Froufrou spun the metaphorical wheels in her mucus membrane mind as she juggled the decision - would she select a timeline as is, or would she twist a timeline so as to alter it for a more advantageous outcome? She'd almost forgotten to consider twisting her timelines as she was thinking through her present [checkpoint], and generally was leaning towards the opinion that it would be somewhat wasteful not to use this part of Kahli's shared [skill].

Of course, knowing that she could twist a timeline opened Froufrou up once again to the choice of which timeline she'd be selecting. Indeed, this question was almost one and the same with the question of twisting a timeline, as there were a number of concepts to consider. Was there even a point to twisting the third scenario? If Froufrou were indeed to twist it, what would she change, and what benefit would it impart?

Then again, if Froufrou wanted to even consider the first scenario, it needed to be twisted. She didn't want to establish a timeline wherein the Supreme Time Protector died due to her own choices - it was messy, and Froufrou didn't really trust the alternative Supreme Time Protector regardless of whether or not they had purported to be just as good or bad as the present timeline's Supreme Time Protector.

So, how would she twist it? Froufrou could imagine somehow changing the alternative Supreme Time Protector's vision of the future so that they weren't prepared to fight themself, but then again, that would just end in the alternative Supreme Time Protector getting slaughtered by their non-alternate self. It seemed like the whole thing was a bit of a wash, on further consideration.

Unless...

Froufrou squelched to herself a few times. See, if she did focus on that first timeline, and she played her cards just right, then she might be able to continue that rather intriguing conversation with the bone dragon. Of course, the risk of that would be that if Froufrou wasn't careful, she would indeed end up botching the timeline so badly that she'd be stuck with the original scenario, as she knew that once she twisted a timeline her other scenarios were off the table.

Then again, there was the whole situation with Sahdi. See, Froufrou wanted Kahli to keep Sahdi around. Sahdi was valuable, Sahdi was a healer, and Froufrou didn't care how hard she had to work in order to convince Kahli of that fact. However, one of Froufrou's concerns was that, seeing as Sahdi fell out of the air to her probable doom in the third scenario, how likely was it that she may have fallen as well in the first scenario? Had she tumbled off the side of G'athoong and perished, completely unnoticed by everyone, Froufrou included? It was just as likely. So really, if Froufrou chose to twist scenario one, she had to do a damn good job or she'd end up costing two lives. And Froufrou, despite her supposed Harbinger of Doom status, didn't really vibe with the idea of choosing a timeline that killed people when she could just as easily not.

And yet, it still felt near impossible to decide. For as much as Froufrou felt there were ideal things about the third scenario, the chance to optimize the first scenario, to check all the boxes, to make it the perfect scenario by twisting it in just the right way so that she got all of the benefits and none of the drawbacks... why, it appealed to Froufrou's very core, to her soul, and indeed, to her soul's core at that. That is to say that were Froufrou to be harvested by Silash in order to fill a soul core, that very soul core would've resonated itself strongly at such an idea. An optimized idea. Of course, Froufrou was none the wiser regarding the whole issue with Silash, although it was presently in the process of being attempted at the crux of her current [checkpoint].

"And so my older self, as in, my older older self, as in, the self that's older than even my older self that you know so well, well, they said that time really is more of kind of like some sort of, how did they put it, like some sort of an oblate oblong, that is, well, akin to a deflated balloon prone against the ground, so, time is something like that," babbled the younger Supreme Time Protector near incomprehensibly.

Froufrou squelched in embarrassment. After all, she hadn't been paying a lick of attention to the younger Supreme Time Protector and hadn't rightly even noticed that they'd been speaking to her at all. Apparently, they'd been pontificating about the nature of time. And that was just as well, but Froufrou really had no idea it had been occurring at all. With that, though, she felt forced into a squelch of embarrassment - which, fortunately enough for herself, launched Froufrou into a series of stinky expulsions that appeared to the younger Supreme Time Protector, naive as they were, to believe that she'd been listening intently to them after all.

"I'm glad you have thoughts on my musings, Froufrou, even though I can't tell fully what they are," replied the young Supreme Time Protector. "You know, I've talked to so many people about this and they just... they just shut down! It's like their minds always go into some sort of weird fugue state and they think only of other things the entire time! They pay no attention to me at all! By the gods, I've told... who all have I told... I told my younger self and they were yawning the whole time... I told my older self and my older older self and neither of them gave a shit... hell, I told my parents and I don't even know if they blinked the whole time, it's like their minds were replaced for the entirety of my soliloquy with those of a goldfish or something... I told this random guy I met while traveling back eons in the past and he passed out while blathering on about some sort of psychological theory that was completely unrelated to anything I had to say... I told those titans that created the universe that Nomachiato resides in and I'm pretty sure one of them permanently turned themself into a huge cluster of galaxies so that they'd never have to hear me speak again, this was in their own final words mind you... yea, pretty much nobody I've talked to about this has paid me any mind or respect. And here you are, this... this thing of some sort, with, uh, tendrils or whatever, and you're giving what are clearly thoughtful responses! Oh, if only I knew what you were squelching to me. Froufrou, you and I could probably conquer the world together, you know." The young Supreme Time Protector started audibly sobbing. "Finally, someone cares what I have to say! Oh my gods, it's so fucking gratifying, I feel in this moment like I'm finally prepared to die!!"

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Froufrou felt very uncomfortable and embarrassed in this moment. She didn't know how to rightfully respond to such an absurd display, however she was exceedingly grateful that she didn't really have to. Clearly, regardless of what it was that Froufrou thought or even what she squelched, this younger Supreme Time Protector was indeed so foolish, hopeful, and in need of validation that they almost immediately jumped at the chance to believe that Froufrou was receptive to their... ramblings, whatever information it was that they contained. So, she squelched. It seemed that the younger Supreme Time Protector would gleefully fill in the gaps in interpreting it on Froufrou's behalf.

"Finally! Somebody gets it... Fuck, somebody finally gets me, too!" The younger Supreme Time Protector wailed in what was clearly an extremely ugly cry, regardless of the fact that their white cowl kept their face fully shrouded. "Oh my gods, Froufrou, I'm so glad that I came here. You know, Froufrou, when my older self had me come here to watch over you I initially thought it was - if we're being real here - I thought the whole thing was shit. That is to say, I was pretty fucking disappointed. I thought that I was just getting, if we're being really real, I thought I was getting mugged off a bit. More than a bit, even. I mean, what even are you, Froufrou? You're just writhing around here in the void, squelching this way and that, and when I first got in here through the rift in time you were but barely waking up from a nap. You got pulled into a [checkpoint] and your first thought was to nap!! The whole thing just, it made me feel like I was an idiot and that this whole situation was like a hazing exercise for young Supreme Time Protectors such as myself. But now, I see everything differently. I see you differently, Froufrou - I see you as so much more than just some strange little entity that makes no logical sense to my mind as I attempt to behold you, all your moving tendrils more disgusting than the next... And yet now you seem to be to me nothing but a being of immense beauty and indeed timeless wisdom. It is a wonder you are not indeed revered across Nomachiato. Revered or feared, of course, I know they say you are the Harbinger of Doom or what have you... Regardless, Froufrou, I cannot thank you enough for gracing me with your presence and respect, you... You wonderful thing."

Froufrou didn't rightly know how to feel about all this business. See, on one tendril, this younger Supreme Time Protector kept calling her a thing, and she just couldn't stand it. It infuriated her. On the other hand, the younger Supreme Time Protector was gushing on and on about how great Froufrou was, and of course that struck Froufrou as an exemplary example of how to behave around her. She was the Harbinger of Doom, wasn't she? Wasn't she?

Regardless, Froufrou suddenly had an inkling of an idea. Had something changed within her system to be affecting such a behavior on this younger Supreme Time Protector? Nothing like this had happened to her before, and while this person seemed quite foolish, they didn't seem to be indeed as foolish as they were presently acting.

[Clarification: You are presently witnessing an effect of Kahli's Tale Teller skill, which of course flows on to you as all of her skills do, and indeed as yours do to her. While you may not be able to speak in the language the younger Supreme Time Protector is using, the effects of your skill can still contort their perception of what you are intending to squelch to them.]

Fascinating. So this was in part due to a [skill] - specifically, to [Tale Teller]. How fortunate for Froufrou!

"All that said," said the younger Supreme Time Protector with a sniffle. "Have you decided what scenario you're going to pick? Are you going to twist one or anything?"

Froufrou squelched in affirmative, regardless of whether or not the young Supreme Time Protector would understand her. She had decided that she was going to go with her passion, she was going to choose joy, and she was going to twist the first scenario.

It was time to get meditating.