This chapter brings the Antium arc to an end and reveals a little more behind the Invasions and what happened to Riley. The next arc will be shorter (2 mini arcs maybe?) and will focus on the journey to Constantinople. The first one will probably be Garnet as she looks for ways to get help to reach Constantinople, while the second will be the actual journey. There might be a wait before the next chapter.

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Now that the Invasion was finally over, there was some time to rest. The first thing to do was clean up. The land outside of the East Gate of Antium was badly damaged from the rain of fire caused by the Invasion and the earth and water mages were quickly working to try to repair it. Meanwhile, King Charles and Zedd were trying to organize a temporary demilitarization and to calm the public. After all, Invasions were very scary. Even if it was not dangerous, the appearance of it was extremely intimidating. Once that was done, the city could focus on development and expansion, which would greatly improve their ability to support a larger army and make it easier to fight the next Invasion as well.

In the mean time, Garnet needed answers, answers that Riley might have. Riley had come in direct contact with the Hero System at some point during her disappearance. In reality, she became part of Garnet's mana reservoir. But, the cost was that her memories were further fragmented.

"What was the voice that you heard?" Garnet asked Riley.

"You must keep everything you hear from me a secret, do you understand?" Riley asked.

"Yes," said Garnet.

Riley checked to make sure no one was listening. "Let's go somewhere quiet before we talk."

"Grab on," said Garnet.

Riley touched Garnet's shoulder. "Teleportation!" Garnet warped the two of them to the forest outside of the West Gate, far away from the city. The only person who might be able to hear their conversation here was probably Zedd.

Riley went around once more to check and make sure that there was no one around. She was being extra cautious.

"Call: Cerberus! Call: Revenants!" Garnet summoned some of her allies. "Scare away any people that come around here," she ordered. The two groups nodded and walked into the nearby trees.

Riley began to speak. "The Hero System is what grants the people of a world the chance to stand against the Invasion," said Riley. "Each world can potentially be given one by an Overseer."

"What's an Overseer?" Garnet asked.

"An Overseer is someone who has grown so strong that they are able to control the development of their world, but choose not to," Riley explained. "They possess knowledge and power that makes them seem like a godlike being. Think of them like extremely powerful mages."

"Why did they not attack us directly?" Garnet asked.

"There's always danger in fighting by yourself," said Riley. "Even if you are level 100, you can still die if you are swarmed by enough enemies."

"How do they relate to the Hero System?" asked Garnet.

"The Hero System is a bit of power to jump start the development of an individual," said Riley. "The purpose of this individual is to give them a fighting a chance against a Guide."

"Overseer? Guide?" Garnet was still confused.

"Think of it like this, an Overseer is one that believes in non-interference, they simply watch the development of the world, only interfering if say there's something like a worldwide disaster because they believe that the beings of a world should be allowed to develop on their own," said Riley. "The Guides are the opposite, who want to take over worlds because they believe that development should be directed and guided in order to speed it up and give the world a better future."

"Why did they not intervene in the Invasion then?" Garnet asked.

"The voice told me that there were many Guides trying to invade, but they're often busy fighting each other because they disagree on what they think is the right way for a world to develop," Riley explained. "An occasional weak one gets through because he or she has to focus on the strongest ones, that is the source of the Invasion."

"What's the purpose of the Hero Summoning then?" asked Garnet. "I thought that was what selects the Hero."

"It's partially true," said Riley. "The Hero Summoning offers up a person to the Overseer. The Overseer then determines whether the person is worthy and whether the conditions are right and there are no other Heroes. If they are, they are granted the power of a Hero."

"Why only one Hero then?" asked Garnet. "Wouldn't we have a better chance if there were multiple?"

"Conflicts would arise between Heroes and they would end up fighting," said Riley. "To reduce this risk, they created the policy of one Hero per world."

"What about the failed summonings that kill people?" asked Garnet.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing they can do about it," said Riley. "The ritual itself kills the person, they only live if another consciousness is added into the body to reduce the stress placed on the mind and eventually use the extra potential to gain strength. That is the cost of power."

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" asked Garnet.

"The one that spoke to me was reluctant to intervene because they believe that if they told us too much, it would interfere with our free will," said Riley. "But they believe that it is up to you to determine what you want to do."

Garnet thought about what she wanted to do. She definitely did not want to be a Guide. After all, many innocent people get killed during an Invasion and it is possible that the entire world could be overrun by those monsters before someone could take control of a world. However, right now, the goal was to restore Riley's body, then she could focus on fighting the Invasion.

"What is the Trial of the Hero?" Garnet asked.

"That was a test to make sure that you had the qualities to actually be a hero," said Riley. "When some people have their personalities merge, the qualities that people consider are good and desirable in a Hero can be lost."

Things do not always work out the way you expect them to. No matter how good a person is, they can be corrupted by different things. If Garnet did not have her memories with Charles Wellington, there was a chance that she might have hated the world and sought to destroy everything with her power. If Riley's personality conflicted with Garnet's, they could probably have conflicts of their own as well, leading to development of extreme personalities.

"Is there anything you can tell me about our Overseer?" Garnet asked. She wanted to know more about what the person was like.

"They just tried real hard to persuade me to help you in anyway I can," said Riley. "I don't know much else about him or her or it. I'm not really sure what it was."

"Why did you even trust it then?" Garnet asked.

"It seemed like it genuinely wanted to help," said Riley. "I watched you struggle to become stronger and I realized you needed help, so I agreed to do as it asked. It even offered me some help in being able to reach out to you in different ways. The ability for me to make myself into a spirit was one of them. The voice also said that there's someone in Constantinople that will help you."

Garnet wondered if Zedd was an Overseer. He was extremely strong, but he still did not seem godlike. Chances are that he was not. An Overseer was even stronger than Zedd. If she met one, she probably would not be able to fight it. But that made her wonder. If an Overseer actually stepped into their world, they might be able to destroy everything and force the world to obey them.

"Do you know how many Overseers and Guides there are?" Garnet asked.

"No," said Riley.

"Do you know how strong Overseers and Guides are?" Garnet asked.

"No," said Riley.

There was very little information to work off of. As far as Garnet knew, they might as well be rumors, but Riley claimed that she had direct contact with an Overseer. For now, this was the only thing that she had to work with other than Zedd's stories. Zedd's stories did not explain much since they were stories. The Yellow Emperor in Zedd's stories might have been an Overseer though. There was always that possibility since he was the one who was credited with creating modern magic and the Hero Summoning. "But what happened to him?" Garnet wondered.

There were just too many unknowns. Garnet decided to focus on one thing at a time. After all, that had been working. The next thing to do was to find a way to restore Riley with a body so she was not just an disembodied spirit that hung around Garnet all day. If Riley was far enough from Garnet, she would start to fade. "What do you want to?" Garnet asked Riley.

"To be honest, I'm not sure yet," said Riley. "I don't even know where I belong."

Riley's old memories were missing, so she did not feel attachment to her old world. At the same time, she did not know anyone in this world, so she lacked attachment to this one as well.

"How about we work on getting you your body back first?" said Garnet.

"That would be great," said Riley. "It feels so weird having to be attached to you."

"So you want to find a husband somewhere?" asked Garnet.

"That's not what I meant," said Riley. "I just want to know what I'm supposed to do. Right now, I seem to feel no attachment to anything and that's a scary thought. If I had my memories, I might feel or understand something."

Riley's memories were still somewhere in Garnet's body. There were hints of it early on when Riley suddenly disappeared, but most of it seemed to have faded away by now. However, they might not be gone. When Garnet and Riley were sharing a body inside Garnet's mind, she saw faded memories inside her mind. It was likely that they could be retrieved and restored as long as there was not some kind of time restriction.

There were other problems though, Garnet would be a young woman who was essentially traveling alone. Even with Riley by her side, it was not going to be safe. She was going to need to find a group to Constantinople. With some luck, she might be able to find a group in Anzio, but even then, her rank with the Guild was poor. She would need to raise it to earn an acceptable level of respect before she would be able to find a group that was willing to go. In addition, she would need to plan for a long trip.

However, there was a need to do one thing at a time. "I'll help find a way to get you a body," said Garnet.

"Thank you," said Riley.

"By the way, do you remember anything because of the notes?" Garnet asked.

"I know I have a sister," said Riley. "The notes that I scribbled down before my consciousness faded were to her."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Is that the woman you saw in the memories that you can remember?" Garnet asked.

"I'm not sure," said Riley. "There's no context and so there's no way that I can know."

"Hopefully, we find a way to restore your memories as well," said Garnet. "All we can do now is hope for the best."

Garnet needed to speak to Zedd and Charles. If she was going to go on a journey, she needed to tell them. Both of them were very busy though. The only person she found free was Anna who had returned to helping Garnet take care of her children. Jasper and Jade were walking around on their own now. Two years old. Amber was still too young to move about on her own. Garnet worried that Anna would be driven crazy by having to take care of all of Garnet's kids.

Jasper and Jade crawled to hug Garnet's leg. Garnet picked up and held each one in her arm. Despite their size, Garnet was strong enough to do so.

"Are you okay?" Garnet asked.

"Yes," said Anna. "There's a lot of help around here, so I'm not doing it alone."

"Anything I should know about my kids?" Garnet asked.

"Your twins will miss you," said Anna.

"I'm going to be leaving Antium soon," said Garnet.

"What? Why?" asked Anna.

"There's something I have to find," said Garnet. "I asked Zedd, but he doesn't have the answers, so I'm going to find it on my own."

"I see," said Anna. "You're still young, go see the world while you still can."

"How old are you?" Garnet asked. She really wanted to know the answer to this question. Anna acted anywhere in age from the range of ten to a hundred depending on her mood.

"That's a secret," said Anna. "But I don't really remember myself."

"How do you not know?" asked Garnet.

"At some point, I just stopped counting," said Anna. "I didn't find it important, so I kind of stopped caring and just acted however I felt even though people kept telling me to act my age."

It was similar to what Zedd had said. Zedd stopped paying attention to the numbers and started to pay attention to his accomplishments. Garnet had only two accomplishments. One, saving Antium and two, having a large family that she was quite happy with.

"Have you told Charles yet?" Anna asked.

"No," said Garnet. "I wonder how he will take it."

"He could handle five years without you, though not very well," said Anna. "I'm sure he will be okay as long as you visit sometimes."

"I think so too," said Garnet.

"You two still have a lot of time to have more kids too," said Anna.

"I've had enough already!" Garnet replied.

Anna seemed to be fine with it. There was still Charles and Zedd. Zedd seemed to let Garnet do whatever she wanted to and would probably be fine with it.

"I heard you're leaving," said Zedd who was suddenly standing behind Garnet.

"Don't scare me like that," said Garnet. "You have ears everywhere in this city, you could at least just not try to surprise me."

"Are you going to Constantinople?" Zedd asked.

"Yes," said Garnet.

"Be careful," said Zedd. "It's dangerous for a young woman your age to travel alone."

"Twenty five?" Garnet asked.

"You may be twenty five, but you appear as a fifteen year old and sometimes act like one too," said Zedd. "Be careful out there as there will be people who target someone like you."

"I plan to find help in Anzio," said Garnet.

"I see," said Zedd. "High ranking members of the Guild are trustworthy."

"Yep," said Garnet. "I hope some of them will help me."

"Get your Guild Card upgraded a few times and advertise yourself as an Elemental Mage that is looking to research Constantinople," said Zedd. "That will draw a lot of attention."

"Why does that draw attention?" Garnet asked.

"Most mages in the world are single element and not very strong," said Zedd. "Someone that can command two elements is considered talented and one that can command three is considered as a genius. But to combine them, you are pretty much a one of a kind. Oh and make sure you joined a mixed group of men and women."

"Thanks for the advice," said Garnet.

"Take this with you," said Zedd. He handed Garnet a small pin.

"What is this?" asked Garnet.

"This is something that will allow us to communicate anywhere in the world once you channel mana into it," said Zedd. "But sadly, it only works in pairs, otherwise it would be great for long distance communication."

"I'll talk to you if anything comes up then," said Garnet.

"Don't forget to visit me and your family," said Zedd. "I know our relationship did not start on the best of terms, but I want to be able to help you achieve what you want to do."

"I'll start reading up on the books that you've given me," said Garnet. "To be honest I've neglected the studying part of being a mage."

"You never exactly had the time for it with all the running around you've had to do," said Zedd. "But as you travel, there will be days where you have nothing to do in the evenings, so just relax by a campfire and read a book."

"I'll be seeing you another time then," said Garnet.

Zedd walked closer to Garnet and put his hand on Garnet's shoulder. "I'm not much of a hugger, but I don't know exactly how to show that I care," said Zedd.

"It's alright," said Garnet. "Everything you've done was done with good intent, even if it was lying to me. You even tried to make amends for it, and that was good enough for me."

"Thank you," said Zedd as he walked away.

With that, the only person left to talk to was Charles. Garnet waited in bed for Charles to finish up his duties. Since he became King, he was very busy trying to improve the conditions of Antium, often directly influencing policies and the actions of the nobles to make sure that nothing got too far out of hand.

"So tired," said Charles as he walked into the bed.

"I need to talk to you," said Garnet.

"What is it?" Charles asked.

"I plan on leaving Antium soon," said Garnet.

"What did I do?" asked Charles.

"It's not because of you," said Garnet. "It's something to help Riley and to learn more about myself as a Hero."

"To be honest though, I'm surprised you even agreed to marry me," said Charles. "You didn't seem like the type of person who would be tied down, but I've managed to keep you hooked in for many years now."

"Are you sure I'm not the one who tricked you into turning a slave into a Queen?" Garnet asked.

"There's always that possibility too," said Charles.

"Don't worry, I'll be here for you and the children for all the important things," said Garnet.

"Just promise me you will come back safe," said Charles.

"I'll try to visit when I can," said Garnet. "I know I'll be gone for a while, but please help me take care of the kids."

"I will," said Charles.

"If any problems come up talk to Zedd, he has a way to communicate with me no matter where I am," Garnet added.

"I will," said Charles.

"Is there anything I need to take care of as Queen before I leave?" Garnet asked.

"Nope," said Charles. "One monarch can represent the whole family, so I'll take care of everything with Zedd's help."

"Is there anything you want me to do before I leave?" Garnet asked.

"One more night with me?" Charles asked.

"I thought you were tired," said Garnet.

"Tired of work, but never of you," said Charles. With that, Garnet and Charles spent one more night together.

A few days later, Garnet got dressed as a mage, fully armed with a sword on her back, a knife on her leg, a hand crossbow on her arm, a staff in her hands, and food and water stored in her rings. Charles, Zedd, Clark, Anna, Klarth, and Kirk were all there to see her depart from the throne room.

Garnet was not going alone though. Riley was going with her. She wore Garnet's old leather outfit on top of her strange looking bodysuit. As much as Garnet wanted to use other summons, she would be restricted as the Revenants and Death Knights still looked like undead monsters. Only the Cerberus no longer appeared to be undead, but they were still frightening. After all, Zedd had warned her that they were not widely accepted. She would only use it in the most dire situations, but she still had a ton of other ways to fight back if needed.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Garnet asked Riley who was just going dressed in her leather armor.

"It's not like I can eat anything," said Riley.

"Oh that's right, I forgot about that," said Garnet.

"Any last words?" Garnet asked.

"I'll miss you," said Charles as he hugged Garnet.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me," said Clark. "You not only helped me create a business, but you also helped me save my family."

"I'll take care of your kids for you," said Anna. "Don't worry about them, but just visit from time to time so they don't forget about you okay?"

"I will," said Garnet. "I plan to visit Ruby as well."

"I still think you should bring guards with you and make it official like true royalty do," said Klarth.

"I don't think it matters where I'm going," said Garnet.

"I'm just glad I'm no longer used for your experiments," said Kirk. "I still can't remember what happened, but I feel really strange."

"It's best that you don't remember," said Garnet.

"What did you do to me?" asked Kirk.

"Nothing," said Garnet.

"Remember, we're sisters," said Riley. "It's best to just say that for now."

"Alright big sis," said Garnet. "Let's go to Anzio and build up our reputation."

Riley grabbed on to Garnet's shoulder. "Teleportation!" Garnet teleported both of them to the outskirts of Anzio.

"She's gone again," said Charles who suddenly started sobbing. "I miss her already."

"Just don't try to touch me as if I were Garnet again," said Anna. "Pretty soon you're going to look like an old man trying to chase after a little girl."

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No changes to stats.

Spoiler :

Funny thing is that I pictured someone sending "/w Riley help plz"