"It matters not if you were the mightiest of men, the greatest of kings, the most brilliant of scholars, the richest of merchants, the kindest of saints, or the cruelest of tyrants. In the end, Time comes to claim everyone to its eternal embrace, without exception." - Old folk saying in Alcidea

"Ever since the Unliving came to be, So many of our old sayings need to be reworked, as their existence simply invalidated them." - Sofia Urvanis, Librarian and Scholar from the Clangeddin Empire, Circa 318 VA.

City of La Fiachna

Former Vitalican Territory

Northern Ptolodecca

1st day, 4th week, 10th month, year 96 VA.

As she stepped down from the carriage, together with Artair, Aideen sighed, the frigid air in the early winter month causing the air she breathed out to turn into fog almost immediately. Artair beside her wore a thick fur coat, as he was always a bit weak to the cold. It made sense, as the land he was born and raised in had notably milder winters compared to Ptolodecca.

Their trip home from Elmaiya was pretty much a smooth ride, after the encounter with the pirates midway. The Veros family's ship had brought them all the way to Port Erbe before they left, and from there it was just matter of a carriage ride back to Tohrmutgent.

Aideen had made her report together with Mimia and Éirynn and the time, and their reports showed a great contrast in what they had witnessed for themselves. The Bone Lord had told them to see the Empire's state for themselves, and they had done so.

Mimia and Éirynn spent their stay in the central region, which was hit the hardest by the civil war, and they say the full extent of the devastation wrought by it. The extensive rebuilding efforts notwithstanding, many of the towns and villages in central Elmaiya still showed scars from the war.

On the contrary, most of Aideen's stay was in the western regions of the Empire. The western region were the home base of the faction Khaer Ul was part of, which had won the war. They had also never been pushed so much they had to fight there. The land there was more prosperous, as they took basically no damage from the fighting, and life far more peaceful.

Even so, all of them agreed that Khaer Ul seemed sincere about his desire to cooperate with Ptolodecca, which was in line to their expectation. The Bone Lord had sent them more for confirmation, and to allow them to see the lands of their neighbor while they were at it.

They passed the rest of summer and autumn leisurely. Aideen and Artair used the chance and caught up on some private times, just with the two of them. They took some vacations to places in Ptolodecca known for their views, and enjoyed those months thoroughly.

Right now, they went to La Fiachna to visit Maebh. Aideen's niece had practically resided permanently on La Fiachna, only visiting to Ptolodecca when work demanded it. Then again, she had been working hard as the governor of their former hometown for the past few decades.

Aideen gave another sigh, this time a happy one, as she saw the crowd that walked through the city streets even in the winter weather. La Fiachna has grown over the decades of Ptolodeccan rule. The walls were taller and thicker, and the city itself a whole size larger, and more prosperous than it has ever been.

As she walked down the street, hand in hand with Artair, some looks were drawn their way, mostly due to Artair's large stature and fierce appearance. Therians of his breed were rare in Ptolodecca, so it was natural that he drew many looks.

The crowded streets, the happy sounds of children playing, and the people walking with smiles on their faces, all reminded Aideen of everything she had fought for previously. It felt like a vindication to her, that the sacrifices made, and they decisions they had done over the years, had been worth it.

"Oh, grand-aunt? You did not tell us you'd be visiting! You brought grand-uncle too!" Said a cheerful voice that cut through Aideen's contemplation. "It's been years since you last came by!"

Both Aideen and Artair turned towards the source of the voice, and found a familiar face there. It was Deidre, Maebh's youngest child, who was walking along with a young man around her age. The young man looked positively intimidated by Artair, which became worse when he turned to face them.

"Little Deidre!" said Aideen as she enthusiastically hugged the young woman warmly. Deidre returned the hug with a warm embrace, which contrasted to Aideen's cold body, but she did not seem bothered by it. "You grow up so fast~"

Aideen took a good look at her grand-niece after they separated from the hug. The last time she saw Deidre was four years ago, shortly after she got together with Artair and brought him over to introduce to the rest of the family. The young girl had hit her growth spurt late, and was small for her age at that time, but now she looked more like her age of twenty-one.

"Time sure flies by," said Aideen, as she reminisced about the past. She had seen Deidre from when she was still an infant, growing up into a naughty, boisterous child, to the young woman before her now. Aideen took a curious look at Deidre's companion, the young man who looked very nervous to be in their company. "And who might this be?"

"Oh, this is Caedwick. We've been going out," replied Deidre nonchalantly, which earned her boyfriend more focused stares that almost made the young man quail in fright. "Um… maybe please don't stare at my boyfriend like you're going to eat him?"

That comment made Aideen and Artair snap out from their staring, and they couldn't help but chuckle to each other. Neither Deidre nor her boyfriend were warriors. They had lived entirely peaceful lives, in a safe place where dangers were barely even seen.

The stare that Artair gave, as while he was a scholar he was from a warrior family and trained as such before, coupled with his fierce appearance, quite naturally intimidated the young man, whose most dangerous encounter in life might just amount to running into a wild dog in the streets.

To be honest, Aideen herself might be even more intimidating to the young man. Although she looked the same age as her own grand-niece, most everyone who lived in Ptolodecca knew of her, and the story of her life. How she was likely the first of the Unliving.

"Alright, we'll stop making your boyfriend pee his pants," said Aideen with a laugh as she patted Deidre's shoulder lightly. She was quite fond of her grand-niece, even if she didn't see her that often. "We actually came to see your mother. Is Maebh around?"

"Mother? She was in her office with Grainne before I left," replied Deidre after some thought. Grainne was Deidre's elder sister, the second of Maebh's children. "Oh, you and uncle Artair staying long?"

"We'll stick around for a bit, yeah," replied Aideen with a smile. Deidre had always been rather attached to her since she was small for some reason, and apparently growing up did little to change that. "Go ahead and enjoy your date, we'll be bothering your mother instead."

"See you later, grand-aunt!"