A/N: Thought of this as I was brainstorming a possible future fic.

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(Enter Klarth and Ratatosk)

Klarth: Was that really necessary?

Ratatosk: Was what?

Klarth: How you wanted to act as a seal to the Ginnungagap, the door to the demonic realm.

Ratatosk: Richter broke the original seal. What else was I supposed to do?

Klarth: Couldn't you redo the seal?

Ratatosk: Theoretically I could have, but that requires the most skilled elvish mages there are, and if I'm not mistaken, many elves died when the Tower of Salvation collapsed.

Klarth: Hmm. But you are aware that your makeshift seal ... didn't do it.

Ratatosk: I know that! Many areas of Niflheim crossed the dimensional rift between the worlds, which created the Daemonium in your time.

Klarth: Though I must say, it's not all that bad. Niflheim hadn't completely overrun our world, just parts of theirs fused with ours. Plus if that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have been able to make pacts with the Daemonium Spirits.

Ratatosk: Tch.

Klarth: Also, did you still administer mana along with Martel?

Ratatosk: Yeah. After about a thousand years or so, the makeshift seal broke, partly because magitechnology was on the rise again. Even so, balance had to be maintained. Along with Origin, we closed the dimensional boundary as much as we could, which made the Daemonium.

Klarth: The Centurions still control monsters?

Ratatosk: Yeah.

Klarth: And even when the world tree withered, the land did not die.

Ratatosk: Because I rewrote the laws of the planet.

Klarth: But I can't help but wonder--where were you when the seal broke? Assuming there's a four thousand year gap between your time and ours, you had to have been somewhere during the last three thousand years!

Ratatosk: ... Traveling, I guess?

Klarth: You could have helped us fight Dhaos!

Ratatosk: I could have, but I'm different than other spirits. I'm the spirit of the first Giant Kharlan Tree. I can exist on both planes of life and magic. Besides, it's not my fault you couldn't find me! And it's not like Dhaos was all evil. In fact, I might have turned against you to protect the tree!

Klarth: But why? Mana is no longer necessary, for life or for holding back Niflheim since you and Origin worked that out.

Ratatosk: Derris-Kharlan is of mana, and as such needs a tree to supply it. All Dhaos wanted was a Great Seed! He probably would have left you alone if you humans hadn't picked up magitechnology again!

Klarth: How could we have known? Dhaos never explained himself to us!

Ratatosk: Tch. You call yourself a scholar. I don't wanna hear this crap anymore!

(Exit Ratatosk)

Klarth: Yeesh, he sure is a moody spirit ...

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(Ratatosk obtained the title of, "Virtue of Impatience.")