--- Hedera ---

Hedera was relaxing in the bath when she felt something odd pass over her. She was about to get up and look around when suddenly, she found herself upright and in the middle of nowhere. The first thing her hands did was twitch towards her weapons... but of course, she didn’t have any of them. She’d left them in her bedroom just outside the door. BECAUSE SHE WAS IN THE DAMN BATH.

The second thing Hedera did was cover her private areas as best as possible... before shaking her head and yelling, "I forfeit!". A blink later and she was in an infirmary with Thyme in a nurse outfit, and a second Thyme in a doctor’s coat looking over her. "What?"

Thyme sighed. "These duels have honestly been a mess. So many of them are completely unsatisfying but I don’t have any manual way to stop them. We’ve had a few draws, but you’re not the first person to immediately concede. Perhaps in other circumstances I would’ve complained about you not even trying but well..."

Thyme gestured towards her, and Heder glared back. She was currently under a set of covers and Hedera was pretty sure Thyme wasn’t interested in her... like that, but it was still a bit mortifying. "So... I’m stuck here until the timer runs out then?" asked Hedera.

"Yes indeed," agreed Thyme.

"Can I ask anything?" queried Hedera.

"I likely can’t answer any of your questions," offered Thyme.

"Didn’t you JUST complain about the duels being lacklustre?" asked Hedera.

Thyme shrugged, "Indeed I did, and perhaps I shouldn’t have... but yes at this point I’m getting a touch annoyed."

"Can I ask why?" Hedera offered.

"Perhaps, perhaps not... but I can just answer. The reason is that I had what some would call ’overly complicated rules’ for this round. They were shot down be the committee that inserted themselves into the process. They were meant to keep things fair, despite the fact that this round really has not be anything close to fair.

"I also wanted to prevent issues like the current one we have with the duels. It is far too easy to simply forfeit if you think you’re not going to win, and far too easy to draw by simply not fighting your opponent. I had solutions, but I was not allowed to implement them," grumbled Thyme.

"Why?" asked Hedera

"The rule book was too large. Though I actually wanted to make that part of the challenge. Originally, I was going to give the teams twenty-four hours with the rulebook to look over it. There was a bunch of rules, rules for changes to the rules, and rules for additional challenges like the duels. The idea, at least how I envisioned it, was that you could use the rules against your opponents and that finding and remember them all would be a major part of the task... but I wasn’t permitted. Perhaps I could’ve fought it... but I managed some other concessions. One of which, was additional payment for my time. I’m on track to bankrupt a LOT of people," Thyme agreed with a grin. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Wait, why would they agree to that?" asked Hedera. "Surely they’re not so stupid..."

"You’d think that, but you’d be wrong. They wanted to steal some revenue from anyone watching, as well as gambling on the outcome. I wasn’t even planning to set up anything for either thing... but they tried to force it. In the end I ’reluctantly’ agreed as long as they also shouldered some of the costs... just a small amount really. Just one percent," Thyme admitted with a grin.

"Oh..." Hedera intoned, as it hit her just how expensive this whole thing was to set up. Thyme could cheat being so powerful and with time magic on their side... plus friends to help out. But once there was money involved? Well, then there was proper accounting and it seemed like Thyme was making sure that everyone, themselves included were paid well.

There was one thing Hedera was curious about though... "Are you being paid as one actor... or like, however many people you’re playing?"

"Just one, but I’m getting extra for danger so it’s a lot more than it should be. So a little unfair but not quite so much you know?" offered Thyme.

"I just... alright?" sighed Hedera. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Well, one of the concessions I lobbied for is that nobody can peak into the medical rooms. A few other places to, though I still keep an ear out in any case. Though here? Nobody else can hear anything but the two of us so I can give away small hints if I want," explained Thyme.

Hedera narrowed her eyes. "You’ve always been... exceptionally fair about things. I can’t see you wanting to give away hints. Did... did those dwarves manage to sneak something they probably shouldn’t have in?"

Thyme shook their head. "Did or did not? Irrelevant. I might be willing to provide small hints and interesting little details but that sort of question is FAR too much for me to answer. Regardless of the truth, I’m not giving you anything on your other competitors."

"Ah, sorry about that. I just sort of thought that’s what you were building up to as some sort of grand reveal so I felt the need to ask because it seemed like that might be something you’d want me to do so sorry about that I guess I should just not ask anything else then?" Hedera rattled off.

Thyme shook their head. "Ask away, I’m not trying to say you should stop asking questions if you want to know. Just be aware that specific details on many things will remain hidden, and information about other competitors is the biggest thing I’ll be keeping close to my chest." As Thyme said that, the nurse Thyme placed two hands over their breasts, while the doctor Thyme slapped his chest hard twice as if he was a warrior.

Hedera sucked in a deep breath of air and tried to force herself to calm down a bit. "Does... is this sort of like the fact you appeared to Kat for a bit?"

Thyme shook their head again while holding up an ’X’ "Once again, can’t talk about other contestants. Not even your teammates, both current and officially. It doesn’t matter if Kat would allow you the information, or if you know for certain what did or did not happen. Kat could’ve been lying and I cannot confirm something like that. Well, technically I CAN but I won’t."

"But... Kat literally can’t lie..." mumbled Hedera.

Thyme raised an eyebrow. "I feel as though you’re missing the point a touch..."

"Yeah sorry... it just seemed like an easy thing to pick at. It’s... easy to talk to you for some reason," admitted Hedera.

"Could be the relaxation plants built into the ceiling," Thyme commented idly.

Hedera snapped her head upwards... but all she saw was a white substance that didn’t really look like a plant. Or well, it looked like treated wood. "Um..." began Hedera.

"The roof is quite porous and allows for the scent to drift downwards. It’s intended to help anyone here sleep and also ensure that they don’t freak out and hurt themselves in some silly way while I fix up their injuries," explained Thyme.

"Can’t you fix anything instantly?" asked Hedera.

"Yes but that’s not optimal for the body," Thyme stated. "I’d still do it if someone was seriously injured. Taking things slowly when, as an example, someone was missing their legs or had been cut in half lengthwise would be far worse then using my faster methods of healing people. Risking a bit of soul deviation and phantom pain is nothing compared to potentially starving the brain of oxygen while your flesh slowly nits back together,"

Hedera shivered. "Um... soul deviation sounds bad..."

Thyme shrugged, "It’s basically just when your soul and your body don’t match up properly. In this case, I’d be turning back time on the body but not the soul... and it can sort of tell? Of course because I’m just using it to heal the consequences tend to be minor. Slight issues with fine motor control and sometimes the wounds I’ve healed still hurt because the soul hasn’t properly registered that they’ve healed but it can tell the brain hasn’t ’noticed’ them. Which of course it hasn’t, they’re gone."

Hedera sucked in a deep breath and sunk deeper into the bed. While it seemed like Thyme did want to share and even give her some hints... she wasn’t sure her heart could take it. Of course, sinking further under the covers reminded her of other bits of her anatomy that perhaps should be addressed. "Um... do you have any spare clothes?"

"Yes I do of course... but not that I’m allowed to give you. That might be considered armour after all," Thyme explained.

Hedera frowned, "Can’t you let me use them while I’m here at least? I don’t even want to leave with them."

"Hmmm... alright then," agreed Thyme.