"I want to understand why I'm Chaotic, but I could find out another way if requesting the trials takes up intervention budget or something." Hopefully he isn't inconveniencing this helpful... Outsider. "Can I ask your species?"

"I was human once; now -" She shrugs.  "An angel, I suppose."

"And as for why you're chaotic..."  He isn't the first person to ask about his psychological state, even if he's the first person to do it so calmly and quickly.  "I'm afraid that's something you'll need to figure out yourself, though I could help."  She shrugs.

Apparently not all angels are androgynous? Lac wants to be a non-androgynous angel.

He's trying to figure out what the scope of her responsibilities is, and how much he would inconvenience her if he asked for something outside that scope. "I guess I have plenty of time to figure it out. Did you have plans you wanted to get to?"

... Huh, that one point in the report from the Diplomacy Department is referring to Lac with a plural pronoun?  Was that a mistake, or was someone trying to be gender-neutral?  But it doesn't matter.

"At some point, though if you're still feeling unsettled about yourself or your death, or if you have other questions...?"

"Well, I'd like to figure out what I did to be judged Chaotic. Besides that, I have a lot of questions about Elysium itself. How do souls find each other in an infinite plane? Are there wizard academies?" Wizard academy in Andoran was so boring he dropped out to self-study, but probably Elysium is better. He tries casting Light, expecting the mortal magic to fail but dreading it all the same.

... What?

"An infinite plane?  This's large but not infinite - and where'd you get the idea this's infinite?"

Is it somehow implicit in his world's idea of Elysium?  Her mind's jumping to make the connection, and she can see how someone in some story might have fixated on it; hopefully the comedown won't be too nasty...

(And yes, the Light cantrip does fail.)

He expected that, but it's still disappointing. It might take centuries to retrain just to first circle. He really hopes that Outsider magic is fun. Lac still wants to be an archmage, but not if magic is a miserable grind now.

"At least two well-documented Commune results from Desnans, definitely others I'm not remembering." Was the wording wrong? Or maybe Elysium (the paradise) is a finite landmass floating in Elysium (an infinitely large plane, mostly empty?) Something like that?

"Commune results" - "Desnans" - what's he talking about?

"I don't think anyone in your home world knows about us for a fact; that would surely have been in the writeup I did read --"

Wait a minute, is he saying that some people there (at least) are actually sure they know something about an Elysium as a definite place!?

Her wings quiver and droop.

"You think we don't know about Elysium? A paradise for the Chaotic Good, mostly idyllic wilderness, home to Azatas..." He trails off. It feels like the ground is dropping away and he's just started to fall.

Sexed angels apparently exist. Elysium is "large but finite." What the Hell is going on? Are all Commune results bullshit somehow? What about the casters who visit the afterlife planes?

"That's - not here."

Horrors - that sounds like a definite place!  A ball of shame wells up in her throat.

"This isn't, um, that Elysium.  When I said 'Elysium'... I thought you just meant a figure of speech!"

And through the horror, a note of concern, for the angel, who looks so afraid, and guilty-

"Please. Tell me where I actually am."

"I am, to be clear, dead?" 

She latches on to the definite question (even as a well-ingrained habit, in a corner of her mind, notices his concern for her despite his own horror).

"Yes.  You died.  Your soul was taken away from your home world and plane, and -"  She pauses, wishing she'd actually read the part about the metaphysics of his home plane.  "Like I said, there're many names for the place where we are that wouldn't mean anything to you.  But it's farther away from your home plane than anywhere your plane's souls usually go.  I think you're the first person to be taken here from your homeworld."

Her own horror has lifted enough that she's now consciously touched by his concern for her.  "Please, don't worry," she adds.

Is he in the Far Realms? Further? And he's the first person to be taken. He might not see anyone he loved ever again.

The thought occurs to him that this could all be a Mephistopholean illusion. If he somehow got Lawful Evil?? Or maybe all his memories are fake?

He should probably proceed on the assumption that it isn't Mephistopheles. If it is then there isn't really anything he can do except hurt and be toyed with until Heaven defeats Hell (If Heaven defeats Hell).

He should assume that this is real, and that the concern the "angel" has for him is real. What could he even do, otherwise?

"Why did you take me? For what purpose?"

She can't get the full cheer in her voice as usual, not right after that, but -

"We're going to give you a new story, in a new world, and you can help design it!"

A custom afterlife??

"What do you mean, a 'new story?' Was my old life a 'story?' And why me, of all people?" Could this angel be convinced to randomly kidnap Abrogail Thrune II next, a hysterical voice questions.

"Why yes, you did survive infancy - thanks in part to being born where you were - so your old life did have a story.  How interesting a story it was..."  She shrugs; she wouldn't dispute Lac's opinion if he cared to insist that it hadn't been an interesting story yet.  "But that's something we can fix in your next one.

"And as for why you..." She shrugs her wings.  "I didn't make the choice; I'm not sure why the Will-in-Council did choose you."

So this "angel" cares about stories. And... wants him to have an interesting one? Or thinks he wants that?

"What sort of story are we designing?" He's utterly in the power of this outsider, but maybe he can build rapport here and have any agency over his fate. 

"A story of... I don't believe your world has a specific term for the sort of story, but it would be around a romantic rivalry, among other things.  Which other things, you largely get to choose.  To be more specific, we will fill in the outline of the original story to whatever degree you want to - and then you will be inserted into that story in the role of the villainess."

...

He's supposed to be a villainess in a romantic drama. There is so much wrong with that. For one thing, the closest he's come to romance is reading Love Born of Clarity* and The Mirror of Boundlessness**. 

That the outsider wants him to be a girl, is so baffling that he just sets it aside - it wouldn't be a problem unless he's the kind of person who feels awful when Alter Self'd into the opposite sex, which he would guess he isn't...

As for being a villain, that's the most concerning part. He'd thought the outsider was Good. She certainly seemed to have empathy for him and feel bad for making him think he was in Elysium! 

*A work arguing that a wise and forgiving mind loves instinctively and without effort, with instructions on how this quality can be attained. Author unknown, but suspected to be one of Gruhastha's direct disciples.

**Written by an acclaimed Shelynite philosopher, this work reconciles and unifies sensual enjoyment of the beloved with love's empathetic and spiritual dimensions. 

This is overwhelming and he's worried about being pressured into a decision. He needs to figure out how much negotiating power he actually has, and whether he can refuse to participate without them mind controlling or torturing him about it.

When in a high-stakes negotiation, don't let them control the tempo. Maybe he can play for time. Immortal outsiders are generally patient, right?

"That’s... a lot. Can I have a few minutes to think about it?"

"Of course, and longer if you want it."

Unfortunately she can only guess what he's worrying about.

"But in case it helps - you won't need to relive toddlerhood; you'll be reincarnated into the person who would be the villainess when she is a teenager, usually leaving for boarding school... you do have boarding schools where you're from... unless you pick another time."

He smiles. It probably looks pretty tense.

"I wouldn't want to be a toddler again, so that does help. And yes, we do have boarding schools, though it's not common." It's a point of reference, at least.

Okay think think think think what does he need to know and how far can he push things. Is this organization Evil. Does Pharasma's categorization even apply. That has fascinating implications.

Is the "story" she's sending him to a real world that actually exists. Is he... displacing? Killing? The soul of a teenage girl? What does her organization even want, is it just entertainment? There are so many questions he doesn't even know where to start.

He should ask an open-ended question, and see if he can learn from what she considers important. She seems kind and patient so far, which is a stark contrast to the bizarre and concerning fate she (or her organization?) plans for him.

He's tempted to break the silence, but that seems stupid, if she's giving him time then he should use the time. She probably has the patience of an immortal. He thinks for a while, trying to decide on a question to ask.