“Even if it doesn’t feel that way at times, just remember that more often than not, there will be people out there who care about you, at times even unconditionally.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“Are you planning to head out again, Aunt Aideen?” asked Áine when the three siblings visited Aideen after her return to Tohrmutgent some weeks later. The three siblings happened to pay Aideen a visit right as she was packing up for the preliminary trip she planned to Alcidea, the one where she planned to set things up for the eventual journey to build a city later on.

“Yeah, I’m planning to set things in motion and to prepare things for when I head over there to build a city like I mentioned before,” replied Aideen honestly, as it was not like her plans were any secret, and definitely not anything she would need to hide from her own friends and family. “I’ll probably be gone for a few decades this time around, though likely not too long, definitely going to be away less than half a century.”

“Huh, mind if we tagged along?” asked Eilonwy rather spontaneously. The girl was always the most straightforward out of the three siblings, unlike her elder siblings that tended to think more before they spoke or acted. It was a personality that Aideen found refreshing especially when most people tended to beat around the bush too much. “If we wouldn’t be trouble to have along, that is.”

“Well, I’m already planning to go with Celia and Kino anyway, so why not?” replied Aideen after a moment of thought. Celia had asked to be included the next time Aideen planned to go out after missing out on the events they experienced in the north and Vitalica, while Aideen herself chose to take Kino along to show the younger girl the northern continent, as Kino had never been there before. “You’re all more than old enough to make your own decisions, but make sure to tell your mothers before we go, all right? Wouldn’t want them to worry needlessly.”

“No worries, Aunt. We’ll make sure to tell mothers properly later tonight,” said Rhys while his sisters nodded in agreement. The three siblings were always close to their mothers, so Aideen had no reason to doubt their words. It was fortunate that her planned trip wouldn’t be for too long, as Mimia and Èirynn were both approaching their final century or so, and she felt that it would be good to have their children around in their last few decades.

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“Uh-huh, make sure you do so. I won’t be departing until Secondday of next week anyway, so you three have plenty of time to prepare,” added Aideen. She herself didn’t need to prepare too much for the trip, but she happened to be sorting out the things she had in her storage artifact, discarding those that were no longer needed or useful, and adding things that might be of use in their place.

Other than that, she also made sure to restock her supply of items that had proven to be useful in her travels, like remedies to various kinds of diseases and poison that she couldn’t easily handle with her own healing magic. Other than that, while she visited Molin for those remedies, she also paid her cousin Colin and Cormin a visit to get herself some more Dragonfire Brew vials.

After all, the extremely volatile and explosive liquid had proven to be a convenient way to get out of annoying situations for an unliving like her. Her own storage ring was a highly resilient one plated in Adamant, which made it nigh indestructible, which allowed her to freely use such extreme measures without a second thought.

Normally it didn’t take too much time to pack up what one planned to carry in their storage artifact, as most people only had one the size of a backpack, maybe two or three in some cases. Aideen had been using hers – which had a storage space the size of a large room – for centuries by then, though, and there were all sorts of things that she had kept there and at times forgotten after all that time.

As such, it took a while to sort out what she still needed and what could be given away or left behind since there were so many things kept inside the artifact. It didn’t help that the storage artifact was also imbued with stasis, which meant that things inside it never decayed, so sometimes she couldn’t tell when or where she acquired some things she forgot about.

Her nephew and nieces did as she bid, and their mothers visited her the day after, asking Aideen to take care of their children while they were out traveling. Aideen assured them that she would take care of the three while they were gone, which hopefully reassured Mimia and Èirynn’s minds. The two of them tended to be focused on researching magic and rarely traveled around, so they were not as adventurous as their children.

As for Kino and Celia, the two had prepared for the journey even earlier, as they were particularly enthusiastic about joining her on the road once more. Since they would be traveling as a group of six and the three siblings’ elven heritage were obvious, they did not plan to travel incognito. Besides, Aideen would be heading to Alcidea on official business this time around as she would set things up and arrange things for when she would return to build the city later.

Because of that, it was more expedient for the group to simply travel as themselves, openly announcing their identities and affiliation with the Lichdom. While that would naturally draw attention upon themselves, it would also remove a good chunk of those who had less than savory intentions. The Lichdom had a bit of a reputation even abroad, and even random bandits knew better than to lightly mess with people openly affiliated with the Lichdom.

After all, one would likely never know when the traveler they intended to rob was a powerless one or a powerful necromancer, at least not before it was too late.