Agwyn was so happy today she couldn’t stop giggling. She was happy the day before. But today, she was happier times ten.

In fact, this had been the happiest day in both her lives.

“Blasted Slug woman!” Elrhain cursed out while grabbing onto his father’s robes in a vice grip. His angry, mesmerizing voice forced her to giggle again. The shocked faces of Cyra, Dofnald, and the pretty older sister standing there holding a staff made her giggle even louder.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline high from that heck of a roller coaster ride, as she was having trouble controlling her emotions.

But that was fine.

She learnt that bottling up her explosive, adult feelings in this tiny toddler’s body would only cause her pain. Both physical and psychological.

Insomnia was the least bad, the worst case being that time she practically had a mental breakdown one day, thinking she had multiple personalities clashing in her psyche.

So, she learned to let loose. Let her petite body, with its itty-bitty biology, do its work. Inside her soul, far removed from the control of her hormones and neuroreceptors, she still had the judgement and values of an adult human individual.

But on the surface, she wanted and needed to live a joyous life as a 3-cycle old Dhionne who suckled on her thumb and cried ‘Owie’ when someone pinched her puffy cheeks.

Or how else could she speak such cheesy pick-up lines to Elrhain so confidently?

The adult Agwyn was cold, selfish, spiteful and sceptical. She would rather swallow a swordfish live on TeleNet wearing a ballet tutu than loudly proclaim her feelings like that.

Unless she was dead drunk or on drugs, of course.

But then again, gene-mods made detoxifying them almost effortless, and she hated virtual reality, the only place where she was able to suppress the mods without harm.

On the other hand, little Gwyn didn’t hate VR, and adorable Annie was high on happy hormones most of the time. She would do with glee what Agwyn could not. Little Rhain, her charming prince Ellie, could accept the love that the grumpy Elrhain would run away from too.

In the end, they proved her right. Her passion had triumphed!

Her victory was so decisive that there will be no drama after he was her’s now. The only feelings they develop will all be positive.

「Stop giggling, you old hag! You have an annoying lisp for Christ’s sake」

‘Okay, maybe not all of them.’

Agwyn shut her mouth. But she loved how he switched to Earth Common when he scolded her. So thoughtful, even when angry.

Elrhain rarely got angry in his past life. He most definitely let his inner child and his toddler body control at least some of his actions.

「Ellie, start enjoying things like this more. After all, we are in a fantasy world now!」

Elrhain’s waspish complaints, his lovable lectures, his yearning for the unknown yet fear of danger. Everything, the old him and the new him, was endearing to the extreme.

‘I want to hug him.’

Agwyn stopped there and contemplated the other possibilities. The infinite world that lay beyond hugs!

‘And kiss him, and more than kiss him, and go on dates with him! Ahhh, why can’t we grow up faster?!’

She hid her blushing face with her palms as her mommy let her down on the ground. The pretty older sister said something with an amused tone, but she didn’t pay heed.

To her, the daydreams were more important.

‘But wait! If I don’t listen, would they cancel our e-e-engagement?!’

The thought was like cold water being dumped on her steaming head. From feeling cracked electrifying high, her rational soul clicked back into her immature body.

“Wait!” She shouted and hurriedly raised up a hand, “Can you wepeat that?”

However, before the pretty older sister could, Elrhain pointed at her mother and declared, “See? You made her dumb. I think she banged her head on something when you zoomed us out of there.”

“No way?!” Cyra started. She then quickly checked Agwyn over for any signs of injuries. Sighing in relief when she found none, she shot a victorious look towards the little boy.

“My aqua-vines will cushion any impact. You should trust mommy more, okay?” Cyra placed a finger on her cheeks, “But then again, Rhain, I like you when you’re uncute too!”

Dofnald had to stop Elrhain from shouting more expletives.

And Agwyn had to stop herself from shouting, ‘I know, right?’

But she pulled herself back to the matter at hand and skipped to the pretty sister. The stone floor clip-clopped like pebbles under her bone padded boots.

“Um, I’m sowwy for not listening. I was thinking things.”

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The other party beamed like a flower, “All is well, my child.”

“What’s your name? I’m Annie. But my mommy calls me Gwyn, and gwandpa calls me Agwyn! You can call me Gwyn or Agwyn, but not Annie.”

“What wonderful names, though I don’t know what the ‘Annie’ means.” The pretty older sister chortled, her voice clear like a wind-chime. “I’m Lilian Earthloch Sonora, your parents and gwandpa call me the Grand Shamanka, but you can call me Auntie Lilian. And I will call you Gwyn.”

“Ou, I’ve heard about you!” Agwyn exclaimed.

Her mother was always full of praise for the Grand Shamanka’s wisdom. She called her the ‘smartest Dhionne on our disc’. The accuracy of that sentence was debatable. But one thing was for sure,

In the Earthloch Siorrakty, she was at least one of the smartest.

When Elrhain first learned of the Grand Shamanka, he demanded Agwyn’s father take him to her.

His nagging became virtually unbearable when he learned that the Grand Shamanka’s acolytes had full access to the clan archives. Her authority in that regard was even higher than the Archive keepers.

Elrhain’s excitement to meet her was evident from his reaction right now.

“… You’re the real Grand Shamanka?” His eyes went wide, and his fingers started fidgeting. The want for knowledge popped up anew in his being.

“Rhain, be respectful.”

“Hey, I was talking to you!”

Dofnald and Cyra called out to him, but Elrhain utterly disregarded them.

He looked like he wanted to ask the Grand Shamanka a million questions. However,

‘Oops! He’s shy again,’ Agwyn looked Lilian up and down, ‘He was especially bad with pretty ladies like her.’

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t envious. But only of Lilian’s alluring appearance. It’s like she was ripped straight out of the nun section of a playLad magazine. Slender, elegant, yet curvy like a wave and plump like a pink cloud of steam.

‘And that’s his type,’ Agwyn mused. Then she corrected herself, ‘was his type.’

It was the same for her.

The revealing, skin thin tribal shawls made Lillian look awfully tempting, like a plump cherry ripe for the plucking. But her beauty was unholy and forbidden, as if the sin to pluck her belonged only to god.

If this was Agwyn fifty years before she died, she would have doubtlessly asked Lilian out for a date.

And if it was twenty years before her passing? She would have felt jealous, not envious.

“Yes, I am real, and I’ve heard many curious tales about the things you do, such as now when you questioned the validity of my existence, Elrhain Earthloch Siaglas. Your guardians call you Rhain, and Gwyn calls you Ellie. What should I call you?” Lilian asked Elrhain.

“… Rhain is fine.” He responded back like a robot. But Agwyn could sense him calming down through their linked soul.

‘Was it because of the joke Auntie Lilian made? Or was she being serious?’

Agwyn couldn’t be sure. This was, after all, a world of magic.

Lilian ran her eyes over the two of them with an amused grin.

“To reiterate what I’ve said before, chieftainess, pass the Earthloch Vessel over to Gwyn. Reanakt Siaglas, please do the same for the Earthloch sceptre.”

Cyra stopped trying to get Elrhain’s attention and immediately took out a… jar? from somewhere. Likewise, Dofnald handed his son a… stick.

Agwyn looked at the object she now hugged in confusion.

Elrhain voiced her queries for her, “You call these a vessel and a sceptre?”

“Indeed,” Lilian nodded. “The Epochs have made them decrepit, and they were not always called Earthloch. But their functions remain unchanged.”

“And what would that be?”

The Grand Shamanka’s whole demeanour changed, as if she was waiting for that question. Agwyn could sense the wind around them stilling and even the two adults perking up straight.

Lilian gestured with her empty hands towards the steps of the temple that reach the clouds. With her other hand, she slammed the staff on the stone platform.

The end of the staff had struck right in the middle of an engraved runic circle, which now shimmered to life under their feet.

As Lilian offered a prayer in an unknown tongue, the circle beneath rotated and expanded.

A gale blew with the silence long gone, and the clouds in the sky vanished as if a giant hand had swiped them away. They then started drifting back in again, struggling against the giant for their rightful freedom.

Agwyn could hear the murmurs coming from the direction of Lochuir rise in volume. The countless Dhionne who must have been watching repeated Lilian’s prayer in a solemn chorus.

The voices mixed into a raging tsunami, and it collapsed onto the place where they stood.

ᛟᚺ ᚷᚱᛖᚨᛏ ᛋᚨᚷᚨᛏᚺᚨᚾ, ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᛚᛖᛖᛈᛁᚾᚷ ᛋᛈᛁᚱᛁᛏ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᛏᚨᚱᛚᛟᚲᚺ ᛚᚨᚴᛖ,

ᛒᛚᛖᛋᛋ ᛒᛖ ᛏᛟ ᛟᚢᚱ ᚺᛖᛁᚱ, ᛟᚢᚱ ᚺᛖᛁᚱᛖᛋᛋ, ᚨᚾᛞ ᚹᚨᚴᛖ ᛏᛟ ᛈᛖᚱᚠᛟᚱᛗ,

But she felt neither the windstorm nor the shock wave.

Cyra and Dofnald stood before them, their expressions solemn.

Her mother’s lips were moving as she gently caressed Agwyn’s hair. No sound came through, but the voice reached her.

“Gwyn, Rhain. This is it.” Cyra’s eyes turned glossy with tears, “You will write the opening verse for the next song of our clan’s epic hymns. You will take the first steps for the next generations to come.”

The nervousness slowly crept into Agwyn’s heart. She didn’t even know what she was expected to do.

“Don’t fret, my daughter. Mommy will establish a tie of manna with you, and so will Lord Siaglas with Rhain.” Cyra smiled, kissing Agwyn’s forehead. She then bit her own fingers and smeared the blood on Agwyn’s robes.

Eluned’s workmanship lit up in a glow of Azure light, Azhrite. A gloomy blue signifying the end, and a cheerful indigo telling tales of a new beginning.

“There, done. Now all you two have to do is walk the steps all the way up. When you arrive at the summit, the ancestors will teach you the rest.”

Agwyn saw Dofnald pat Elrhain from the corner of her eyes. The little fellow looked more relaxed than she was.

‘He was always into stuff like this, bizarre rituals and conspiracy theories.’ Agwyn smiled at the memories.

She was more into visiting unknown places, like the underground world below, rather than staying in one place and watching the unknown occur.

‘I guess we both will have our share of fun today.’

Elrhain glanced towards her, an invitation for a dance in his eyes.

Agwyn obliged.

Hugging the jar to her body with her chubby hands, she followed Elrhain ahead. But right before she stepped on the stairs, Agwyn looked back towards her mother.

Cyra had her hands clapped in front of her breasts in prayer and stood facing East. Her eyes were sealed shut, not even quivering.

Dofnald stood a few meters away, doing the same. He faced West, face to face with Cyra.

The Grand Shamanka stood in the middle, a few paces to the south, facing the children’s direction.

Only she had her eyes opened, which crossed with Agwyn’s own.

Lilian slightly nodded, then raised her staff high up, renewing her mystical chant.

ᛗᚨᚤ ᚤᛟᚢ ᚺᛖᚨᚱ ᛏᚺᛖᛁᚱ ᚡᛟᛁᚲᛖ ᚲᚨᛚᛚᛁᚾᚷ, ᚹᛁᛏᚺ ᛖᚡᛖᚱᚤ ᛖᚱᚨ’ᛋ ᛋᛏᛖᛈᛋ,

ᛒᛚᛖᛋᛋ ᛒᛖ ᛟᚢᚱ ᚲᛚᚨᚾ, ᚹᛁᛏᚺ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛋᛈᛁᚱᛁᛏᛋ ᛋᛁᚾᚷ ᛁᚾ ᛋᛏᛟᚱᛗ.

The blue lights from their parents turned into a braided net, tying with Lilian’s silver aura as it tethered to Agwyn’s and Elrhain’s robes. There was no discomfort, only a refreshing warmth.

The staff in Lilian’s hand shone bright, and a ray of aurora coloured bright like the stars shot deep into the midnight sky. It was hypnotizing. Both the hymn and the light. Agwyn wanted to continue looking at it forever, to try and sing a few lines too. But,

「Annie, shall we do our part?」, Elrhain whispered. The boy was having trouble carrying the long sceptre yet did so with joy anyway.

「With pleasure.」 Agwyn replied, 「And Ellie?」

「Yes?」

「At sunrise, the world will be ours.」

Elrhain laughed. An aspiration they could not fulfil in their past lives, they would do it in this. Not of world domination, but untainted happiness for cycles to come.

Agwyn hopped onto the step after her wish had been voiced, and Elrhain skipped along at the same time too.

Above them,

The eyes in the midnight sky opened.