Kaladin Shadowheart’s POV

“Thank you…Sylvia,” Lin mumbled.

Sylvia stood up and wiped her mouth while readjusting her mask. “Yeah, no problem,” Sylvia said dryly.

After our little bloody bout, we were taken into the depths of the arena to be healed by Sylvia. Sylas tried coming in, but Linnetia told him to wait outside. The small stone room was cold as it was underground, and frankly, it was uncomfortable. But not as uncomfortable as the mood.

And to say that the atmosphere had grown tense was an understatement. I hadn’t realized how intense our fight may have appeared to others…. especially to these two.

Sylvia was confused and slightly annoyed, while Mila wouldn’t even look me in the eyes right now. Her tail was tucked, and she was pouting—any attempt to ask her what was wrong was met with indifference or an annoyed grumble.

Of course, I didn’t really need to ask what was wrong…I knew I had angered Mila by fighting with Lin. I mean, she watched her father and a friend beat each other half to death for seemingly no reason.

“Mila, I’m—”

“MHMMHM!” Mila grunted and turned away from me with a huff while gripping her doll to her chest.

Lin gave me a wry smile while Sylvia stayed silent. “Mila, I’m sorry,” Lin apologized.

Mila turned her head slightly and narrowed her blue eyes at Lin. “Why? Why did you hurt each other?”

Lin pursed her lips and was about to give an answer but stopped herself. She shook her head and just smiled. “Because I needed to see something, and the only way I could do that was with a fight. I’m sorry for hurting your dad. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

Mila turned herself, so she was fully facing Lin. “You promise?”

Lin nodded her head with a kind smile. “I promise.”

Mila seemingly agreed, and I figured I might as well join in. “And I’m—”

Mila flicked around and narrowed her eyes at me, almost like Sylvia does when annoyed. Perhaps I won’t be getting off so easy…and maybe Sylvia is influencing Mila more than I thought. Not that I mind. She is sort of adorable when she pouts like that.

I just wish it wasn’t directed at me.

Sylvia looked at me, and I could tell she was hesitant. “I’m going to take Mila back to class. Are you..?”

I tried to smile to disarm her worries, but I had a feeling it didn’t work. “I’m going to have a talk with Lin. I’ll join you guys soon,” I told her.

Sylia nodded and gently guided Mila out of the room. Mila gave me a concerned look but eventually allowed Sylvia to escort her out. The metal door swung shut with a loud thunk as the lock fell into place.

I slowly looked across at Lin; she was just smiling at me. “So…”

“So,” she responded in English.

“Nyx…”

Or should I even be calling her that now? I suppose her current name will do for now.

“Commander…”

“It’s really you? Isn’t it?” I asked, my voice choking up more than I intended.

She nodded, and tears began rolling down her face. “I think I should be the more surprised one…I mean…look at you,” she choked out while looking me up and down.

I sighed and looked down at myself, wiping my face free from tears. “Yeah…I guess I’m the one that’s changed the most.”

I don’t even know what to say…I’m so relieved that it’s her…I…I’m just happy.

“I think that may be putting it lightly. Never in my wildest dreams or nightmares did I ever imagine you would be an Elf with an adopted Beastmen child and that you would be crying in front of me,” she said with an awkward chuckle.

I could only nod my head. “Yeah…turns out dying made me sensitive.”

Lin let out a few snorts of laughter in between her sobs and put her face into her hands. I couldn’t tell if she was trying to stop herself from laughing or crying. It was probably a bit of both.

“What gave me away? And why did you go through all of this just to find me? Couldn’t you have just asked?” I questioned.

Lin shrugged weakly and wiped her face with her sleeve. “I had a sneaking suspicion you were a reincarnation when I watched you fight Professor Garrison. I mean, plasma fire was a dead giveaway. I just couldn’t prove it. But I knew you were dangerous, and that started to put you on my radar. I thought I was going to have to kill you. But when I saw you fight the Dragon…and I immediately recognized that railgun shot, I knew.”

“I figured that may have given it away. And I don’t blame you for thinking that way. I probably would have thought similar things,” I mumbled. “But why fight me? Wouldn’t speaking English or Spanish or something else solve that problem?”

She scoffed at me and gave me a playful wink. “You must be joking. You know as well as I do that the odds of it being you were extremely low. I started to figure that you might have been an Elunari or another Xeno that had reincarnated, considering you are an Elf. If I began to speak English, you might have just killed me on the spot if you were a Xeno or a cautious person. So, I figured the best way to tell what you were was to fight you hand to hand. As you can see, it told me everything I needed to know, and there is no way somebody can fake or mimic your skills, Commander.”

“I see. That is one way to go about it. I might have done something similar if I were in your shoes. Does that mean you also planned to kill me during that fight?”

Lin nodded sheepishly. “I did. The teacher wouldn’t have gotten involved. I made sure of it. I figured I could have just blamed it on the fight getting too intense and that I feared for my life. But well…that wasn’t needed.”

Lin looked into my eyes as small trails of tears began to flow again. “Commander…what…what even happened to us? Did we really… I mean, this is… this all real, right? Are we really here right now, talking to another in another life?” she muttered.

I shrugged. “I believe that this is real. I’ve long since come to terms with this new life. Even if none of this is real…it’s real to me. But yes, I think we died and somehow ended up here.”

Lin brought a finger up to her chin and wiped her face with the corner of her sleeve. “In that case…what happened after I died? If you are here…”

“That’s right, I died as well, and not too long after you. I managed to take a few of those bastards down with me, Zeus included. But Nike and the others ended up killing me. I’m sorry,” I told her.

“No, none of this is your fault, Commander. I—”

“But it is my fault. You died because of me. None of this would have happened if I just—”

Lin shot out of her seat and threw herself into me. She bumped her head into my jaw, but I couldn’t escape her hug, nor did I want to. Finally, she sniffled to herself and looked up at me.

“I’m so glad you are here, so please don’t blame yourself! This life…I…I’ve never been happier, and it’s all thanks to you. I would have followed you through that station a million times if this is how my life would have turned out,” she said, her voice filled with a gentle softness.

I…Nyx never sounded like this…

She must not have liked the face I gave her as she let go of me and put her hands into mine. “When I died, it was so…so warm. I immediately thought to myself that I was a horrible person for feeling so good after leaving you behind. Then everything got cold.”

Lin had a pained expression on, but she kept talking. “When I woke up, I was in some kind of crib and alone. It wouldn’t be until later that I discovered I nearly died at birth. I most likely would have never made it if I wasn’t born into the Paine family. They even separated me from Sylas because they feared I could negatively affect him.”

“That’s…not how that works,” I mumbled.

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I know that, but I don’t blame them. I was actually ready to give up myself…I thought that all of this wasn’t real. It was one big dream that I didn’t deserve. I remember lying there for what felt like years…cold, confused, tired, and frustrated. Then suddenly I was really warm. I’ll never forget how long it took me to turn my fat useless little body over as I wanted to see what was making me warm. That was when I first saw my brother…I saw myself in his little swirling brown eyes.”

“I…didn’t really have that experience…not right away at least. I thought I was living in a simulation,” I admitted. “But for you, it sounds like you accepted your new life right away?”

She shrugged slightly. “Sort of. I figured that even if everyone around me wasn’t real, I knew that maybe I was. But more importantly, that day, I came to a decision.”

“A decision?”

“You see, back then, Sylas never kept his eyes open and was sleeping all the time, but that one day when we first met, he kept his eyes open the entire time and never let go of me in the crib. I…I had never felt that way before in all my years of being alive. So I had to ask myself if I even knew what it was like to be alive. As you know, I had no memories of my family before Dr. Ocatrio came for me. So I never really had a family until…I, well, met Hades Squad,” she told me sheepishly.

She gave me a look that seemingly asked if she could continue, so I just nodded. “But here in this new world, I had a real brother for the first time. Somebody I needed to protect. Somebody I had to use all these horrible skills to save…I had to be useful…I couldn’t let another family member die,” she told me, her voice filled with determination.

“So you steeled yourself for your brother’s sake? It seems the tables have turned quite a bit. Does he even understand what you are doing?” I asked fondly.

She just smiled and looked up into the ceiling while letting go of my hands. “He likes to think that he is protecting me, and I know he tries his best. I find it adorable, to be honest, and I don’t have the heart or desire to tell him to stop. So for as long as we live…I’ll be the one protecting him, even if he doesn’t know it.”

“I see…I made similar promises. But I failed those people as well,” I said solemnly. Lin winced at my words, but I had another question for her before she could ask me anything else. “However, you are… significantly older than me. Are you really seventeen?”

“Yeah, but I think I was always older than you, but that doesn’t matter. But you’re right…if you died only minutes after me, then shouldn’t we be the same age?” Lin questioned.

“I don’t know. I suppose time doesn’t make any sense across realms,” I suggested.

“But is this world really separate from our old one? Could it be just another planet in another universe?”

Now that is a terrible thought.

“Let’s hope for our sake that this place is separate from our old existence. I imagine whatever entity managed to reincarnate us is powerful enough to separate realities.”

Lin sat back down in her seat and began nodding to herself. But this…begged many questions that I doubt I would ever find the answers to unless I spoke directly to whatever entity reincarnated us. If Lin is here, and Avasta seemingly played no part in her rebirth…then chaos magic isn’t the answer to our newfound lives.

Perhaps chaos magic affected my soul enough to put my “Human” soul into the body of an Elf? That’s a possibility. Then there is also time…Avasta is strong, no doubt about it.

But I don’t believe she is strong enough to bend time to her will or reach into another existence and pull a soul from there. Then there is the evidence of other reincarnations…some most likely dating back to long before Lin and I came to this world.

“I have to know something, Lin. Have you told people about your past? Have you been feeding information about our technologies to Bowen?”

She cocked her head to the side and gave me a confused look. And when she did that, all I could see was her old face…I’m a fool for not noticing sooner. Or maybe, like me…she has just grown used to hiding her true self. But she doesn’t need to do that around me.

This conversion is liberating in more ways than I could have ever imagined.

“No, I’ve yet to tell anyone, and honestly, I don’t ever plan on doing so. Well, besides you, that is. And I’m definitely not feeding information to Bowen, although he is most definitely getting some kind of assistance from a third party. I’ve spent at least four years trying to find who it is, but I’ve come up empty-handed,” she told me. “Have you told anyone?”

I shook my head. “Not a soul. And that is a worrisome development.”

She shrugged. “I’ve judged that the information he knows is incredibly basic. Mostly city infrastructure ideas and maybe some social policies. I’ve been hunting for any traces of weapons or serious threats like speeding up the process of generators, but it doesn’t seem to be on his radar.”

“That’s good. Firearms would be…a problem. What about Sylas? Have you…” I trailed off.

“No, believe it or not, everything Sylas has done, he has done it on his own. I really haven’t influenced him in any way. But I’ve determined that his pace in the medical field is above average but nothing to be worried about,” she explained.

I grunted in response, and Lin gave me a worried look. “Do you think he is also a reincarnation? Bowen, that is,” she asked me.

“No, I don’t believe he is. If our souls are anything to go off of.”

Although I can’t look directly at Bowen’s soul, I’ve yet to see any signs of the void within him. Only Sylvia, Lin, and I have shown those markers. And if Lin and I were reborn….then why does Sylvia have it?

Lin blinked a few times and gave me a sad smile. “Our souls…you can really see that? What do they look like?”

“You want the honest truth?” Lin just smiled at me again, and I took that as an okay for me to continue. Besides, I knew she didn’t like mincing words. “Our souls are most definitely different than everyone else's. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad yet, though. And for you…it looks like little void tendrils are wrapping around the core of your soul.”

She gently put a hand up to her chest and gave me a concerned look. “But yours is different, isn’t it?”

“Yes, so far, everyone’s soul seemingly manifests in my vision in different ways. I have entire bits of my soul seemingly…gone or replaced with this void. I’m not certain if it was like that before, but it is now. It’s most noticeable around the injuries that the Dragon gave me.”

Lin looked as if she was about to say something, but she stopped herself. Her eyes seemed to glaze over slightly, and she just stared off into the corner of the room. “The void, huh? That’s how you described it?”

“That place? Where nothing is everything but nothing at the same time?” I asked.

Lin chuckled, but there was no humor behind it as she rubbed her arms like she was cold. “Yeah…I guess that’s an apt way to describe it.” Her hazel eyes looked up at me, and she looked at me with a sense of great sadness. “If I know anything about the life of Kaladin, then you must have had a terrible time, Commander.”

I could only shrug. “It wasn’t all bad. I grew up with an amazing family in a beautiful home in Syn’nari. I had friends who I cared about, and they cared about me. Life was…a bit rough at the start, but I made it work. Although, I’ll admit I wasn’t so…accepting of things… when I first woke up as I told you.”

“You did mention you thought it was a simulation. Would you mind telling me more? I’d love to hear it,” she asked.

“If you are willing to listen, Commando,” I said with a sly grin.

She chuckled, this time for real. “Lin…you can just call me Lin from now on. If that’s okay with you, Kaladin?”

“Yeah, it is. So what exactly do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

—

I ended up spending a long time with Lin. It turns out that recounting fourteen years of your life takes a long time. I told her everything, and when I say everything, I really do mean it.

Of course, I skipped over some minor things. We really would have been there all day if I had recounted every day and every little detail.

Lin also told me her life story, and even saying it to myself made me seem petty, but she really got dealt a better hand in life than I had. Outside of her nearly dying at birth, her life has been easygoing as she enjoyed living in an influential noble family. She’s essentially lived the life she always wanted to live and has enjoyed the last seventeen years in relative peace.

However, as anyone does, she has had some ups and downs. On her fifteen birthday, the day she was considered an adult in this world, she made a life-changing decision. She decided she would take over the Paine estate in her brother’s stead.

Apparently, this had been a shock at the time, and Sylas had vehemently opposed the idea. Even Lin’s parents didn’t want her to take on the role. But she decided enough was enough and challenged Sylas directly. And as one can imagine, he lost to her in every department.

Even after, Sylas kept supporting her…despite losing his family position. I suppose he really does care for Lin.

And in doing so, Lin inherited more than the family. She inherited the Paine’s side business as royal assassins. I had a hunch that the Paines seemed a little too influential for a family of light mages and that they had some kind of hidden agenda, and it appeared I was right on the money.

It’s why Lin had always been training so hard these seventeen years. Apparently, she had learned about her family’s secret long before she was officially told on her birthday. Her father even used it as a way to discourage Lin, but that ended up having the opposite effect.

And it seems her desire to protect Sylas is just as genuine as his promise to protect her.

But comparing her ups and downs to mine are…not really comparable at all. I’m not bitter or anything. Life is life; if anything, I’m happy that she has lived a life worth living.

She was always there for me….way back when…when nobody else was. I never realized what that meant, and I never even considered what she was attempting to do for me in my previous life. She may have never said anything profound to me, but Nyx was always there for me.

Maybe I’ll never fully realize it. But I won’t let her down again. This time…Nyx and I can do things right. And I’m overjoyed I got to meet her again in this new life and that her wish was fulfilled. And somewhere along the line, maybe that wish became mine as well.

---

“Are you ready to go to school, Mila?” I asked her while I finished tying her shoes.

She didn’t respond to me.

I let out a sad sigh and scratched the back of my head. I wasn’t sure what to really tell her. I’m sure she wanted me to promise that I would never fight like that again, but the truth is that is not a promise I can keep.

Is this where I tell her a convenient lie? Then do my best to hide the lie for long enough that she either forgets or gets old enough to understand why I do the things that I do.

I’m not sure this is a clear-cut answer here. Being a parent is hard…but I know for a fact I don’t want to make lying to Mila, even casually, a regular occurrence.

I rubbed her ears and helped her slide her cap on. Her orange hair had begun to grow back. Now it was nearly past her ears. If anything, I thought she looked adorable with this short hair.

But despite not talking to me, she didn’t appear to resent me as she wasn’t stopping me from helping her get ready this morning. She also didn’t have any complaints about sleeping in bed with me, although she didn’t speak to me.

“I’m sorry for hurting Aunt Lin, Mila. It won’t happen again, I promise,” I told her.

She averted her blue eyes from me. “Don’t fight anyone ever again…” she said half-heartedly.

I couldn’t help but smile at that. Something told me that request wasn’t for me to not fight but for me to not get hurt. I think she understood, somewhere deep down, that I needed to fight people. Even she had to fight people for food once upon a time.

I brought her in for a hug, and she didn’t fight back. “You know I can’t do that,” I said softly. “I’ll always fight to protect you, Sylvia, and everyone else.”

I released her, and Mila nodded her head meekly. She had a faint smile, and her little tail swayed back and forth slightly. She didn’t appear to be too displeased with what I said, but I could tell she was content with that much, at least.

Mila wasn’t one to usually make unreasonable requests at times like this. Sure over the previous few months, she had been more assertive, but that’s typically over more minor things like food or what she wanted to wear. Even when she really wanted that doll, she never vocalized that wish.

Time…it’s just going to take some more time.

I stood up, dusted my knees off, and saw Sylvia watching us in silence. I could tell she had something on her mind, but she wasn’t vocalizing it for some reason. Her face was an otherwise expressionless mask.

I nudged Mila forward, and we left our room to head to class. “So, what’s on your mind?” She put her mask on from her ring before walking out, and I could tell she would deflect my question, so I stopped her before that. “And I’d prefer if you just say what you really want to say. I promise you I won’t be mad or off-put by your concerns, Sylvia.”

Sylvia seemingly pondered my request for a moment, then looked at me. “Then what did you and Lin talk about for so long? You two have never spoken like that before. Not to mention you seem…different.”

“Different, huh? I suppose I am acting differently,” I admitted. And for a good reason. “But we talked a lot about our pasts and what we have been through. It turns out the two of us have more in common than I ever imagined.”

“More in common about your pasts? I…I don’t understand how that is even possible,” Sylvia muttered while looking away from me.

“I understand your confusion, but it’s the truth.”

Slyvia didn’t say anything for a while as we walked down the stairs and out of the building. “Then…can you tell me about your pasts? Is it really something I don’t know? It feels like it is…anyways,” she mumbled half-heartedly.

This is unlike her. Typically, she is a bit more assertive about these things, but she is acting awfully meek about it. Does she perhaps feel that I don’t want to talk about it? Or has she already begun to piece things together?

In that case…should I tell her? Can I even tell her? Do I even want to tell anyone? I just told Lin yesterday that I have no plans to do so…even so…

I feel like it would only complicate things and send my life into a spiral. If I learned that, say…Varnir was a man who had killed thousands and exterminated entire species. I probably wouldn’t look at him the same way. That’s the typical reaction, after all.

I hardly lived a normal first life…even if it wasn’t much of a life, to begin with.

“Unfortunately, Lin has asked me not to say anything to anyone, so I’ll be respecting her wishes,” I told Sylvia.

Sylvia continued staring forward and slowly looked up into the clear morning sky. “Is that just an excuse you are going to use? Can you not tell me about your past?”

“I don’t think you want to know Sylvia…”

“Want to know what?” Mila asked out loud, tilting her head back and looking up at me.

Mila’s face was a mixture of concern and confusion. It was absolutely adorable. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing important,” I told her while patting her head.

While I was patting her head, Sylvia placed a hand on top of me and looked me dead in the eyes. “That’s not true. I want to know everything about you, and although I won’t force you…I want you to know that I trust you. And that whatever happened in your past won’t change how I look at you.”

I was somewhat surprised at her seriousness. Sylvia had changed. Before, it was a slow, gradual change. But after waking up from my coma, I realized there was something… different about her.

Perhaps she was stressed? Afraid? Angry? She has shown signs of her usual self…but not as often as before. Was raising Mila really putting a damper on her mental state? To a certain degree, it must be.

Or is it my fault? It’s probably my fault…

I did die and slept for three months…and here I am talking about sensitive things to another person. Things I’ve never shared with anyone. If I were in Sylvia’s shoes, I’d probably be hurt…it’s the logical way to think. And telling her about my past…there is no way it wouldn’t make things even more complicated.

“I’ll…think about it.”

“Morning,” a friendly voice called out to us.

“Ah, good morning, Professor. Or should I be saying, Margrave?” Sylvia asked.

Professor Garrison chuckled and flashed us a brilliant smile, but I didn’t miss how his eyes seemed to linger on me for longer than usual. “Professor will do just fine. After all, I’m still your teacher…even if I haven’t been doing my job recently.”

“I don’t think anyone is going to blame you for that,” I pointed out.

His smile turned sad for a moment. “Yeah, you are probably right,” he said solemnly.

But his usual smile returned as he raised an eyebrow and adjusted his glasses. “It’s good to see you again, Mila,” he said softly.

Mila was hiding behind my leg and looked up at Professor Garrison with a mixture of timidness and fear. Apparently the two had met before, but judging by Mila’s attitude, it must have been brief. Mila had grown better around people, but it seemed Professor Garrison's appearance was a bit too familiar to her.

His facial features are more in line with people from the Holy Kingdom than, say, this region. Although I don’t think he is from the Holy Kingdom, I wouldn't be surprised to learn he had family only a generation or two from there.

Honestly, with how young Professor Garrison looks, he may even have a bit of Elven blood running in his veins. But it’s distant enough that I can’t tell.

But Mila’s apprehension seemed to melt away as the professor put on his most dazzling smile. His white teeth practically sparkled as the purple trees swayed back and forth behind him, and his swirling dark green eyes seemed gentle. There was nothing predatory behind his smile. It was just his usual friendly smile.

Mila was entirely disarmed by it and stepped forward and gave him a slight wave. I guess the smile of a handsome man can do wonders for just about anyone. But, of course, Professor Garrison just chuckled.

“Well then, shall we walk to class together?” he suggested.

—

“So that is the application of…of—”

Crack.

I stopped helping Mila follow along and looked up at Professor Garrison. He abruptly stopped talking and pressed his piece of chalk so hard onto the board that it broke into multiple pieces and flew across the room. I watched a bead of sweat roll down his forehead and immediately looked over to Sylvia.

She, too, seemed nervous about…something. A quick look around saw that everyone was suddenly on edge. Any idle chit-chat all but ceased as every student stared wide-eyed at the space in front of them. Sitting on my lap, Mila was shaking and seemed afraid of something as her little ears were pressed down to her hat.

I looked down at Lin, who used to be seated in front of me, and sure enough, she stood with her hands balled into fists, ready for a fight. The only person who was seemingly unaffected was me.

Am I…missing something?

I suppose I feel a few abnormal presences but not enough to worry me. Have my sense been dulled to the point where I don’t perceive certain people as threats?

That’s not a good thing. Everyone and anyone can be dangerous if things align.

Rather than waiting to find out, I fed mana into my Dragon eye, and it didn’t take very much for me to see a giant ball of mana moving toward us from a distance. I instantly shut off the flow of mana and winced while rubbing my eye. That was far too much mana to be a singular person, and I hadn’t put enough to make out how many.

It must be several people at War God level…walking towards us.

I sat Mila down in my seat and looked over at Sylvia. Our eyes met, and she simply nodded at my silent request. I shimmied my way out into the aisle and walked down the stadium steps. Professor Garrison had summoned his jagged Mythril longsword from his spatial ring and was in a low fighting stance, seemingly prepared to strike at whoever walked in that door.

I myself no longer had a melee weapon, so I just opted to prepare a Lightning Bolt spell core on the off chance that somebody was coming to harm us. However, I still didn’t believe whoever was there had those intentions.

And if there were a fight, we surely would have heard it long ago. I doubt Bowen’s security team is so sloppy as to let strangers waltz into the school's heart and threaten students' lives without some resistance.

The door creaked open, and a bearded face peered into the room. Our eyes met, and he smiled. “Ah, perfect, you are already here, Kaladin. I ha—” Bowen began to say as he was pushed out of the way.

The first person to walk into the room was a High Elf woman. Her golden hair was tied up in multiple buns and pinned to a sort of wispy white half-shawl, half-hood. She wore a flowing white dress that shimmered with silver.

A silver breastplate was hiding beneath the shawl, and she also had two silver and gold shortswords strapped to her belt loops. I wasn’t sure what kind of attire she was wearing. It was somewhere between an assassin in white mixed with an adventurer and a princess…it was… interesting, to say the least. A white half-mask covered her face, and I could only see her golden eyes. Her eyes were trying to convey something to me…but I just didn’t know what.

Behind her walked in a Dark Elf man standing around three inches taller than me. His long black hair draped over his shoulders and down his pitch-black armor. His face was masked, and I could see his two amethyst-colored eyes watching me intently behind his black and purple mask. His long spear rested in his hand, and I realized his armor seemed incredibly familiar…it had purple gemstones socketed into it and…

Ah…it’s been almost thirteen years since I’ve seen this armor.

The woman lurched towards me with surprising speed, and I immediately dropped my spell core. Professor Garrison shuffled next to me, so I merely put a hand up to stop him. Besides, the woman was far faster than him. She embraced me into a tight hug, and I could feel the cold metal of her chest piece as it dug into my skin.

She seemed to melt in my arms, and I had to support her to stop us from falling. I tried to pull away just so I could see her face, but she held on even tighter. I could feel a lump forming in the back of my throat, and I tried speaking, but I just let out a strained noise.

Upon hearing that noise, the woman let go just enough to look up at me. Her eyes flooded with tears as she scanned my face, seemingly making her cry even more.

She pulled down her facemask, and for the first time in seven years, I saw my mother again. She hadn’t changed one bit from how I remembered her. But she does look more…tired, or does she look…older somehow?

“Mom?” I croaked.

She rubbed my face and tried saying something to me, but her voice was weak and wracked with sobs. She ran her hand through my hair and over my eyes. Every movement of her finger seemed to bring her even more pain as she cried harder. It was to the point where she was just wailing.

“Kal…Kal…” she muttered in between her sobs.

I looked at the masked man and watched him take his mask off slowly. The soft facial features of my father looked at me. He, too, hadn’t changed since I’d last seen him besides looking tired. His face bounced between a kind smile and a complicated pained look. But tears began flowing from his eyes.

He walked over to us and brought both of us into one big hug. It was at that moment that everything seemed to be so surreal to me. I felt like years of stress and agony had suddenly been lifted from my very soul.

And before I knew it, I was sobbing along with them. Sobbing was putting it lightly. I had truly inherited my mother’s awful crying…I’m sure I looked like a mess.

I wasn’t certain how long we stayed like that, but my answer was not long enough. My mind was void of nearly everything save for overwhelming joy. I…I had been agonizing over this day…and it was finally over.

Dad was the first to let go, and Mom was hesitant, but she eventually pulled away. “Kal…” my dad muttered, his lips quivering.

“Dad,” I said back, wiping my face free of tears and snot.

He looked me up and down for the first time and smiled fondly. “You’ve…grown up… quite a bit,” he managed to say, his voice wavering and filled with a deep sadness.

“Yeah, I did.”

I felt like I needed to say more, but I couldn’t form the words, my heart just felt like it was going to explode, and I was about to pass out.

Crying really takes a lot of you.

My mom helped me by thumbing away some of the tears on my face but neglected her own. Her face was red, and her eyes were bloodshot. Her typically beautiful face was covered with snot and fresh tears.

“Kal…my beautiful, Little Elf…I…I am so sorry—”

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. “Please…don’t apologize. None of this is your fault… and don’t do this. Not right now,” I begged. I looked over to the door, and Bowen was just watching us with a soft smile. I looked back at my parents. “Wait? What about everyone else? Is Cerila okay? Did you find her? And what about Grandpa and Padraic? And Sargeant Meus and Captain Amerdrew? Please…tell me they are okay…”

Mom rubbed my face gently again and nodded slowly. “You have nothing to worry about, Kal. Everyone is okay. Grandpa Jacobs is recovering and waiting for you at one of Bowen’s homes.”

Just when I thought the stress was finally lifted from me, I felt another ton leave my body. I felt so light-headed that I genuinely believed I was about to pass out or just float away.

I may be having a heart attack…

“And well…you should probably see for yourself,” my dad suggested with a warm smile.

Like clockwork, I looked towards the doorway, and it was filled with a familiar yet different face…and body. A stout Dwarf strode into the room on tree trunks for legs. His white beard had filled in and started to get long. His white hair was long and had a shaggy appearance to it despite clearly being well-groomed.

He wore a mixture of leather and steel armor and a short sleeve shirt that exposed his round arms and carried a hammer on his belt loop. He walked right up to me and looked me up and down a few times until his eyes eventually locked onto mine. He had to crane his neck back to look up at me.

He placed both his hands on his waist, and a giant grin tugged on the corners of his mouth as he chuckled. “You got taller.”

“Yeah, and you just got wider,” I said back to him.

A single tear rolled down his face, and he looked about ready to break down, but he bit his lip and just started laughing. “Look at you…you’ve changed so much. Still, a gloomy bastard, but you learned to be funny…” he said, his voice strained as he fought back sobs.

He wrapped his arms around me but seemingly failed as he couldn’t get them all the way around my waist, short arms and all. So, of course, I just hugged him back…well, his head anyway.

“It’s good to see you, Padraic. I missed you, brother,” I told him, fresh tears escaping my eyes.

We finished hugging, and he sniffled once and put on another one of his grins. “Brother, huh? Yeah…I guess we are. But maybe you shouldn’t be calling me,” Padraic said while looking behind him.

Padraic pushed someone in front of him, and although I had noticed another person, I was more concerned with Padraic. I looked down, stared into the young Dark Elf’s golden eyes, and felt a weird wave of familiarity wash over me. He had been hiding directly behind Padraic.

He was wearing a light jacket with a white underneath shirt. A golden ribbon that matched his hair and eyes was tied into a ribbon around his neck. The boy’s skin was dark…yet not the same as a typical Dark Elf. It was difficult to place. And I knew he was a Dark Elf because his ears were droopy and pointed down.

And the more I looked at his soft facial features, the more I realized he looked a lot like Dad…a whole lot like Dad.

Mom put a hand on my back and looked at him. She wiped a tear from her face and smiled brightly at me. “Kal…this is your little brother, Dallin.”

“My little brother?”

I looked at my mother in what I imagined to be pure confusion. I know Avasta played a part in my creation, but when she spoke of my mother, she said that Mom wished for a “Son,” not “Sons.” Not to mention all the other factors that played a part in my improbable existence. It was also highly against Elven biology to be able to have a kid so soon…if I had to guess how old he was…he must be at least six or seven.

Perhaps staring at him made Dallin nervous as he fidgeted with his hands. He was pink in the face, and the tips of his ears were burning, but he looked up at me regardless. I…I suppose he really does look like a spitting image of Dad. I don’t even know what to say to him…what does an older brother who has seen his little brother for the first time even say?

I have a little brother.

“Nevermind, you haven’t changed all that much,” Padraic grumbled, but he didn’t bother to hide the softness in his voice.

Padraic pushed me forward, and I knelt down on a knee in front of Dallin. But I felt a lump in my throat, and my heart was racing. I think I was making him uncomfortable…

Much to my surprise, he was actually the first one to speak to me. “Hi…”

My first attempt at swallowing the lump in my throat failed, but I got it the second time. “Hello…Dallin,” I choked out.

Although he seemed concerned, Dallin flashed me a brilliant smile that made my heart sink deeper into my chest. I felt like I was looking at a young version of Dad…with gold eyes and hair.

Dallin extended a shaky hand as a tear rolled down his face. I wasn’t sure why he was necessarily about to cry but seeing him starting to cry made tears well up in my eyes. I heard Padraic groan again as he strode over to us.

“You Shadowhearts are damn hopeless. Hug your damn brother, Dal. Do you have iron in your brain?” Padraic asked with a chuckle as he pushed Dallin into me.

I caught Dallin in my arms and just sort of hugged him. It was…awkward and a little stiff, but I could still feel the warmth coming from his tiny body. He sniffled once, and I looked back to see if I was hurting him, but he was just smiling softly. I looked over my shoulder to see Mom and Dad standing next to each other, both of them watching us with fond smiles and teary eyes.

Padraic put a hand on Dallin’s back again and nudged him forward. “Go get our last guest, would you?” Dallin nodded his head enthusiastically and ran off and out the door without any hesitation.

“Our last guest?” I questioned. “Are you doing this on purpose? Why can’t you just all have come in at the same time?” I asked while getting back to my feet. Despite feeling lighter just moments ago, my body started to feel more tired than it had in years.

Padraic let out a deep laugh which made his beard wiggle. “That’s no fun. Besides, spreading things out makes it more…dramatic.”

I groaned, wiping my face again. “You are just messing with me.”

Padraic’s grin grew even wider. “Yup. It seems like people haven’t been keeping you on your toes, old friend. Gotta make up for the lost time.”

I rubbed my eyes and face and felt like there were decades worth of tears built up. It was bad enough that I was tasting the salt, and it made me wince. But for a moment, I ignored that as I looked towards the door again.

Dallin walked in with a gleeful smile as he pulled someone by the hand. For a moment, I was confused, but then it felt like a calm wave washed over my brain. My ears started ringing, and what little noise was reaching me vanished.

Ah…of course, my childhood friend is gone…she is a young woman now, a beautiful one at that. She hasn’t lost that doll-like appearance.

I tried using some sign language, but it felt like my thoughts were being dragged through the mud as my fingers slowly and sloppily moved together. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she approached me. She was wearing an entirely different attire than what my memory was used to.

She wore brown leather armor with hints of black metal on her shoulders and arms. She also wore pure snow-white pants and a black waist cape. A silver sword was strapped to her thigh, and she had on knee-high leather boots. Her long snow-white hair went past her shoulders and flowed down to her elbows while her fox ears poked out from the top of her head. And around her neck was a familiar white lace choker that looked like tiny snowflakes with a light blue sapphire in the middle of it.

I see…she never did take it off…and she has kept good care of it.

She released Dallin’s hand and walked right up to me, and it appeared she’d grown significantly as we were almost eye to eye. Her amber fox eyes seemed to gaze into my very soul, and I could hear my blood circulating in my ears. She didn’t look me up or down like everyone else…she just looked into my eyes as her cheeks turned bright red.

I swallowed the pool of spit in my mouth and figured maybe mouthing words would be more ideal, but before I could even move, she gently grabbed the back of my head and brought my face to hers. I could feel her calloused fingers rub my skin while a sweet scent tickled my nose.

I only blinked for a moment when I felt her warm breath on my face and something soft touching my lips, I jerked back slightly in surprise, but she kept a firm hand on the back of my head. My eyes went wide, and all I could see was her closed eyelids as something soft and moist pressed against my lips.

…

I…wasn’t sure how long it lasted. Perhaps it was mere seconds, but it felt like an eternity. A wave of confusion and pleasure washed over me, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my brain seemingly shut off for a few moments. My heart thumped in my chest. But it was more confusing than anything. I was confused about what to do or why she was doing this.

But there was also a part of me that didn’t really care. And right now, that part of me won.

She took a step back. Her beautiful face flushed bright red as she brought her hands up to her chest.

Cerila signed.