The Witch and the Lich; Playing with Blocks

Credits; Krell, Rea,

Rea took hours to regain her composure.  Krell didn't leave her side for a second.  Not that he had much else to do anyways, but she'd been a complete wreck and he wasn't about to leave her alone in a room designed to mess with people's minds.  Besides being extremely dangerous, and very rude, it just seemed wrong.  So when she finnally stopped crying, and about six hours after that when she reawakened, he was still waiting for her.  He offered her a hand in order to help her back to her feet.  She didn't say anything, but pulled herself up on his arm and walked quietly to the door.  He followed her over and they went into the next room in silence. 
It was full of large stone blocks, indents on the floor shaped like various shapes, and very large buttons in the indents.  It was a classic, indeed, an overused, puzzle.  Every block had a mark indicating which shape was on its bottom.  It was just a matter of pushing the right block over the coresponding indent.  He moved over to the first block and was about to begin pushing it when Rea stopped him. 
"Krell, you can't push that block."
He glanced over at her.  "Why?  Is it bolted to the floor or something?"
"No, you hover.  You litterally can't push the block."
He gave it a test push and felt himself moving back as he pushed on it.  It was true.  He hadn't actually tried to push anything since he'd become a Lich.  Besides the random coincidence that was needed for him to have never tried in nearly four hundred years, It was kind of wierd realizing that he could no longer do something as basic and integral to adventuring as pushing a block with strange markings on it.  He felt so helpless. 
"Can I?"
Was she asking him permission for something?  She was offering to push the blocks obviously, but it was wierd to actually hear her ask him for permission. 
"Yes, Rea, you can push the blocks around.  Do you want me to spot for you or something?"
She nodded.  It was probably residual emotional strain that was making her so quiet.  Her eyes were a bit puffy and red still from all the crying.  He levitated higher and pointed out which block would be easiest so she could start clearing them out of the way.  She pushed it easily, positioning the block directly over the corresponding indent.  She repeated it twice more before Krell finnally broke the silence. 
"Why are you helping me?  As far as I can tell you don''t get anything out of this." 
"I want the same thing you want.  And if you get what you want then maybe I'll get what I want too." 
"And what do you think I want?"
She stopped and faced him.  "To not be trapped in this form.  To be able to walk down the street and have people treat you like a normal person."
"Is that why you think I'm doing this?"
She nodded hesitantly.  She'd lost a lot of confidence back in that black hall.  And in part at least she was right, a large part too.  But it went a little deeper than that for him. 
"I made two promises.  One to my best friend before he died, that I would keep his daughter in line.  I failed in that, and I need to make amends.  The second was to my wife.  She made me promise I'd come back to her.  I never broke that promise, and in the end I watched her die.  And all I wanted was to go back to her.  And I can't, because after all those years of coming home safely, now I can't get back to her."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"No, it's not.  But that doesn't make me any less sorry.  Not just because you lost everyone you cared about, but because you can't get them back."
"I will though.  I'll kill Holine and the guard will destroy me.  Then I can be with her again."
"It doesn't work that way Krell.  She has your phylactery, and she'll destroy it first.  But it won't kill you, it'll just make you an immortal, a real immortal.  And you won't kill her, you'll just be an immortal, twenty-two for eternity."
"The guards will still kill me, they have ways."
"You won't be there though." 
"How am I supposed to get out of the palace after killing the Emperor's mother?  The whole place will be on red alert and stealth isn't exactly my strong point." 
"You'll get out the same way you get in; you get killed."
"What?"
"When you get destroyed here, you'll reform at the phylactery, which Holine has.  When she destroys your phylactery, you'll reform...elsewhere."  She looked down as she said the last part.  He had the feeling she knew more about it than she was telling, but considering her reaction to the last time she'd had her plans pryed at he decided that it would be imprudent to ask further.  He had the feeling she had planned this well in advance.  It certainly explained much of her distress at having someone take them apart.