I DON'T WATCH AWARDS CEREMONIES JUST SO SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO ENDURE THEM EITHER.
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Hurrah it's Hollywood awards season again. If you remember shortly before Christmas last year the Hollywood elite stopped handing out trophies to their multimillionaire brethren. So for almost two weeks they haven't been patting each other on the back and saying how awesome they are. How much more difficult it is to pretend to do a job or suffer a catastrophe than it is to actually work and endure real adversity. As we all know a real problem isn't nearly as hard to endure as an imaginary one. Yesterday they had THE GOLDEN GLOBES. Meaning that these poor over privileged bastards can get back to what they do best. Lecturing less wealthy people on subjects they know fuck all about. What I've done, and I highly recommend it to everyone, is to watch the cut of all the insults Ricky Gervais has thrown at these cunts. While at the same time lamenting the fact he's taken the piss out of these parasites before I can. The fact is I can tell you all about the virtue signaling without even watching these people, who really don't give a fuck about you or anyone else. They'll have whined about whatever is in the headlines and on social media. Expressing opinions they feel will show them in the best light. That's it. Between their outpourings of bullshit, Ricky Gervais will point out they are all liars and hypocrites. Please watch him. Ignore the morons who know fuck all, but never let that interfere with their whining. There are already several cuts of this 3 hour show. That's 180 minutes. From which the 8 to 10 minutes of Gervais is all you need to see. You know what they will say. It's what they always say. These people can't say anything that hasn't already been written for them. 
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(The copyright to this image is the property of Film.)

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The trio drew up to the group outside the tavern. All of them smiling as they exchanged greetings. None of them as widely as Daisy. Who was actually glowing. In fine health it seemed. That didn't stop them sending for Ureniel. Morag and Hermes were still on honeymoon, kind of. The Shishani doctor was there within minutes. Running his scanners over the mother to be. Then, as usual, stating he was no expert on human physiology. The lady looked to be in good health. Scarlet noted the tiniest of hesitations there. Something of concern had been picked up. She shared her insight with Jake. Not something she generally did, unless she was worried. Anything that worried her, terrified him. This was women's things, making it even more mysterious in his eyes. The only gauge he had was his observations of the opposite sex. A very tiny data set. He didn't make those observations. His mind always being on other things.

"Could I have a word in private with you later Daisy?" Ureniel asked,the lightness in his tone forced.
The Matriarch clasped both his upper arms. Her smile increasing in intensity.
"It's alright my friend. I know I'm senile."
That was certainly a conversation stopper. If you excluded all the gasps and exclamations. The usually calm and collected Ureniel was reduced to a stuttering, stammering wreck.
"I..I...I..I... That's... It's... not what I meant. Yuh.. your.. cognitive faculties have degraded. I was.."
"I expect there's  far more scientific term for my condition. What it boils down to is my brain being worn out. The thousands of years I've lived are taking their toll. Have been for a long time now. I know I'm not going to be dribbling all over myself anytime soon. I am at peace." She looked around at all the sad and troubled faces. "Jake? Say something inappropriate to break this somber mood."
Scarlet nodded her permission. It didn't have to be good. 
"Well I was going to ask where you'd been. Wherever it is, there's definitely a severe pie shortage now. I know pregnant women should eat for two, but how many babies are you having."
Only Ursella and Gungthor responded. Both of them grinning. They'd known of course. Daisy was the one who laughed. A short bark.
"Please everyone, things are really no different now than they were before I left. I've been drifting into infirmity for a hundred years at least. I can still out think most of you."
"It does explain a lot." Scarlet mused. "The uncharacteristic lapses and misjudgments make a lot more sense now. We've got to get you home though. So your daughter is born among her people."
"The circle must be completed." Daisy intoned. "Somebody get us a beer. It's alright my metabolism can handle it. And do me the favor of cheering up. I was expecting a happy return. And I'll be damned if I don't get one."

Jake and Scarlet sneaked away an hour or so later, to consult with Norbert and Poppy. Letting them know the urgency of the situation. Pip trailed along after them, being the only one to notice their departure. Once the initial downheartedness had been absorbed they all set to. Jake as cheerleader, while the others did things with technical stuff. The two probes were stuck on the other side of the periodic portal to the world The People had traveled to. It was closed for now. It wouldn't open for another week at least. They needed to get Pip there. Where she could do her crystal stuff and open the damn thing for them. Once that was accomplished they'd be able to download whatever information those probes had collected. Then decide how to approach this. 

A quick call to Sonora and she had Alvar arrange transportation. Then invited herself along. It had been a while since she and her husband had experienced an adventure. It would have been churlish and ungrateful to object. Ureniel was due to return to their home world shortly, they arranged for him to remain and come along. Just in case his services were required. With everyone working on the matter things were getting along at pace. Now all they needed to do was work out who should be in the party.

Pip needed to be in close proximity to any wormhole she opened. Then the probes had to be retrieved. They'd been programmed to return to the other side of it so with any luck they'd be waiting already. Provided time was flowing at a similar enough speed. It could be slower on the other side. To the point where the automated information gatherers had been there a a few seconds. That would be a pain in the ass. Norbert was confident this would not be the case. He and Poppy had already forced themselves onto the expedition. The portal would be opened, the intel collected and examined. At this juncture more people turned up. Their absence had been noted. Now everyone was volunteering. Eventually Jake made an executive decision. Half the crew would remain here. The other half would head to the gateway. They'd carry everything they might need. Once they had some idea of what they were up against they'd head through. Choosing the party based on what they knew would be awaiting them. 

Over time more bodies appeared, the absence of the captain and Scarlet had been noticed. Ursella and Gungthor invited themselves along. Poppy insisting she'd look after them like they were her children. Never having had any or seen many, this sounded a bit suspect. Decisions could be made later though. This was almost turning into a company outing. The disgruntled few who were left behind could follow on though. This suggestion probably prevented a mutiny. There were few threats here. Those there were could be easily handled by the elves and the orcs. It still paid to be careful. 

It was Sade who mentioned the absentees, who'd slipped everyone's mind in the excitement. Hermes and Morag. Holy shit the passenger list was getting longer by the second. Jake was about to throw his hands up and walk away. Let them fight it out among themselves. Instead Scarlet suggested the two of them head home for the night. Taking the returnees with them. That way they could hear about what they'd been up to. Not much as it turned out. While the world they'd visited had been magical, it had also been completely deserted where they'd been. Granted, being on foot, they hadn't been able to explore it extensively. Although they'd been gone for months, as far the party was concerned, not a lot had happened. Mostly harmless. The magical creatures they'd seen had posed no risk. The two magicians had been able exercise their magical muscles at least.

Their wards and offensive spells had been practised. Ursella had used her full powers to give Daisy a medical. Confirming what Daisy had suspected. Her faculties were fading. Tens of thousands of years had taken their toll. Her own mother had live only 20 generations. She'd lived over a thousand. Across numerous dimensions. The Matriarch had to return. Having abandoned her people. There was no knowing what had happened to them. How their society had changed and evolved. Having explored unknown territory herself for countless years, she was headed into the unknown again. But was it a known unknown? Of course it was. They knew they didn't know. Which was far less dangerous than the unknown, unknown. Where you were unaware you didn't know something. A known, known were best on the whole. Jake's little riff on this amused Scarlet and Daisy. Ursella and Gungthor laughed along politely. They didn't know. Stating this had three of them in hysterics. Stupid laughter over something ridiculously unfunny. The two sorcerer's not understanding made it even funnier.

"You did good." Scarlet informed him as they headed to bed. "I keep thinking back to what Angelique said. That Daisy was heading for her death and rebirth." She paused, giving him a sharp look. "Don't." Scarlet warned him.
"I wasn't going to. My thoughts have been along similar lines. The elves who've lived longer than their bodies can take, end up being reborn as disembodied entities in an immaterial realm. In a lot of cultures that believe in reincarnation the essence of the individual ends up actually becoming someone else. I don't want to lose her, but I know that's very selfish in a lot of ways."
"I don't know whether I'm comfortable with you being sensitive to my moods. It's quite disconcerting."
They entered their room preparing for bed.
"It's happened before. I'm sure it has."
"Yes, but it doesn't last more than a few days at most. You've been like this for weeks. I'm running out of things to get angry at you about. Our relationship relies on anger and resentment. Well I do. I don't know what to make of it."
He sat on the edge of the bed pulling his boots off.
"I think this is the next stage. We're all transitioning. I think it's a case of all the gang being here. Only, now the founding member is leaving." He dropped his boot, stared at the wall. "Of course that could all be complete bollocks."
She was naked already. Lying across the bed, her head by his side. 
"I think you're right." She sighed. "There I go again. I'm agreeing with you. I never really used to do that. Even when I knew you were correct I always gave in grudgingly. Do you think we're losing something by not arguing as much?"
"You'll just have to get even more creative." He lay back, his hand automatically reaching to stroke her hair. "I think that because we're losing Daisy, we're becoming scared of losing even more."
"That's very diplomatic of you. Considering it's me who's scared."
"I assure you I'm fucking terrified. I still haven't got over Hermes."