"Why? Because it is fun! and when you are immortal, few things in life can grant you enjoyment and I rather not spend my days slumbering like those old lizards on the main island"

Red Dragon Saark in his visit to the castle for the anniversary of the eldest of the Dragonbloods. The dragon later added 10 more wings to his dungeon in the capital following the interview he did with the city's newspaper.

 

William stood in the chamber with Kaine as the young man darted around taking notes and using his Magi-Tech memory marble to take both pictures and recordings from the chamber, he was like a kid on Christmas and William watched with amusement as he gasped in excitement and wonder. That was when the shade from earlier appeared again and spoke.

[Child of Faal I have but one favor to ask, take these foci to the lands above and destroy it]

William recognized the instruments, it was the core for the shade and what kept the thing alive for eons! In the game when the player reaches this dungeon the thing was at the tail end of its lifespan! Yet the request was the same. Kill the shade.

"Why?" Kaine asked.

"It has outlived its purpose" William answered and the shade nodded.

[The female is correct]

"I've tales of artificial constructs wishing for...termination in the Imperium" Kaine sighed and nodded "It shall be done" the shade disappeared and they went on looting the spoils of the dungeon. William honed in towards the tome with the Time Magic spell required for Kaine to fully unlock his Blessing and grabbed it, his mind burned with the cries of countless people as his hands went red then white.

William gasped for air as he went to his knees as Kaine whelped and rushed over "Lucrezia! are you alright?" in a flash, he cast a series of medical spells to see what was wrong with William who couldn't speak yet. William raised his hand and sat down on the dusty ground as the magic washed over him and renewed his strength, they stood quietly for a few minutes before William managed to speak.

"The tome was more than a regular spell-keeping book, curse my bloody haste for forgetting high-level Ancient Artefact usually comes with the memories of the people who used it. And this thing was used by the whole population of this ziggurat in a bid to break the river of time and get their Goddess back" William finished as he got up and dusted himself off "Such desperate magic was bound to have potent after-effects and thus the High Priest of the ziggurat had countermeasures put in place..."

Kaine nodded, he had explored a few ruins from the Ancients before and countermeasures usually meant a dead man's switch to kill everyone on site. He offered a quiet prayer to the Ancients who struggled to the very ends. And another for such a fate to never happen to him and his world.

Kaine cleared his throat "My blessing..."

William smiled "Aye, put two and two together didn't you? Always the smarter of the two you were Kaine...yes the Goddess Gwenarius was the one that granted you a Greater Blessing. But like the stuck up stubborn oaf, she is she demands her "Blessed" present her with proof of their worthiness without even telling them what to do or that she even blessed them in the first place"

Kaine couldn't believe it "For someone as important as the Goddess of Time she sure is petty, this begs the question of why would she go through this? standard practice for gods is to establish a clear and simple goal for their first followers so they can plant the seeds for their faith..." He pondered "Unless! Gods above according to lore she is extremely proud of her position of keeper of time! She likely sees we mortals as beneath her but the Divine Game ever goes on and even someone as powerful as her, with a Sphere like that would meet opposition!" He smiled as he figured the whole situation then a hint of anger flashed between his eyes.

"Bloody Gods, playing with us as if we were merely pieces to be discarded! No wonder the Anti-Divine faction is gaining supporters by the day back in the capital...anyway let me see the tome at once!"

William smiled and passed the tome towards Kaine whose reaction was less strong than William's. He still had to take a sit on the ground but he could speak normally as the knowledge burned in his mind.

"It will take a good month for us to crack the inner workings of the spell. And when we do your blessing will be made itself manifest and you will be a chronomancer!" William said with vigor "Now to loot the gold and other books from this place" He knew that there were a few other spells here, one being a flood of mana that let the caster shut down trash mobs with ease.

After a solid hour of packing stuff into crates, Kaine summoned (A handy spell when going into dungeons) They hauled the cargo towards the entrance of the Ziggurat as Kaine went on and on about how he knows armed with the tome could break past the limitations of the ancients and cast a stable version of the spell that would according to him allows the caster to see in the future and into the past.

At higher levels, one would be able to displace itself along the river of time and travel between it. That was when Gwenarius's blessing came into play, William and Kaine knew there had been many a powerful mage who tried to do the same only to be cut down by Gwenarius herself in her zealous to keep the timeline clean and without paradoxes. The Greater Blessing would give Kaine what was akin to an IFF signal and thus he would reach the zenith of chronomancy!

That would take months of course, but with William's knowledge from the game, the funds from his ventures, and tax from the land to fund the research he was pretty sure they could reach that second stage before the year was over and Kaine's parent's eventual rescue from his "captivity" William wondered how the Arch-Mage's wife would react since she spoiled her daughter rotten and William had killed her fiance in cold blood.

Of course, the Arch-Mage himself knew of Galius's actions and had not shared said information with his wife. So that too would be another shitshow in a half.

"Can I ask you a question Lucrezia?" Kaine asked as he leafed through the tome.

"Of course" William replied as he fired the flaregun into the tunnel signaling the dwarven master they were ready for pick up. The stairs were done by the time they were done with the dungeon but William would need extra hands to carry all that cargo.

"Why did you kill them? Why not take them as captives? use the prince and his people as political prisoners" Kaine closed the tome and stared into William's eyes in a way he hadn't done before.

"When your parents come to pick you up Kaine, Ask them that same question then, and if your father does not answer I will tell you" William replied with a smile "Now come, our friends are here and we must haul this cargo to the surface. Don't forget the foci"

Kaine sighed and nodded as he began hearing steps coming from the stairs, he saw a small army of dwarves as Lucrezia greeted them and proceeded to give out orders, soon they all had crates in hand, and up they went towards the surface.

Kaine was humming the Mage's Anthem, a popular piece of the soundtrack for the game as they walked and that gave him a strong hit of nostalgia as the theme was often used as a leitmotif across many quests.

"A lovely tune that one lad, ye got the pipes for a mage," One of the dwarfs that were walking with them said "Did ye know the Lady here also can sing? ye should ask her one of these days. The people love it!"

Kaine smirked "You? Singing? Oh, I must see that!"

William smiled "Another day maybe, All I want now is to go home and take a hot bath..." the dwarves grunted in agreement as Kaine looked at them all and said "If you told me a month ago I would be fighting Ancient constructs for magic beyond mortal ken I would ask you on what drug you were hopped on" more laughter from the dwarves as a female voice spoke out loud

"Aye! Sure beats dying in the bloody snow wastes! a cheer for Lady Lucrezia lads!" they erupted into cheers. William watched as Kaine chatted with the dwarves about the various applications of Geomancy in Magi-Tech for better and more efficient mining. At first, the dwarves were distrusting of the human mage who had never set foot in a mine or used a pickaxe. But one of Kaine's strong points was his ability to turn even the staunchest of individuals to his side with his rather extensive knowledge.

Thus by the time they arrived at the castle, Kaine had become fast friends with them and was even invented to a mining expedition into the mines below the castle, which he accepted since he wanted to check what magic was powering the place. Being able to extract any metal known to men with but a few thought exercises was something that had fascinated him when he heard from the dwarves.

Later after his bath, William was called by Kaine. The young man told him he had dispatched of the shade and asked him for a song to which William told him to come by his bard classes later in the week. Both bid each other good night and went to bed.

William was out cold the second he hit his bed. It had been a long day.

---

Lucrezia watched as William played around with magic inside their shared realm, another perk of their deeper connection was that he could now "cast" magic inside of the realm. Of course, it was more of an illusion than actual spell weaving and shaping but still allowed him to practice his less-used spells like the Aegis ones as Lucrezia flexed her arcane muscles against it.

When he wasn't doing inane magic rituals he sparred against Lucrezia. Simple weapons could be conjured in the realm now and they would always spar for a few hours. Sometimes they would switch things up with throwing and bow competitions and even trained with rifles and pistols. A fun time if slightly tiresome after spending what felt like a day doing nothing but mock fighting.

Still, Lucrezia was anxious, weeks had passed already and the end of the year was near! Margareth the Arch-Mage's daughter was lost to the Silent's Curse and Kaine had been positively pacified by a godsdamned Time Magic spell and his friendship with Idun and the rest of the Magi-Tech people, of course, he tried to aid his sister as she struggled to deal with the death of her fiance but the boy was never one for interpersonal relationships as William liked to put it.

Time Magic was something of a fascination for Lucrezia in her younger years, oh how much she wanted to turn back the river of time to escape from some embarrassing situation, or get that one once-in-a-lifetime item from one of the many shops in the capital! It felt empty now after hearing William and Kaine go on for hours on the theory behind even tapping into this primordial force of nature and beyond.

It was in a cold day that their hard work bore fruit, William together with by now a veritable battalion of Mages, Druids, and even Dragonkin shamans! ancient as the stones of their brood mother's mountain these sages stood helping William set up the ritual.

One would think said ritual would send Kaine into the past or even the future, but no. According to William, they would need all of this just to contact the Goddess of Time and unlock Kaine's blessing! then she would judge if he was "worthy" of having the bloody thing in the first place! Lucrezia fumed and seethed with anger after watching William help Kaine for so long she came to sympathize with the boy.

Born from the most powerful mage duo to bless the kingdom in nearly two centuries, given a stealth blessing and only saved because of age-old tradition on the privacy of the individual should they not want to divulge their blessings to the world. Expected to surpass Margareth even when Lucrezia knew out of the two she was the better battle-mage and that their mother was often found of "comparing" the two. Usually by putting down Kaine's efforts.

Was this newfound rapport with the young mage born from William's feelings? she often wondered about how much of his emotions bled through her now...their shared memories regarding the game were fully melded now and she often saw herself playing it from the quiet dark room in upstate NY. Getting invested and engaged with the characters on the screen as their stories were acted out for her in a series of flashbacks.

It was the same for William as he told her, often after he would go back to their body he would have vivid dreams of her memories. Her first crush, the time when she finally managed to form a proper clique in the capital with the other noble scions, her rivals, and bitter enemies.

To hear him speak of it was very nostalgic and sad. He would often get sad himself and she always picked an undercurrent of anxiety in him those moments, as if he wanted to hurry up and get to the capital faster. Alas going to the future was off the books even if Kaine got Gwenarius to praise him and so they went on day in and day out always learning something new about each other.

A facet of William's deep psyche and something he tried his hardest to hide was his utter devastation of the dead in the battle, both his people and the enemy who by all rights knew naught of the ulterior motives of that vile fiend Galius. A part of him had connected deeply to the Knight Commanders he had to put through the sword that fateful day, in the game William's subconscious viewed them as almost replacements for his parents.

Wynather Enfir, Uu'Kal-Vaar, Var'yr Ether these names ringed in the deepest parts of his soul. The anguish of knowing Enfir would never watch her son become a Knight, Vaar reuniting with his lost love, and Ether's becoming the father he was meant to be to his daughters...Their questlines had impacted William hard as he saw in them the perfect examples of what a parent should be.

They provided support to him through his game character, never overbearing, and always granting him a healthy degree of independence while teaching restraint without abusing punishment. Taught him how to master combat styles and even provided in-depth commentary on the state of the Academy and its people even when their masters were aligned against his character.

Good Knights, brave and true to the Oath they swore now laid dead, their bodies shipped back to their noble states in Ice Coffins as to preserve them. An honor seldom granted but something William was adamant about doing for the people he once shared memories with, even if those people were mere simulations. Code in a soulless machine made by a skilled team of writers and voice actors.

There was no hiding the panic, the screaming at night from Lucrezia either. She knew the name for his afflictions and how to treat it but William was once again pushing it all down. Once again he was putting the lid on the pot and once again it would end up badly for him. She tried to help but the boy was adamant in not bothering her with such feelings in an honest attempt to safeguard her.

As the Silent's Curse wrecked Margareth, so it did the same for William.

A few days ago Lucrezia watched as William grabbed a bottle of strong spirit and went out in the cold night. A few days after the battle he had ordered a monument built with the name of the fallen and he would often stay near it in silence as his thoughts and emotions bounced between each other, sometimes Serkj would join him, or Erwin and Sigrún and stay beside him without speaking more than 5 words.

He would sing sorrowful songs in these little escapades, A way to cope with the pain he told Lucrezia. Music was very important for William and he would often lose himself to it to ease the ache back in Earth. She knew that now as she relieved those memories and felt the same feelings he felt. She also knew he abhorred alcohol and drugs of any kind, the fear of losing himself to addiction was so strong she wondered if Earth had some sort of primitive mind magic at play here.

So when he started to drink heavily from the bottle Lucrezia was alarmed enough to break her "silence" and ask what in all hells was going on.

"Shouldn't you be asleep by now?"He replied in that tone of his that betrayed his inner fury and sorrow, even with her he tried to put a facade while knowing she could see past it.

"You just drank half a bottle of a spirit strong enough it can knock down an ogre William, that was bound to wake me up" Lucrezia replied "Why the alcohol William? I know you dislike the stuff, pray tell me what made you break that vow?"

William was quiet for several minutes, the cold chill of the night doing its job in keeping him sharp as Lucrezia felt his mind go everywhere and nowhere at once, wave upon wave of myriad emotions crashing against his rationality as he struggled to find words, to give meaning to his actions. Lucrezia did not rush him for she knew deep inside her heart he was hurting.

As time dragged on Lucrezia felt a tug in their shared memory. Another piece of music that William had a special place in his heart for, she focused on it as the melody filled her mind and soul.

Stone by stone
Cracked, crushed, fallen
Beauty burned, erased
But not forgotten
I’ll take your melodies
May your last breath
Fill the air with embers
I... inhale

Lucrezia didn't know why she began to sing, but as soon as she finished the first verse she heard William's voice join hers in the waking world. He sang with power and conviction as the chorus built on his chest

In their blood, I will stand!
Let the waning light of Man,
Cast my shadow on the Fires of War
Till our time burns away,
Till our embers fade to grey,
Cast my shadow on the Fires of War!

My grief is swollen...
In rusty chains...
Tethered to the killing wheel...
Sun up, sun down, sun up sundown, again.
One burning candle...
One wind-whipped flame...
I carry in my teeth like an animal...
Vengeance my strength!

In their blood, I will stand!
Let the waning light of Man,
Cast my shadow on the Fires of War
Till our time burns away,
Till our embers fade to grey,
Cast my shadow on the Fires of War!

Lucrezia felt the tears in her bosom as William's face reached the crescendo. And then felt his own emotions as they funneled into the climax of the song and he delivered each verse with a conviction beyond his ken. It felt like a valve went off as the memory ran its course and all that was left was a deafening silence. There were no brave men and women to join him and ride towards certain death. No enemy to slaughter and deliver vengeance upon. Just the cold northern wind howling

Lucrezia felt another part of her click together with his and their bond grew once again. Yet William did not comment on this or the fact she was singing a song from Earth, all he did was rest with his back to the monument and shed tears. Hatred, anguish, self-hatred, desperation... they all flowed like a waterfall as he sobbed and cried while holding the bottle to his face.

In her heart she wanted to be there in person, to hold his hand and whisper it would all be alright but she couldn't. All she could do was pray to the ones responsible for this whole affair and hope it could be undone.

Even should she sacrifice her all, she would not allow him to suffer anymore.

---

It had been nearly 2 months now. Kaine had fully integrated himself with the staff of the castle and was often called by them all to solve numerous issues. Often together with Lucrezia or her court mage Master Wilson. The man had been quite patient with him and even invented him to join the rest of the mage cadres but Kaine refused, he often preferred working alone after all.

Now that he was fully fledged Chronomancer his arcane "mastery" of the flow of time helped in a myriad of ways, from boosting his mana reserves to insane degrees that he was able to outpace even Lucrezia in flight, to helping run experiments with several Magi-Tech inventions, beholding the future and the past as he and Idun worked on several weapons of war for Lucrezia.

Of note was a nearly 2-meter tall suit of Magi-Tech armor that he, Idun, and Lucrezia together with the bloody princess from Grannarius made. Kaine jumped when he saw the leader of the Magenta Squad walk into their workshop. Immediately summoning his staff and Magi-tech armor and barking orders to Lucrezia and Idun thinking the Mad King had sent them to capture or kill Lucrezia.

After a round of explanations, Kaine watching a war hero that had tales of her destroying entire battalions alone laugh like a schoolgirl, and Lucrezia apologizing for not bringing him up to speed regarding her guests Kaine made a quick apology and threw himself at the Armor. After all nothing like avoiding shame and embarrassment by working on pushing the boundaries of magic and engineering to their limit.

And thus they birthed what Lucrezia called the Mark One Power Armor system. Made to be a one-man siege engine providing both support and enough firepower to level castle walls and moats.

"Its codename shall be Zenos," Lucrezia said with a laugh that bordered on maniacal. After rounds of testing and numerous issues with the Mark 1, they were able to find out the most glaring flaws of the suit of armor and iron it out enough that tests with someone inside of the damn thing were possible. Of course, it was far from the mass production stage but when Kaine got inside that hunk of Crystal and Steel he felt like a God!

It would take more time to have a working unit, and both he and Lucrezia would be shipped off to the Academy before that. Kaine realized how much of a friend Lucrezia had been for him, she knew what to say to him, how to explain things, and even when to comfort or be harsh with him. Margareth told him that he should be wary of Mind Magics but he knew best than anyone that doing that without proper training would be easy enough to spot.

No, Lucrezia knew him in a way not even his parents did. A deep personal knowledge that scared him whenever he came back to these thoughts and yet...and yet she had done nothing but be supportive, a true friend as his father was often fond of saying when talking about his adventuring days, she had yet to explain what Galius had done to deserve death but he knew better than to press for an explanation.

Kaine was aware of his shortcomings in the social side of his life, to find someone who could understand that and still work with him as deeply as Lucrezia had done in this short time they spent together was refreshing. And Kaine promised himself to never spoil this friendship as he had done with many others in the course of his life, his love of the arcane would not taint his respect for this young woman who was barely 19 and carried such a weight on her shoulders.

Before he went to face Gwenarius in his Blessing trial she had THE All-Mother grant, Kaine, a temporary boon for the fight, and Gods above it helped. Gwenarius was relentless and Kaine nearly failed more than he could count. He knew she had enough battle experience to rival a God of War but thanks Lucrezia's tips and the Boon that was granted by All-Mother he prevailed and was given the right to become a fully-fledged Chronomancer.

Yet jumping in the future or the past was far behind him and it would take personal involvement from his Goddess to allow it. Kaine couldn't believe how much of a stubborn oaf Gwenarius was, The Goddess could barely speak to him without losing patience and going as far as insulting him for daring to ask for instructions on how to build a religion for her.

Kaine was told by Lucrezia to not bother with the Goddess until after he had gotten stronger but a part of him wanted to know why someone as powerful as the Bloody Goddess of Time would go through such lengths, he wanted to hear from her mouth and when he did it just confirmed his theory.

Prideful, Stubborn, and saw mortals as less than dirt.

Still, power was power, and Gwenarius saw fit to leave him to his devices and do whatever as long as he manages to build her a church. And in the eventuality, he failed she would just pick another person. Of course, Kaine asked why wouldn't she simply look into the future but he got one of those charlatan phrases as the response. Fine Kaine thought if she didn't want to tell him he would do what he always did.

Work the issue through all the viable methods and arrive at the answer.

And so he called upon his friend Lucrezia and she was more than willing to help him, together with her they interviewed priests that Lucrezia was friends with, the Knight Commander as he acted as the spiritual leader for his men. And even the spirits!

Idun, the druids, and Lucrezia herself helped him on how to build the religious apparatus required for a Major Goddess. it would take his life to see the fruits of his labor come to fruition but he was a patient person. It was funny to him knowing he would have to build an entire religion since he was a man of the arcane but life was funny like that sometimes, he did wonder what his parents would say about it.

---

Margareth watched as maids and manservants went on serving her and her brother, the huge table they were on looked rather used and she could faintly smell ink and parchment coming from its wood.

Kaine had told her again and again Lucrezia had permitted for her to go back to the capital. Yet she remained in Wulfgrem living out her days in the dungeon waiting for...something. She couldn't put words on the feeling it was like a headache that never went away but was weak enough that you could ignore it, for the most part, that is. The Silent's curse manifests itself in new ways it seems.

She did wonder what sort of secret Kaine had divined with his newly found Chronomancy, to think her brother would become a time mage! That was bound to take the sting out of her mother's teasing for a good while. She was tired of having to deal with it such a cringe-worthy display of parental affection.

Watching Kaine mingle with the inner circle of Lucrezia was something to behold Margareth thought, her brother was an anti-social person at the best of times and yet here they treated him with respect and camaraderie.

All thanks to the young woman currently staring at her with those azure blue eyes, not with rage or fear but with a sort of supernatural understanding of Margareth's character and personality that spooked her something fierce.

Kaine had spoken about it as well, how Lucrezia would finish his sentences, read his queues like they knew each other for years, and outright predict what he was thinking. They had suspected she was doing mind magic chicanery at first but with Margareth's repertoire of detection spells, they found it Lucrezia had not brainwashed Kaine.
Maybe these northerners were good people readers? After a while Margareth stopped caring, her brother was acting like himself at the end of the day and that was good enough for her.

"Is the Pizza to your liking Miss Antewood?" asked a maid to her side, Margareth nodded and signaled for another slice and more wine, as of late she had taken a liking to the bottle. A bad way to cope she knew, but all Margareth wanted to do now was lose herself in the bottom of the glass alas, this was not the time and place for it so she elected to only sip the glass every once in a while.

"I am glad you decided to join us today Margareth, your brother wouldn't stop pestering me about" Spoke Lucrezia from her seat at the table, the woman had devoured 2 whole pizzas already and was on her way to end a third. Margareth stared at the space where her arm was sliced clean off. According to Kaine, she had a mechanical apparatus made to replace it, why she wasn't wearing it now was something Margareth wanted to ask.

"Too much time down in that fake beach isn't good, even if the alternative is cold snow" Kaine spoke "I head the core has interacted with you and you even fought monsters that it made?" Kaine knew already but he wanted to make Margareth talk if only a little.

"Yes, Dire Boars only, a fight every once in a while makes good exercise" she spoke and felt like it wasn't her talking like she was having an out-of-body experience. She circled mana around her channels and snapped back into place. Bloody curse messing her up again.

She didn't fail to notice how both her Knight Commander and Head Maid moved slightly into combat stances, ready to leap towards her, nor did she fail to notice Lucrezia's simple but firm eye contact that made them stand down. They complied and the tense atmosphere went away as the young Duchess snapped her fingers and trays of sweets came from the read doors.

"Are you excited for the Grand Academy Lucrezia? It is often said the first three years are the best" Kaine spoke as he drank some sort of soft cream "When you are planning on going to the capital speaking of which?"

Lucrezia smiled, her face soft and warm as she looked at Kaine, Margareth narrowed her eyes seeking the patterns. Maybe the young woman was acting under her Saal'Xhir blessing and wanted to consume her brother like he was a piece of meat? No that couldn't be it.

"A week or two, Gods know the amount of paperwork I need to get done before transferring the power to my staff so I can go and they can rule the land in my name" a series of laughs and a few sighs exploded around the room.

"You are going to miss the VIP dorms to other nobles, they love to fight for it the little shits," Margareth said without really thinking much, the booze already making her dizzy after she had one too many sips. She watched as Lucrezia's warm smile turned into a grin very akin to a predator who was ready to pounce "Let them have it, I care not for where I sleep"

Kaine nodded "Well should we leave today Margareth we can have our accommodations set up already, Lucrezia might be able to blow off the entire first week of classes but I don't and Gods strike me down if I have to use our parent's name to get out of a hearing for being "late" to the Academy"

Both talked and the rest interjected here and there, Margareth was taken aback at how lost she was when it came to timekeeping if the Academy had already started opening its gates. Which meant the year was nearly over, had it been 4 months? 5 maybe?

She didn't care, Margareth sighed as she prepared herself to leave the land where the love of her life was killed. To face the sun down south and explain to her friends what happened to her and relieve those awful experiences. It was as Kaine said, Lucrezia as a Duchess could blow off the Academy but she and her brother couldn't. Arch-Made's children were just that at the end of the day, lacking any sort of power to do what Lucrezia was going to do to the Academy's staff.

She noticed as Kaine's fork dropped from his hand and his eyes went wide with terror when a sound went off in her ear. An ever-so-familiar voice ringed and spoke words Margareth couldn't hear but she knew all too well who was speaking. She grabbed a small jewel from her person and watched as it glowed blue and green. Margareth raised her head and looked at her brother.

"Mom and Dad are coming Kaine"

A teleportation spell would take a minute to be cast and 45 seconds to displace its caster in the direction they picked. Kaine screamed as he out of all people barked orders to the Knights and workers around the table, he slammed his palms together and with a flash of silver was dressed in full combat gear of Magi-Tech making that Lucrezia and her dwarf had made for him.

The Knights formed as to defend their ruler as Margareth heard the thundering of many feet towards her. A squad of soldiers also dressed in Magi-Tech gear complete with the new weapons Kaine often rambled about formed a line and aimed. Lucrezia was undisturbed as if she had somehow predicted all of this but with a deeper look, Margareth noticed small cracks in her calm facade.

lips trembling, her only hand left shaking every so slightly and dilated pupils. Gods above she wanted to fight mom and dad! was she insane!? Margareth watched as the workers had all left the room minus Lucrezia's maid who now was dressed like an assassin. Lucrezia then tied her long hair into a ponytail with only one arm and signaled towards the maid-turned-assassin.

With a nod, the woman cleared the table and placed another pizza? on it plus a bottle of wine and two glasses. Lucrezia then turned to Margareth and smiled as if to say that was for her parents.

A long jacket that acted more as a cape was in Lucrezia's shoulders as she got up and snapped her fingers again. From the jacket, a liquid came and formed into Lucrezia's artificial arm.

"Still Itchy..." she whispered, According to Kaine the arm was a whole piece that was attached to her torso, which meant this new design was straight out of the forge so to speak, Margareth didn't have time to ponder as a clap of thunder deafened her thoughts. Kaine shouted something and ran towards Lucrezia staff held high in a battle stance she didn't know off.

"Mom did always have a pinch for the theatrics," said Margareth out loud as more claps nearly gave her a headache. someone was pissed today it seems, maybe dad forgot to grab the bread again? or he made another experiment without consulting mom and she was cross with him.

Or her children being captives for literal months, could be anything.

Margareth didn't understand why she was cracking jokes in such a tense situation but everyone had a way to deal with stress, maybe a part of her didn't want to leave Wulfgrem. Wanting to die here as she wasted away her life in that dungeon to be together at last with her love. It was a romantic idea she figured, maybe a bard would even sing songs about. "The Lone Mage" that waited for her dead beloved.

The reality, on the other hand, didn't want her wishes to become true as her parents grew tired of making thunderclaps and dropped into the room.

She felt her father's mana wash over her as he checked for several spells, with her clear he moved his arcane power towards his son who was ready to go to town with that staff of his, both of their faces soften up a little as they got the all-clear Lucrezia hadn't used Necromancy or Mind Magic on their kids, Kaine, on the other hand, wasn't so happy with the looks mom was giving Lucrezia and with conviction, Margareth didn't know her brother had spoken loud and clear.

"Mother! Father! dare not act with haste in this place! Lucrezia means us no harm and while the circumstances of our prolonged stay in her lands have been initially confrontational know that she bears no ill will towards me or Margareth! I implore you to not..." He lost steam as mom focused and stared him down

"Not what boy? Finish your piece before I go over there and ground you, I'm waiting"

Lucrezia moved to stand beside Kaine and that spurred him on, Margareth couldn't help but smile as her mother's face frowned in disapproval "Act harshly towards Lucrezia and her people! They have treated both me and Margareth with the utmost of respect and care"

Her dad laughed "Not a whiff of Mind Magic or Necromancy on you and yet you dare to stand against your mother Kaine? had the medical spell not pinged I would've thought the little lady over there brought your loyalty with her cunt and yet you remain a virgin" Margareth cringed as her father's usual bluntness reserved only for family gatherings came out in full display "Not to say the Knights and Soldiers behind you weapons at the ready, did you become her plaything I wonder?"

"Nothing so crass, Arch-Mage Valtas" Lucrezia spoke with a smile on her lips as she bowed "Lower your weapons men, if they wanted us dead the castle would've become ash and cinders by now" Another smile as Margareth noticed her mom's eyes narrow. Lucrezia knew something about them that she didn't and that reaction proved it. Kaine was still recovering from their father's banter when Lucrezia spoke again.

"Welcome to my humble home Arch-Mage Sophia the Bold and Valtas Thunderwalker, please eat if you so desire as I am sure the teleportation spell must've drained our energies quite a bit" she did another bow, fancy and long as her men lowered their weapons.

"You claim to not have hurt my children yet my son reeks of ancient divine magic and my daughter is plagued by the Silent's Curse. Speak Wulfgrem before I lop off your head and make your soul do the talking" Margareth's mother had venom in her words as she threatened Lucrezia.

Kaine pointed his staff down and said "Enough!" a huge quantity of mana was burned in a flash as Lucrezia's smile revealed her teeth and then Margareth felt the world going dark.

"...Did you become her plaything I..." Her father was just finishing teasing Kaine as his eyes darted around the room and he began casting spell after spell together with her Mother. Sophia's hands trembled as she spoke with a shaky voice "Chronomancy!"

"How?" Her father asked as he sat down "Gwenarius has been against it for centuries and even the most basic haste spell is heavily toned down by her ever-watching gaze. How in all hell did you manage to send us back in time!? even if for a few seconds!"

Kaine took off his shirt as he showed his back to his parents, on it a great sigil of divine power was carved in his flesh as his parents stared at it.

Gwenarius had upgraded her blessing indeed, that Sigil meant Kaine was to be the first of her church and her parents didn't fail to notice that.

Margareth's parents never really did respect Kaine in her opinion, but this time the boy had humbled them with his magical might, and they for once in their lives didn't look down on her brother who spoke "Sit down, cease your threats and I will explain everything If you fail to comply-"

"Don't threaten your parents Kaine, I have no wish of fighting against both Arch-Mages at once, Can't win that fight even with my army and our new weapons" Lucrezia said as she calmed Kaine down "Please, Lord Valtas and Sophia have a seat and we will explain it all"

And so they did, humbled by Kaine's display of might and calmed by Lucrezia's words Margareth watched as her parents sat down and grabbed the food which they eat after checking for poison, a big faux pass in high society but she had an inkling Lucrezia didn't care one bit. She watched as Kaine launched into a retelling of everything that had happened, sometimes she would interject and speak from her point of view but mostly it was Kaine.

"...You tore her arm with a Wind Blade? Isn't that a low-level spell?" Her mother asked as they got to that part of the tale. Before Margareth could speak Lucrezia interjected "You daughter was under subtle Mind Magic cast from an entity from beyond the stars, when she unleashed the spell it was at an overcharged capacity. Margareth always was the combat mage of the two after all" Another smile.

Margareth wanted to scream and say she was lying but the truth always came out didn't it? It made sense now why she had this fervent desire to avenge her beloved. She wondered if her love was also tempered by this entity...

"You are accusing the first prince of our Kingdom of being the leader of a cult?" Her mother spoke in disbelief "Do you have a single fact to back that up?"

"I do Mistress Sophia, as does your husband and you," Lucrezia said hinting at something, Margareth watched as Kaine's eyes darted around and a rare flash of shame appeared in her father's face.

Questions flooded Margareth's mind as everyone went silent. Something was happening and her parents knew about it, in a limited capacity but they knew and had acted in a way that even her father felt rare shame. Rare enough that she wanted to ask about it.

Kaine explained his plans of religion building trying to shift the focus and her parents took his cue. They talked for a good while and ate their fill, as the workers of the castle came back to clear the table her father got up and said.

"We are going home kids, I am dropping you two in the academy as I have already talked with the headmaster" Margareth nodded as she knew both men were friends "Duchess Lycrezia you are to come with me and my Wife to present yourself to the Arch-Duke"

"What" Margareth couldn't help but ask.

"You can't do this father, she has a literal pile of paperwork to do! the forges need her aid for the next Magi-Tech experiments!" Kaine exploded "Plus you haven't talked with Uncle Jinn for years! What is the meaning of this?!"

"Kaine!" Her mom barked "Calm yourself son or I will and no godsdamned chronomancy will let you get away with such display of bad manners" Ahh that was more like the mother Margareth knew, Kaine glared at her but went quiet.

"If it is for the Arch-Duke then I can't say no... Saal how fast can my things be prepped for the journey" the maid spoke "30 minutes my lady" Lucrezia nodded and the maid disappeared.

"Erwin, is the council in place?" she asked the Knight Commander.

"Yes Lady Lucrezia, but I can expect a bit of friction due to present conditions. The duchy will run by our directive and the people will be made aware tomorrow as it was planned" Lucrezia smiled and said "Good man" she closed her eyes for a few minutes and then opened them saying "The Spirits have been made aware, there should be no issue for my leave even if its a bit...hasty"

"But the Experiments?!" Cried Kaine to her as she patted him on the shoulder "I can send letters to Idun, plus as long as the church keeps growing he and his new flock will have inventions of their own. We can trust them, Kaine"

Margareth sighed. The maid came shortly after it and handed Lucrezia a pair of weapons and a dragonbone ax. Lucrezia unsummoned her arm and with the help of her maid fashioned her jacket in her shoulders. Her long hair now of the ponytail.

"My people will take care of the economic side of things so I may follow you my Lady" Margareth heard the main whisper into Lucrezia's ear who smiled fondly at her maid. She turned to her father and said "All is ready Lord Valtas, forgive me for making you wait for so long. I know how tedious is to wait for others to do their tasks" another smile as her father and mother narrowed their eyes at her.

A line of castle workers came with chests full of belongings from Lucrezia who smiled towards Margareth's mom. Sophia sighed and cast a single spell turning the chests into a convenient handbag.

Margareth had seen that spell many times, Mother was found of cleaning the garbage with it whenever her father made the same smile Lucrezia did just now, Gods above how deep did Lucrezia's knowledge of her family-run?

After an hour of saying goodbyes, they moved to a courtyard and got ready, Lucrezia carrying all her belongings in the magical handbag with her Maid acting as bodyguard. Margareth heard Lucrezia whisper something but couldn't make up what she had said due to her father's chanting. The world went dark again and after a minute Margareth found herself staring at the familiar grounds of her estate.

The sun was burning her skin as she took in the summer's air, she could hear the many voices in the street. Birds singing and the sheer energy of the capital washing over her, a spike of sorrow and sadness taking her out of her stunned state.

She was home.