Leaving the MAZE ended up being a bigger ordeal than Hera expected. It wasn't just because Silah constantly sent messages to her. She rather enjoyed that. It wasn't even because of the sheer number of people that were walking around Brinefront now. Apparently, ever since the lift on the restriction, there was a constant stream of new explorers every month, and it wasn't just the 10-15 people that generally joined. Each class had anywhere from 30 to 50 people, and at least 50% of the recruits passed the test on the first try. It was a lower average than before the changes but still allowed more explorers to enter the MAZE. This turned the already big city that was Brinefront into a bustling metropolis. They had even constructed a new district to accommodate the increased population.

The biggest issue with all that was the long lines to cross the doorway. They were already more or less a problem before, but now it was starting to get ridiculous. Hera had to schedule a specific time to leave with the guild, and even then, she would need to wait in line for almost one hour before heading outside. Brilansis itself was the same city as always. Even the food truck with those needlessly large hotdogs was still there.

Strolling towards the train station, Hera took her time to enjoy the scenery. Even if she was used to all this, seeing it after so long gave it a new light. That quickly went away when she had to go inside a train filled to the brim with other people. A small part of her wanted to create stone walls to push the other passengers away, but using magic outside wasn't something she should do. There weren't any laws prohibiting her from casting spells on Earth, but any damage that the magic caused would have to be paid back in full plus a fee for the disturbance.

Luckily for Hera, she only had to stay in that can of sardines for a few minutes, and the train to Burtois was much more comfortable. Her luck ended with the trip, however. As soon as she got off the train, she noticed people stopping and staring at her with odd expressions. Some were horrified as if they saw a ghost. While others looked at her in awe.

"Excuse me, are you Hera Kingsley?" a girl who couldn't be more than 14 asked.

"Yes, I am. Can I help you with something?" Hera asked with her customer service smile.

"N-no. I mean, Y-yeah. Can I have your autograph?" the girl offered a pamphlet of the guild.

"You want my autograph?" Hera blinked audibly.

"Y-Yes, ma'am! If it's not too much trouble."

"Sure…." Hera picked the pamphlet, "I don't have a pen on me."

"I have one!" the girl rummaged her bag and pulled a blue pen.

"Thanks, and what's your name?"

"Kathleen, Kathleen Watt."

"That's a beautiful name. Do you want to join the guild when you get older?" Hera stalled while she tried to figure out what should be her signature.

"Yeah! I wanted to be a fighter, but after hearing about you, I think being an explorer is even better," Kathleen replied.

"Well, the fighters I know are a bit weird, but that doesn't mean they are worse. The role you get is not as important as what you do with it," Hera finished signing it and wrote a small message to the girl.

"Thank you! And… do you think I can be a good explorer even if my stats are not great?"

Hera gave her a genuine smile this time, "Absolutely you can. The stats we get at first don't mean much. The skills and spells you learn after going to the MAZE are what can make you a great explorer. I promise," she gave Kathleen back her pamphlet.

"Thank you! Thank you so much," the girl smiled and went running back to a small group who were all staring at Hera with wide eyes.

At the time, Hera had no way of knowing that the words she wrote on that small pamphlet would become the motto of one of the strongest factions inside the MAZE.

'Your stats do not define you, your actions do.'

However, that is a story for another time.

After talking with Kathleen, more people started to come to greet Hera. A few would just congratulate her or ask for pictures, and a couple even asked if she was real or a ghost coming to haunt the city. In the five minutes that took her to leave the train station, Hera talked to at least a dozen people. She rushed to a taxi and asked the driver to take her to her parents house, giving him the address.

Finally, she reached her destination. The house she spent most of her life in. It was a place with more bad memories than good ones, but right now, despite all the trouble, fighting, and resentment, all she wanted to do was hug her parents, even Stella. She walked over to the door and rang the bell. A couple of seconds later, Eridan opened the door in a quick motion.

"Hey papa bear," Hera could feel tears forming on the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, goldilocks," Eridan replied before pulling her in for a hug.

They stood there for a couple of moments, just enjoying each other's embrace before walking inside the house.

"Come. Let's get you out of the cold," Eridan said after a while.

It wasn't a particularly cold day, but Hera wouldn't complain about that. Eridan quickly grabbed some coffee and cookies that he had set aside for her and placed them on the coffee table in the living room.

"Your grandmother wants to see you too, but…. Well, she and Stella are not on speaking terms, so she won't be coming here," Eridan said.

"Oh, you could've told me. I would've stopped by there first. I really miss her," Hera took one of the cookies.

"More than you miss your own mother, it seems," Stella walked in the living room, "Did you turn into an animal after spending months in a cave? Use a plate or a napkin while you eat. I don't want to have to pick crumbs from the couch."

It only took one phrase for the urge to hug her mother to vanish from Hera's body.

"Sorry," Hera looked around but didn't see any crumbs. The cookie was small enough to fit into her mouth.

"It's fine. I'm just a bit on edge today," Stella sighed, "Welcome back. Did you manage to do something interesting in the MAZE?"

"Yeah, I found a dwarven civilization, helped them unlock their room, got a girlfriend, and now I am helping the guild to make a branch in that city. I wanted to come home sooner, but the people of Boothudurn, that's the name of the kingdom, they don't know anything about our society, and I wanted to help them at least get organized," Hera explained while sipping some coffee.

There was a long pause after that until Stella sighed, "And aren't you going to ask us about how we've been? Are you really that self-absorbed?"

"Sorry. I thought you might have questions about what happened. How were you during these past months?" Hera turned to Eridan. When Stella started doing that kind of thing, Hera felt like she was doing something wrong. That somehow it was her fault, and that's why her mother reacted badly. This time, however, Hera only felt annoyed. It was like talking to a person who only cared about themselves. Looking at Stella didn't feel like looking at her mother. It was more like looking at a coworker.

"Well, I was working a lot. Since the news about what you did in the MAZE arrived in the city, people went a bit crazy. Then they started asking about you, and I had to tell them that you were… well, you know. That only made more people come to the shop to order furniture. Business was good, and that was it," Eridan shrugged. He already had told Hera most of what happened with him, but he was still trying to keep the peace.

"I'm glad things are working well, dad," Hera took a deep breath before turning to Stella, "And how were things with you?"

"I had to keep myself busy. During the week we found out you had died, you father shut down and couldn't even get out of the bed, so all the housework fell on my shoulders. I pushed him to see some support groups and ended up joining one myself to help me cope with that awful situation. People were very kind and even asked me to talk to a few parents and other people considering becoming explorers. My speeches were so successful that I started dropping by proms and other events to support their cause. Next week, I was supposed to be talking about the MAZE and how dangerous life inside it can be during the career day at school, but they canceled that today. Oh, and at the end of the month, I'll be in a morning show talking about how it was to lose you to the MAZE," Stella proudly announced.

"That's good. I'm sorry you two had to go through all that," Hera replied, unconsciously doing her customer service smile.

"Well, you should be. Your father was in shambles. I don't ever want to see him like that again."

"Me neither, but I didn't know that the bracelets weren't even sending signals to the guild. To me, everyone thought I was lost, not dead."

"That doesn't justify it. You should think about those who you left behind. At least leave some money the next time, so we don't have to waste our own doing a funeral," Stella scoffed.

"Stella, stop!" Eridan cried.

"You had a funeral for me?" Hera asked.

"Well… yeah. I mean, we couldn’t leave it at that, and the guild explained how this was like a plane crashing in the middle of the ocean. I tried to wait, but after six months… I just needed some closure," Eridan's eyes were filling up with tears.

Hera reached out and held her dad's hand, "That's ok. I understand, and I'm really sorry you had to go through all that."

"If you were sorry, you would help with the cost," Stella shrugged.

"You are right," Hera pulled her tablet, "How much was it?"

"Hera, no! For the love of the system, I'm not letting you pay for your own funeral," Eridan gasped.

"You're not, don't worry. I'm just sending my parents some money. How much was it?"

"Two thousand gold. Since we didn't have a body, we just made the ceremony and not an actual grave," Stella replied.

"That's good since I wanted to be cremated and not buried," Hera sent ten thousand to Eridan's account since she knew he was the one who actually paid for it all, "All done. It should already be in your account, dad."

"Hera…"

"Don't worry, but I'm feeling a bit tired. Do I still have a room here or a place where I can get some shuteye? I woke up really early today," Hera faked a yawn. She had had enough of dealing with her mother for now.

"It's a guest room now. Your things should be in the garage," Stella replied.

"Thanks," Hera got up and went to her old bedroom.

She quickly went under the covers and opened her tablet. As much as she wanted to spend time with her dad, she wasn't in the mood to be treated like that. It was odd. Usually, when Stella started being that much of a pain, Hera would feel horrible. Yet, this only felt annoying at most.

"I guess this is what personal growth feels like," she mumbled to herself.

Hera chuckled under the blankets while searching for some random video to watch.

One thing Hera failed to notice was how tired she actually was. Before even finding something interesting to watch, she had already fallen asleep.