the feeling away. It wasn't constructive, and she didn't want to cry. Not on the beach with one - two, really, beautiful women.

"Next subject, how do we deal with little Fiona?" Liddy was less shy now, looking directly towards Fiona's bulge. Qae hadn't noticed it at all it seemed - or, at the very least she hadn't been obvious about it. It had remained quiet so far, but it would raise its big, fat, girthy head at some point.
"I don't know... I..." Fiona was absolutely lost.
"We can hide behind a rock?" Liddy suggested. Fiona giggled.
"You really want to help?" Fiona was uncertain - she felt like she put far too much on her friend. It can't be easy.
"Of course - if you'd have it. We're friends. Good friends" Liddy patted Fiona's ass. Like friends do. Gave it a squeeze. Like friends do?
Fiona was going some shade of purple. "Really good friends" She confirmed.

"Thank the continuum" Qaerlyz burst out from ahead of them, and the pair rushed up to see what she'd found. The beach continued, but a path up towards the cliff had appeared. And it was packed, solid dirt and rock. Substrate she would not sink into.
"Let's go Qae-Qae" Liddy cheered and wasn't even reprimanded for the use of the nickname. 
"Let us continue - we should make better time from here" The paladin didn't acknowledge it, but Fiona thought the paladin looked like she was about to cry. Her stern visage almost faltered after the immediate disappointment of feeling like she'd let her party members down.

Unhindered by the sand, it took minutes before the party was at the top of the cliff, overlooking the endless ocean in nearly every direction. From here Fiona could see they were on a rather small island - the bit of jungle a narrow strip. It was beautiful. Not so much the statue. Grotesque was the word that came to mind.

It was at least twelve feet tall, if not further in mid-charge towards the little gazebo. A head like a moray eel, neck extended and open, a silent eternal roar towards the unlit brazier and orb. Its bipedal body was like a smooth, scale-covered gorilla. An outstretched hand grasping forward, clawed and webbed fingers, big rippling muscles. A high ridge ran down its spine, a fin, ending in a thick, muscular tail.

As soon as she saw it, Fiona realized one thing.

"It's gonna come alive." She was absolutely, completely certain. "As soon as we light that brazier - it's gonna come alive."
Qaerlyz nodded. "Probably." She approached the statue slowly, looking around it. "Doesn't  have any obvious weak points." The dragon woman inspected their expected opponent.

"No time like the present. You approach the gazebo - I will be ready to intercept."