Well, now that the Dragon is dead attempting to grab the loot from the fountain isn't like the fantasy equivalent of sticking your hand in a bathtub somebody threw a toaster into.

  "Sorry you had to run into them in an unpleasant place, Angel.  But at least it wasn't until after the problems were dealt with."

Velocity nods.  "Sorry we couldn't have been more help, hon.  I'll answer all your questions in time.  Thanks for the introductions."

She smiles and bows to the heroes.

So does Daddy.  He introduces himself and his wife with a voice fit for a singer.  "Billy and Velocity Bard.  Very nice to meet you."

Cherub flies over to pet Angel and nods to her parents.  "So very nice to meet you too!"

Imp grins proudly and brags, "You wouldn't believe how super amazing awesome Angel's become!"

Mits shrugs. "From what I saw, I think they would believe."

Angel smiles and says, "...amazing enough to keep up with this bunch, at least. Matt is the kind of guy to stand in front of a dragon and not even be phased. Mittens is the kind of gal who dashes enemies to bits quickly. Maverick is the kind of guy to sneak up to our enemies and do all the hurt at once. Carla is an angel who uses her super angelic powers to make our enemies weaker, and she has called her siblings in to help sometimes. Adam isn't here, but he is the heir prince of the kingdom Unity and has gotten down and dirty with us, punching enemies with his bare fists when he wasn't putting them to the sword. He has a panther buddy named Lucky who seems timid at first until it is time to defend his allies..." she gives a helpless smile to her parents. "So much to catch up on... for now, I guess, we get these rescuees back to town."

  "To be fair, the Dragon that lived in a sewer was more dangerous than this one, and I hit this one all of one time."  If only because his friends mulched through the room that fast.

"This one at least had better hygiene," Mits points out.

"Yup.  Dragon slaying.  All in a day's work," Imp boasts.

"The reason we came this way was to help Angel find you," Cherub points out, "She's missed you so much!"

"Wow!" Velocity answers, "So happy to hear you have such nice friends.  But yes.  We should see to getting these people safely home."

"We've been looking for you too, hon," Billy says, "But when we heard about these poor folks being abducted, we couldn't say no to helping them."

The elves of course are very grateful and thank the heroes for the escort back to the nearest village.  This being a dangerous forbidden area and all.

Angel can't stop clinging to her parents, so she doesn't.

Maverick follows from a distance, continuing to remain hidden. He figures even if those are really Angel's parents, it would be best to keep distance until it is time for "the friends" to get more cozy with Angel's parents.

Angel begins filling the parents in on what led to her and her friends coming to this end of the world. "And so... heard you were known as "The Voice" in these parts. Famous heroes; a powerful duo..."

Carla meanwhile, glances at Matt and asks telepathically, "What are your parents like?"

  Matt figured with literally everyone else having interesting family moments cropping up of late, that would come up.

   Matt looks to Carla, and engages in braintalks 'Relatively normal, I guess.  Mom passed away while I was too young to really remember her, and Dad's habit of pipe smoking while working the forge didn't do his health any favors.  All I can hope is they at least landed in the same general vicinity of the afterlife.' Preferably one without soul munching wildlife.

Billy chuckles at the name.  "Yes.  Not the name we chose for ourselves, but it's the one that became popular."

Velocity smiles slyly at her husband then explains to Angel, "Your daddy's voice is so heart-melting, it's what people tend to remember between the two of us.  Can't really blame them."

Cherub nod-nods. "I can see why!  Or... can hear..."

Imp points out, "We were a bard once.  Kinda.  See, seems there was a person named Mittens who got turned into lots of different people named Mittens.  One of those was a bard.  But she's kinda been merged with Sith-face over here."

Mits rubs behind her head.  "Doubt I could compare to Billy here even when I was singing cultist's brains out.  Still sing on occasion.  Usually when I'm feeling especially killtastic."

Billy nods.  "Yeah.  Bardic powers can make expressions like, 'Bring the house down,' a tad more literal."

Angel nods vigorously at Vel. "Yeah... I remember. Dad could melt all my muscles into butter with just a couple lines of song. I've found I can sing also, but I tend to not have much of a singing mood during combat." She then looks at Billy. "I long to hear you sing, daddy... but I worry that if you do, we won't make it to town. So would you mind singing once we get to town?"

Carla puts a hand on Matt and telepaths, "Sorry they aren't around anymore."

  Matt smiles softly, "Thanks, Carla.  They may have been shorter than usual, but at least they had peaceful lives."  Even if there is no escaping that guilty feeling of not wanting to attempt a rez, just because you know they wouldn't go for it.

  To the rest, he comments "At least you shouldn't have to wait long then.  Even it wildlife is stupid enough to try and stop us on the way."  *random encounter table*  You rolled... Drakebears? I've never heard of... Oh that's right, they are in the'D&D Monster manual 4: The D stands for Drake'

Billy chuckles.  "No worries.  I've got one just for travel.  And I'll be happy to sing for everyone when we get home."

He conjures a small drum and plays a lively beat that magically makes the group more fleet-footed.  Soon the group is back at the village and many tearful reunions are had among the families of the victims.  The heroes are treated to an impromptu feast and Billy provides music.  His voice lives up to it's reputation.  Even without any magical effects, it's very pleasant to hear - probably the most angelic male voice a human can have.  The elves are entranced.

"That was amazing!" the Mittensezez all agree, clapping.

Angel just gazes dreamily at her dad when he sings, tears welling up in her eyes. While there are a number of others who can be brought to tears from Billy's singing, for Angel it is just plain personal.

Maverick finally makes an appearance during the entrancing song and sits with Mittens. It is impossible for him to hide he just loves the music.

Carla is no different. She enjoys the music so much she just melts in her seat.

After the revelry; singing, eating and being merry, Angel asks, "OK so how about catching up? Like why dad is alive."

Angel is SO glad Unity has been making strides towards getting the portal information on this area so that travel to and from Unity or this foreign land would only be a matter of money.

  In Soviet fantasy land, Elves cry over your songs.

  "Sorry Mittens, looks like Billy really is the better singer."  Though Mittens has much better pyrotechnical stage work.

Mits smiles and shrugs.  "I'm ok with this."

"My ears are very ok with this!" Imp cheers.

Vel smiles somewhat smugly at Angel's question and answers simply, "Because I made up my mind he wasn't allowed to stay dead."

Billy chuckles and nuggies his wife, making her blush.  "Don't let her fool you.  It wasn't that easy.  She worked very hard to get me back.  Heaven's got nothing on being with her, so of course I jumped at the chance to return."

Vel blushes all the more and the two lovingly embrace.

Angel chuckles. "My friends and I can empathize... Maverick's parents were dead. But we had gathered the pieces of an ancient relic called the Ashen Crown and brought them back."

Maverick nods. "They explained that they rather liked heaven... but my need for them to be here for me was much greater than their desire to be there."

Since Mav's parents came along to this foreign land, they of course smile and cuddle their son.

Angel says, "I'll bet Heaven misses you, though, Dad."

She then goes to join the embrace.

Carla telepaths, "So what exactly was that magic you used, Velocity?"

  "It is important to have hobbies outside of revenge, otherwise everything starts to look like revenge."

And now we will be making pancakes.  These eggs may have been stolen from their mother, but don't worry we broke the farmer's knees and made him apologize to the cows we got this milk from in the process.

  The chocolate chips represent my tear on the day my parents were killed, as you can see they fell in a frowny face pattern, reflecting my brooding yet vulnerable heart and sweet tooth.

  ...What were we posting about again?

Cherub squees! "Aaah!  Cute family huggles!"

She joins the Mav cuddle.  Billy smiles and blushes at Angel's compliment and kisses her on top of her head.

Vel nonchalantly shrugs at Carla's question.  "Dark pact warlock type.  Don't worry.  I don't hold any enmity toward followers of Pelor simply because of the flavor of my magic."

"Heaven for me is endless adventure," Mits muses.

"Guess that makes hanging out with our friends heaven," Imp concludes.

  Pacts with yourself save on so much paperwork, don't they Velocity?

  "Honestly I prefer the more normal moments, but I have this problem where I just can't sit back and watch when people are being shoved into scenery, or whatever the immediate problem that always turns up is."

Angel asks, "Before we leave the area... are there things of import that need attention? I would like to be able to just relax and love on you two for a week or so before jumping into more heroing if possible... but if there are things that need immediate attention..."

"No urgent heroing needed that we know of, hon," Velocity coos.

"I tend to go out of my way looking for trouble," Mits says, "But hanging out with this group makes adventure just happen wherever we go.  Need to go pick up milk and bread?  Monster ambush!"

"Fer real," Imp agrees, "No exaggeration, just taking a walk to visit our friend Adam ended in violence."

Cherub chimes in, "Speaking of whom, it's a simple matter of using a scroll to go visit him!  So shall we?"

Billy nods. "Don't see why not."

  Matt nods, "I'll deal with the basic scrollwork if you want to be saved the trouble, Carla."  Somewhere, a wizard burst into tears.

  "Though it would probably close a bit faster in my case, so stop and stare at the portal after going through it.

Carla nods to Matt, indicating for him to go ahead and get the return set up.

Maverick nods to Imp. "But we ended it."

Angel chuckles from the commentary and says, "Or the very recent one where we were just listening to someone read off a guy's will when a big fire demon with fire zombies popped out of the ground."

Maverick says, "Or how about: Crossing a bridge? Pay the toll or die."

Once portal is ready, of course, Angel, Carla and Maverick step through with Mittens, Matt, Billy and Velocity.

The group finds themselves back in the familiar chamber of the mage guild with the portal circle in it.  Yay!  Before long, they're taken to Adam in the cosy dining room he likes to lounge in.

"Congratulations, Angel!" he cheers, "And welcome back, everyone."

Lucky of course gives her lots of kitty congrats and welcome backs of his own.

---

OOC: Relinquishing control of Angel's parents from here on.  Only wanted to hold on to them for the "surprise!  we went to the same adventure you did!" angle.

  Clearly Unity makes its money with design rights to fantasy recliners (Now with Tankard holder and sword rack!).

  "Hello Adam, it is nice to be back." Lucky is the best facerending beast of prey yes he is isn't he?

Angel pets Lucky, giggling from the licking. Then says, "Thanks, Adam. Missed you too, Lucky." and then catches Adam up on the latest developments.

Maverick says, "The people over there have plenty of problems. What IS the name of 'over there' anyway?" he looks up at Billy and Vel.

Velocity says, "Terrandor."

Angel looks back at Adam. "Well... but mom and dad did say there were no pressing concerns back in Terrandor... Adam, do you have any pressing concerns?"

Carla is sure to feed the kitty.