I LOVE the fact that Scott has thrown in an “impossible” truth for our hero. Anyone who thinks that is the end of it hasn’t watched very many movies or read very many books. All of the best stories require sacrifice from the hero, otherwise, what’s the point? Just hearts and flowers and kisses and love? Cardboard cut outs of Dan and Nicole that are just stepford-wife happy-dappy for Alex and Nastajia to live happily ever after with both Dreamland and Earth at their beck and call? No! I want a deeper, more compelling story. And Scott is working hard to make it that.

Thank you, Scott, for the years of blood, sweat and tears that you’ve put into bringing us this amazing story. *hug*

There are a lot of people not happy with this scenario, but you don’t see them tossing around insults towards Scott’s storytelling ability. Niviene isn’t badly written, but she isn’t very consistent at the moment. I’m chalking that up to the fact that she is tail-dragging tired from the spell that allowed Felicia and Nicole to see each other again.

No, I don’t like her, but methinks ye take it a wee bit too far.

You, as a father, would have to look at how the second kid managed to obtain the “thing” in question, and decide whether there was foul play, and what the consequences are of taking said “thing” away from the second kid to give it to the first kid.

In this instance, however, the one in charge, so to speak, is the sword, and it has already decided that Alex is king. Regardless of whether it should have been someone else, that’s what is, now. And he has grown into that role, and has worked to the best of his ability to fill some pretty big shoes (notwithstanding the fact that the armor is set to magically fit him…) The fact remains that Dan would never even have had a chance at becoming king, had not Alex become king first. There are times when the right course of action is definitely not fair for all parties involved. The fact that Alex has been selected as king, unwittingly, on his part, is actually the right course of actions to finally set Dreamland back on track to having a king instead of a tyrant and despot. It may be “unfair” to Dan, but Dreamland would still be under Nicodemus’ rule, had it not been for Alex being at the right place, at the right time… and his willingness to put his life on the line for Dreamland.”

I completely agree with you here, Lake_Wrangler. I’d like to add on top of this that Niviene is completely discounting the fact that Dreamland has become Alex’ “second home” so to speak. Dan’s ONLY contact up to that point was through Alex’ descriptions of this wondrous place that he believed to be nothing more than a long series of really *awesome* dreams. Dreams worthy of him writing down Alex’ experiences as he was told them.

That being said, Niviene is not just asking Alex and Staj to give up their love for each other, she’s also asking him to give up the world that was part of his childhood. A place he came to love very much. A place that he FOUGHT for to free it from tyranny. In all of these things, she has no right nor privilege to make any kind of demands.

On top of all of that, she’s being HIGHLY disrespectful to royalty – not just Alex but Staj as well. If she’d copped even a tiny bit of this kind of attitude in a royal court, she’d have faced harsh punishment… no matter the fact she’s one of the mer-folk. Being an immortal know-it-all does not entitle her to be rude in the very face of the man who, despite her claims of not being the rightful king, IS the current ruler of the realm.