But, as soon as Titania glared at Henrietta angrily, she sighed.
"Could you have not explained this before..."
She looked at her freed body. It wasn't an Avatar of the Tree of Life anymore. Green veins traveled through her body, supplying her with an energy different from that of every living being.
Feeling the blood rushing in her heart, its beating, and the feeling of warmth accentuated on her skin, she clasped her hands multiple times.
The moss on her arms was soft, her skin wasn't rough like bark, and her limbs moved unrestrained.
Her mind, finally unclouded by her past death, processed better than ever.
"This body is... close to a human."
"But it is not."
Henrietta said with a serious expression, her posture unchanged.
"I can feel that. It feels more like sap than actual blood flowing in me."
"Your nature as a Remnant had not been erased. Titania, even now, you control your concepts, and those massive trees that have taken root in this dimension."
Titania turned around, and stared at the gigantic tree. Her eyes glowed brightly as her sigil, a leaf, blinked into existence.
The tree slightly shook as Titania lifted her hand.
"You are right. This is still a part of me."
Henrietta nodded.
"I'm relieved it went correctly."
As those words entered the ears of Titania, the twins smiled dryly, knowing that their friend wasn't going to ignore them.
"Why did you do that anyway, Henrietta?"
She turned around before her feet were lifted from the ground. Her delicate wings gently flapped, lifting her entire body as naturally as a bird would fly after leaving its nest.
Titania sat on empty air right in front of Henrietta, and glared straight into her eyes.
"What happened to you? You are not someone who acts without giving a first notice."
"Time is a luxury we don't have, Titania. In all honesty, I am genuinely sorry."
Henrietta bent her face forward while looking apologetic.
"..."
Thoughts began to rapidly flow through Titania's head.
"I cannot necessarily blame you for being hasty. Not only did you lose Tetra, but Amelia is unconscious too. Without her, dealing with Miasma's invading forces will prove difficult."
Yet, Henrietta shook her head.
"You're partially wrong about this."
"Oh. Would you mind telling me then?"
"I'm about to search for someone. You are required to find him."
"Him..."
Titania pondered for a second as her eyes fell on the three Remnants behind Henrietta.
Then, the pieces fell neatly together in her head.
"Don't tell me you are looking for Heto?"
Her expression looked neutral enough that it impressed Henrietta. She was expecting her to freak out more.
"I am."
"You know how troublesome it is to look for him. Who knows where he is currently?"
"That's why I need you to track him down."
A long sigh escaped Titania's mouth.
"Are you planning to teach them our knowledge?"
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Nodding slowly to her question, Henrietta stayed silent.
Titania bent her upper body backward, looking at the ceiling with a blank expression.
"I see. It might not be a bad idea."
Having recovered the entirety of her memories, she recalled the days she was trained by her mother.
"I'll answer your first question. Get used to this new body as you listen."
Titania's face dropped.
"Right, go on."
Taking a deep breath, Henrietta began.
"It is no mystery at this point, but I am the Remnant of Fate and Destiny."
The four others in the room nodded.
"Even though my powers don't let me influence much due to the alterations they can cause, I am still able to change someone's destiny ever so slightly."
"It is impossible for me to change the fact that you died twice, but it is possible to alter your memory loss."
"I made it so you had never lost them to begin with. What was lost became sealed to avoid creating an irregularity between your history and your memories."
Henrietta explained carefully.
"They simply returned when I called your original name. That way, it avoided a potential conflict in history."
Titania nodded.
"I understand. It would be strange to remember my past while also supposedly unable to."
This made sense. This would either create a paradox that erased the entirety of Titania's existence on the spot, or make her unable to live further past that point.
That point was what made Henrietta's power so dangerous if used improperly.
Instead, she placed those lost memories in a bubble inside her mind instead of losing them forever. When Henrietta spoke her name, that bubble popped, releasing those memories that were supposedly lost.
"It's a little trick on how to bend the world's laws in my favor, which doesn't contradict Nature in any ways. However, she probably won't be very pleased by my meddling."
"But at this point, I don't care anymore. There's only two results now."
Uncrossing her legs, she stood up.
"Either we lose everything, or we win. There is no middle ground."
"We Remnants have stayed far too long on the sidelines; it is time for us to do our part, and protect the continent in our own way."
Those words echoed in the large room, as Titania opened her eyes wide.
"Incredible. Never would I have dreamed of seeing the woman who hid for four thousand years speak those words with such pride."
"Was losing Tetra such a blow?"
Henrietta smiled dryly.
"You have no idea."
Titania dropped slowly to the ground. Her feet touched the ground, while her wings wrapped around her waist, creating a layer of leaves over her green dress.
"I am sorry I could not recover her soul."
She bowed in front of Henrietta.
"If I were to blame you, in no way would Tetra forgive me. Like me, you are not almighty. That is how our concepts work."
Then, Titania straightened.
"And what about this body of flesh? I cannot believe this is your doing."
"That's..."
Henrietta looked away.
"It is?!"
Shocked, Titania took a step forward, inching her face closer to Henrietta's.
"It's a... byproduct of something I wanted to try."
Taking a step back, Henrietta smiled weirdly.
"I might have played with your... entire origin as a Remnant. That is a bit difficult to explain."
"You- What?!"
The three behind them looked in shock at Henrietta.
"Is that even possible?"
Keleanos asked with a frown.
"Normally, it isn't. But the entity known as Tiohr-nam was a tree."
Henrietta glanced over her shoulder and looked at him as she answered his question.
"Everything about her was technically inorganic. I simply modified the destiny of that wooden body to be an organic one."
"Though, I couldn't change the nature of her being, she is still a plant-like entity."
"But now, she can walk alongside us."
Proud of her accomplishment, Henrietta smirked.
"To say Nature will not be pleased is an understatement..."
Titania placed a hand on her forehead and sighed.
"I don't care. I've returned from innumerable times when the world was destroyed. Helping a friend see the world after being stuck for an eternity is barely a crime against her will."
The progenitor of the fairy's body trembled slightly at her words.
"You... did this for me?"
"Of course. Saying that I needed you was the excuse."
With a gentle smile, Henrietta approached Titania and placed her right hand on her shoulder.
"You can finally hug those two."
The green heart in her chest thumped louder, causing her slight discomfort. Nonetheless, she felt tears swell up in her eyes.
"Ah. Yes, I could do that."
Seeing the woman smile brightly, Henrietta returned to her chair.
'That's how it should be. I won't tolerate any one of us living in agony anymore.'
Henrietta picked it up, and she sat down at the table with the others.
"But before that, we have to find Heto."
The smile on Titania's face disappeared, as a more focused expression replaced it.
"Right. We have to find him."
Titania walked toward the table, and sat next to Henrietta awkwardly.
"Ngh... were chairs always this uncomfortable?"
After squirming for a few seconds, she stared at Henrietta.
"Have you ever found Heto in the other timelines?"
"No."
She shook her head.
Henrietta cupped her hands together and frowned.
"Even through everything, Heto never appeared in Triazils."
"Which means his location is hidden, or even outside our plane of existence."
"I'd lean on the second. We have to remember what concepts Heto possesses."
"..."
Everyone around the table fell silent.
"That's probably why he isn't anywhere near this continent. Even though his presence is elsewhere, his concept still rules."
Keleanos said it with great concern.
"Disaster."
"A necessary concept to balance the world. Without it, we wouldn't have weather perturbations and other life-threatening events."
They nodded at his words.
"The problem is, it doesn't fall only under that authority. That concerns problems like war, which means..."
Henrietta nodded.
"If he were to know, this information would distress him."
Titania closed her eyes.
"He is too kind for this type of concept."
"Still, we know that he is alive. If not, the war against Miasma wouldn't have happened. Something even worse would have happened."
Something worse than war. Total destruction, with no survivors. To avoid complete disorder and chaos, the concepts of 'natural' and 'man-made' disasters were created.
"Heto, the Remnant of Order, Disaster, and Consciousness."
"Where could he be?"
As Henrietta said that, a long silence replaced their discussion.
"I might be able to track him down, as you've said."
Titania opened her eyes, gleaming a light green that took their breaths away.