After carefully rescanning Nemo for any potential stowaways, we headed back into Albion space. I brought us back slowly, mindful of the time we had left before the imminent massacre by Jack of Blades. Fortunately for us, Scarlet's baby arrived early, and even better, Theresa was fully prepared for it. I know I certainly wasn’t! Some things you can never unsee—like a human being coming out of a person.

  My new little brother was named "Kren," thanks to my parents. I can't help but wonder why they didn’t go with "Granok, Destroyer of Worlds." That sounds perfectly good to me! The baby is adorable, and everyone swoons to spend time with him. Even Naia remarked, "I never knew a human could be so pure." She even took to calling him "Bright Eyes" as a nickname. Kren has the same dirty blonde hair as Brom but crystal blue eyes. I bet he will be a real lady killer someday—and I mean that in a socially acceptable way, not in the Jack of Blades kind of way.

  Recently, I’ve been thinking more about Nymph magic on our way back. I know they are beings born of pure Will and don’t use spell worlds, which means they must have their own magical system that could be useful for research. I wouldn’t do this in a way that would hurt Naia; I’m just curious about how it works and whether I can use it.

  "Hey, Naia," I called out.

  "What?" she replied, annoyance evident as she had to put Kren down to answer me.

  "I want to use Will to examine how you use magic. It may help us in the fight that is to come. Should Jack have a way to block my magic, this could give me a method to retaliate," I explained, emphasizing the importance of what I was doing.

  "Fine... Just make it quick!" she pressed.

  I placed my hands gently on the Nymph’s back, centered along her spine between her wings. Her blue skin felt icy to the touch. Even through the rough fabric of her shirt, it still felt cool. Good thing the other kids in the village understand personal space. Closing my eyes, I willed myself to see the flow of energies in her body. Focusing past the chaos of bustling energies, a method to the madness began to take shape in my mind. What I saw shocked me and led me to a brutal realization.

  "That's fine, Naia," I choked.

  "Uh, okay then," Naia replied, somewhat confused. Since she got to return to Kren earlier than expected, she didn’t complain.

  I sat down on the stone retaining wall beside the river, feeling a wrenching pain in my gut that I knew was only in my mind. Holding my legs, I pondered what to do. What could I possibly do about this? Theresa approached, noticing my expression.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I examined how magic works for Nymphs," I replied flatly.

  "Okay, what’s the problem then?" she questioned.

  "You ever wonder how a primitive society that just invented magic was able to create Augmentations?"

  "Um, they just invented it too," Theresa guessed.

  "No, the systems are way too different from each other for one to lead to the other," I insisted.

  "What does it have to do with Nymphs?" Theresa asked, automatically linking the two together.

  "A Nymph’s spell heart is the same as a Mana Augmentation," I declared.

  "Oh..." Theresa muttered, realizing that augmentations were likely invented through capturing and experimenting on Nymphs. This process would probably lead to the Nymphs' deaths, and since dead Nymphs disappear when they die, it could not have been done post-mortem. Both of us doubted a Nymph would willingly submit to this process.

  "It’s worse than you think," I told her.

  "How?"

  "Because that means it was the Archon that first betrayed the Nymphs," I pointed out.

  "Our ancestor!" Theresa exclaimed.

  "Yes, the first betrayal was done to create the super-enchanted weapons of the old kingdom. William Black probably did it to make his people live better, but someone convinced him to do so for the reasons we've already seen. He too was manipulated into doing greater evil than he knew. He probably thought it was a few lives sacrificed to save many while not knowing it would lead to permanent hostile relations and slavery." My face darkened at the thought of my hypothesis.

  "So what now?"

  "For once, I have no GODDANG idea," I stressed, completely at a loss. William Black was still around as Scythe, and when I find him, we're going to have a serious talk. The man’s screw-ups are legendary, and after centuries of living, he must have realized the truth and yet done nothing. His attitude, even with family, was to always act like, "Oh well, what’s done is done." He abandoned his kingdom and let it fall. To hold near-absolute power and leave nothing but problems for others—especially his own descendants, whom he acts like are irrelevant—is truly an asshat move!

  "Look, we’ll wait for the right time to tell Naia. She understands that we don’t have a collective memory like her race. She won’t blame us for what an ancient ancestor did long ago. If anything, she’ll have faith that we’ll make it right," Theresa soothed.

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  "I hope you’re right," I said, shaking my head. Theresa gave me an "atta boy" pat on the back before walking away.

  After she left, I realized we weren’t as alone as we had initially thought.

  I looked left at what could be mistaken for just a stone door out of the corner of my eye.

  "Hey, Nemo, my best friend in the whole wide galaxy. You didn’t hear any of that, did you?"

  "That depends on whether you’ll eat an entire package of bacon," Nemo blackmailed.

  "Fine... I guess you deserve it after what you went through to save us," I replied, heading over to the skillet by the fire to put some bacon in.

  "I didn’t say you could cook it," the old door grinned evilly.

  "Are you sure you weren’t corrupted by the Crawler? Or have you always been a bit of a jerk?"

  "Just eat the bacon slowly so you don’t choke on it. I’d hate to lose my most precious friend," Nemo retorted, maintaining that same shit-eating grin he wore when I was forced to eat pie after our last visit to the void. Oh, that’s definitely still him.

  We arrived back in Oakvale just in time for the summer solstice festival. The sun was hotter than I remembered, but I’d adjust. For the festival, I wore a white undershirt that had no frills. It looked like a modern casual business long-sleeve shirt. I had the top button undone and the collar raised like the Fonz in the ’70s. The shirt itself was untucked to give off the cool, casual look I was going for. It had polished silver buttons that really classed it up. Adding some villager pants and leather boots, I was ready for the party. Theresa wore one of her nice dresses, and even my parents dressed up for the occasion.

  None of the clothes we wore were the same ones we had before coming back. We had all significantly changed since then. Theresa and I were two and a half feet taller than other kids our age. Theresa literally looked like a young lady, while I resembled a short man. Brom had gained so much muscle mass he resembled “The Rock” Johnson—only with hair. Scarlet had gained a little muscle too but also thinned out a bit. You know how some women are a size “0”? Thanks to that weight loss, none of the women in the village were too shocked by the reveal of my new brother; they just assumed she’d been pregnant and hadn’t realized it because it didn’t show.

  Some women with amazing bodies don’t look pregnant until the later trimesters. Brom explained that while traveling, we found out Scarlet was with child and we had to stay where we were. It was a good excuse because you can’t take a pregnant woman through the Darkwood safely or on a long journey around it.

  Since there weren’t any girls my age in Oakvale to take to the festival, I extended the invitation to Elvira. Might as well act like a proper man for such a formal event and coming-of-age ceremony. To my surprise, Elvira arrived looking much different than I remembered. Two months away, and she had grown like a weed—just like me. “Young lady” was an appropriate description, but it didn’t do her justice.

  Elvira wore a simple light blue gown that gave off a girl-next-door kind of feel instead of the overly formal outfits she usually wore. A purple tulip flower hair clip adorned her head, accentuating her cuteness. It matched her eyes... Wait, were her eyes always this shade of amethyst? I asked myself. Looking back, I realized they were, but she was a child then, and I hadn’t paid much attention to her attributes. Her skin was paler now, like milk, and it looked good on her—like “Snow White.”

  "You dropped this," Elvira said, lifting my chin with her right hand. I hadn’t even noticed my jaw had dropped until she pointed it out triumphantly.

  "Oh, thanks... You look nice," I complimented, trying to hide my flushed face.

  "You look pretty yourself," she joked.

  "Shall we, Milady?" I jested playfully, offering my arm.

  "Yes, and don’t worry, I’ll have him back by nine," my date said, giving my parents a wink.

  Was she always this funny? I thought to myself. No, this was new, but I liked it.

  "You've changed a lot in just two months," I pointed out.

  "So have you, big boy," Elvira teased as she traced her hand along a barely visible blue Will line I had failed to properly conceal between my leather gloves and shirt sleeve.

  "I don't think anyone will notice, so we should be good to party," I changed the subject.

  "Yeah, well I'm glad I wasn’t left too far behind. Don’t you go growing up without me," she said, giving my arm a mock pinch.

  "Ouch, that hurts!" I proclaimed, faking an injury.

  "Is what you get for making a lady wait," she joshed back.

  In the town square, cloth-covered lanterns adorned the area, with different colored cloths casting various hues of light. There were food stalls set up with pies, meat, and apples.

  I wasn’t very hungry and didn’t want to cover my dashing outfit with stains, so it didn’t take long for Elvira to invite me to dance. Luckily, thanks to this body’s memory and what I recalled from Earth, I was able to dance fairly well. Most dances involved each individual dancing toward their partner in a somewhat informal style. We quickly found ourselves immersed in the dance, competing with each other. We blew away the competition, especially since most of them were younger kids.

  Then a dance started that resembled the waltz, requiring us to hold one another. Together, we moved gracefully, performing the dance with little error. When we finished, applause erupted from the gathered villagers, who had stopped to watch and clap for us. For the second time that day, I felt really embarrassed. At least this time, she was too, and somehow that made it feel better.

  After grabbing a quick snack, Elvira pulled my arm, leading me to the beach. The darkness had settled in, with the last bit of sunlight disappearing beyond the horizon. We sat there, gazing into the distance and enjoying the view. The orange colors among the clouds and sky contrasted beautifully with the greenish glow of the sea. The cool breeze made it a perfect moment, one I wanted to remember forever. Sometimes, in life, you forget to stop and appreciate the good and beautiful moments like this.

  When I thought the moment couldn’t get any better, my date astounded me further. She began to sing:

  "A symphony of sadness; from a world that's madness.

  A tale that was forgotten; by a world that's rotten.

  A Hero whose death went beyond the final breath;

  An oath that was repaid by those he never betrayed..."

  "WOW! That was beautiful," I exclaimed, adding a clap for good measure.

  "Thanks," Elvira muttered, tucking a hairbang that had fallen forward back over her ear.

  "Who was it about?"

  "Unfortunately, that’s all I know. I just recently took a liking to its tune," she mumbled.

  "Wazzat?" I asked, moving closer to her to hear.

  As I did, she suddenly placed a kiss right on my lips before running away. I stood there, paralyzed for a few minutes. It was surprising and exhilarating, but why my heart raced was a mystery.

  I do like her, but love would be a bit much. Part of my mind still wants to think of her as a girl rather than a lady. Yet my heart raced all night since I first saw her. Touching my chest, a thought occurred to me. Are you the one who loves her? Perhaps I’ve never been alone in this chase. If a child’s thoughts are added alongside an adult’s, would you know which are yours? Would an adult mind, being more advanced, simply outshine the child at the beginning? Yet sometimes I feel the urge to act immature. Don’t worry, if you’re in here too and you like her, I won’t push her away.

  I know I certainly wasn't! There are just somethings you can never unsee! A human being coming out of a person is one such thing.

  Why not Granok destroyer of worlds? Sounds perfectly good to me. The baby is very adorable and everyone swoons to spend time with him. Even Naia was like, "I never knew a human could be so pure". Naia even took to calling him "Bright Eye's" as a nickname. He has the same dirty blonde hair as Brom but has crystal blue eyes. I bet Kren will be a real lady killer someday and I mean that in the good/socially acceptable way. Not the Jack of Blades kinda way.

  Good thing the other kids in the village understand personal space. Closing my eyes I willed to see the flow of energies in her body. Focusing past the chaos of busily moving energies in her body, the method to the madness took shape in my mind. What I saw shocked me and worse yet made me realize a brutal fact.

  What could I possibly do about this? Theresa saw my expression and approached.

  Oh, that's definitely still him.

  It matches her eyes... Wait were her eyes always purple like amethyst? I asked myself. Looking back I realized they were but she was a child and I felt she was annoying. So I did not pay her much mind and ignored her attributes. Her skin was paler like milk now but it looked good on her like "Snow White".

  Was she always this funny? I thought to myself. No, this is new but I like it.

  Are you the one who loves her? Perhaps I've never been alone in this chasey. If a child's thoughts were added alongside and adults would you know which are yours? Would an adult mind being more progressed simply overperform the child in the beginning? Yet sometimes I get the urge to act immature. Don't worry if you're in here too and you like her, I won't go pushing her away.