Conrad watched her try to get out of bed for exactly 10 seconds before dragging her out of it and hoisting her into his arms.

“⸂I can walk,⸃” she grumbled, death glaring him.

He ignored her and started for the door.

⸂Seriously, did you have to launch an attack on the entire neighbourhood? There could be children nearby!⸃

⸂There aren’t,⸃ the other visitor replied calmly, kicking the front door open and—

Oh.

⸂Oh, indeed,⸃ he replied as they stepped out into near wilderness.

Having been tired and achy since she’d arrived, Emilia hadn’t actually bothered to investigate the world outside her room—seriously, she was pretty sure Villy and Emile had been inside the house the whole day she was in and out of consciousness, and she hadn’t noticed them. Stars! She hadn’t even realized the house was as big as it was until Boundary had spoken to them from the kitchen.

And the house was freaking huge! Emilia’s eyes grew just as huge as Conrad hurried away from the building, the monstrosity that Boundary called home growing smaller as they went.

[Boundary: Seriously? That asshole is your ally now?]

[Emilia: uh… we’re sorry?]

[Emilia: and please don’t take my system access away?]

A stream of letters that Emilia assumed represented an expression of complaint and annoyance settled over her vision, followed by a promise that he wouldn’t. Apparently, as much as Conrad had temporarily taken the Risen Guard out, he hadn’t actually hurt him and Boundary couldn’t fault her for his bad manners. Emilia wasn’t sure how Boundary would have reacted had Conrad just knocked on his front door, but somehow she didn’t think it would have gone any better.

[Emilia: it’s probably better this way, anyways]

[Emilia: you don’t need to be wrapped up in this anymore than you already are]

[Emilia: not when you have a family to protect now]

Even from so far away, Emilia could feel annoyance oozing out of Boundary. They hadn’t spent much time together, and if things had been different, she might have accepted his help. Not now—not when he had a new family to protect and the Enclave was all for sacrificing anyone they could find to grant more visitors system access. Not to mention that eventually word about that would get out, and then visitors would be going crazy sacrificing anyone they could, although…

[Boundary: It would be easier to grab a normal citizen. There are people all through the city system who would not be missed by many, and while some city levels are corrupt in ways we did not know of, there are others where the corruption is well known, and we are working to stamp it out. That takes time, and there are many citizens we have no record of, or have no permanent home we could search them out at. It would be easy for the Enclave to take those people.]

[Emilia: so there’s something about regular people that doesn’t work with the ritual…]

[Emilia: that, or the Enclave is so bitter they just have to use their enemies for it]

[Emilia: man, the way those assholes were talking]

[Emilia: so arrogant, and like nothing could touch them?]

[Emilia: it wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case]

⸂Maybe it’s the power of the heartcores?⸃ Boundary suggested more sensibly as Emilia related the information she had gleaned during her brief moments with the Ingogia family to him—if Conrad was going to carry her away, she might as well use the time to earn herself a headache messaging her unanswered questions at Boundary, who was significantly more talkative via text.

Unfortunately, combined with her uncontrollable aethervoice, this meant Conrad now knew she had access to the Risen Guard system and knew how to gain access to the normal system… sort of.

⸂I never got the specific details, okay?⸃ she hissed at him after he’d spent too long annoying her, trying to learn as much about this so-called ritual as he could—a ritual she wasn’t even sure was actually the true way to access the system.

⸂Why not?⸃ the man asked, at the same time Boundary’s message about contacting everyone he knew with any connections to the Enclave or Clarity to search for specifics came through.

[Emilia: are you sure that’s a good idea?]

[Emilia: if the Enclave doesn’t know you’re the one who grabbed me yet, asking about that will definitely tip people off you were involved]

[Boundary: I will ask someone above me to inquire.]

[Boundary: It is unlikely anyone would be able to track it back to me. I also doubt they will care. You are just one person, and they have bigger things to worry about, since their plan went so awry.]

That made sense, but Emilia still thought of Villy and little Emile, wandering through the night market, or perhaps making their way back to their house now. She thought of terrible people coming and taking the parents the little boy had lucked into away to be sacrifices, in hopes that the world to come wouldn’t be as terrible as the one that existed now.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

[Emilia: keep your family safe]

[Boundary: I intend to. I will reach them soon. Please keep me informed of what is happening.]

[Emilia: same]

[Emilia: let me know if you need anything]

[Emilia: i’ll drop what i’m doing to come help you]

Emilia knew that wasn’t entirely true. If she were already protecting someone, she wouldn’t be able to leave them behind to go help Boundary, but she could try, could send someone else, could—

[Boundary: Are you serious!?]

Emilia could practically hear the growl in Boundary’s message, which she didn’t really blame him for. Her request for him to grant Conrad access to the system—maybe even Astra, assuming Boundary could do so from who knew how far away—had been… a lot. Even Conrad seemed to think so, looking at her like she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had.

[Emilia: it’s on the condition he come help you, if you ask]

Conrad didn’t complain, but neither did he look particularly happy to have been saddled with helping Boundary, if only he asked, in return for access to the Risen Guard system. It seemed like a good deal, and Emilia pointed out to Boundary that practically every visitor she was friendly with would kill to keep him safe, if it meant keeping access to the system.

[Emilia: actually, astra seemed accepting enough of you]

[Emilia: and she knows i like you]

[Emilia: so she might be okay protecting you regardless of the whole system thing]

Boundary vanished from the conversation for several long minutes, his only message reading—in sloppy, improper grammar—that he had located Villy and their son and was taking a moment to tell them what had happened. A moment later, Villy’s name popped up in her contact list, under the still red indicator for Honey’s messages—Emilia hadn’t dared open what was surely a million messages yet.

Surprisingly, another function popped up across her vision as well: one for her to grant access to the Risen Guard system to other people. Villy’s name lit up, the message within a long explanation of how to use the new function. It would still be connected to Boundary, as the primary host of the system. If either she or Boundary died, anyone she had given access to would have their access revoked.

[Villy: I cannot be certain, but I’m almost positive if you enter a labyrinth, any instances you have allowed in other people will disconnect. I am unsure if they will return when you exit the labyrinth. It may also occur within a labyrinth’s zone of influence.]

Emilia wasn’t sure, but she assumed zone of influence referred to the strange areas that sometimes surrounded labyrinths. That would explain why her own system access had taken a bit to activate, although, as for why it hadn’t disappeared when she returned to the entrance of the labyrinth that she’d gained her annoying aethervoice from…

⸂Yeah, you seriously suck at keeping your thoughts inside your head,⸃ Conrad agreed as they began descending a long, stone staircase, the steps spirally downwards. Its grey bricks were covered in what looked to almost be a glistening red and green algae, although there was no water. If anything, other than the plants, the staircase seemed almost unnaturally dry.

⸂I don't mind it,⸃ the man clarified, so quickly that Emilia only barely registered the negative thoughts about her mind being too loud and full to be tolerable that had tumbled out of her. ⸂Your thoughts are interesting.⸃ Conrad hesitated before adding that his brother was so silent that it was often difficult understanding what was happening inside his head.

⸂You know we aren’t the same person, right?⸃ Emilia asked. She was pretty sure Conrad realized that for all the similarities he might see between her and his mysterious brother, he knew they were different people. Still, with someone as strange as he was, it was good to double-check.

Conrad sighed in exaggerated style, air brushing over her bangs. ⸂Yes, Emilia. I am aware you are not my beloved older brother.⸃ He jumped the last few steps, turning and glaring upwards. His energy bubbled, reaching out for—

Emilia gasped as water began to seep out of the stone steps, first as puddles and then giant streams of water. An invisible barrier seemed to stop the water from going farther than the final step, but watching a tunnel of water appear before their heads, a giant column of death, was…

Well, it was beautiful and ominous all at once.

And magical. So fucking magical. The only thing that would make it more impressive is if there were fish swimming in it.

⸂This world’s magic can do many things,⸃ Conrad said darkly, his concentration slowly fading as the column completed itself, ⸂but I don’t think creating living creatures from the aether is a good thing, no matter what world we live in.⸃

Something in the man’s tone told her he was no more a fan of the raids than she was.

⸂That,⸃ he agreed, kicking open a door and continuing down the next corridor, ⸂and there are stories where I’m from.⸃

⸂Stories?⸃ Emilia asked, once she’d actually bothered sending Villy an inquiry back about why her Risen Guard system access had and then hadn’t been affected by the labyrinth’s zone of influence.

Apparently, it was because the system slowly adapted to such areas. The first time a person travelled into a particular zone of influence, they lost access. If they travelled the same path again, however, they were unlikely to be affected.

⸂Is this zone of influence thing why you—or your other personality, I guess—couldn’t escape during that first fight with us?⸃ she asked Boundary, Conrad quietly waiting for her to finish her conversation before going on with his story. It wasn’t that she couldn’t listen and send messages at the same time—she was fantastic at that, actually!—but her brain was just so noisy. Conrad speaking would have involved actually speaking over her own, accidentally vocalized thoughts and the conversation with Boundary and Villy— Which, seriously? Why had the man not made them a group chat, like they had with Benny!?

⸂Yes,⸃ Boundary responded, explaining that being unable to use the Risen Guard system meant he could not call for backup, teleport himself away, or use many of his magics, which were apparently connected to the strange magic function in the corner of her vision that she hadn’t yet had a chance to analyze, let alone experiment with.

A quick message to Villy about how his terrible husband had left her with some system function she couldn’t understand, and Emilia received a detailed explanation of what it was and how it worked. How someone as reticent and bitchy as Boundary had ended up with a sweet, complaint husband like Villy was beyond her. Apparently, for all his good parts, Villy also had terrible taste in men.

He had been right about one thing, though: Boundary was a dish. Maybe that made up for it. Stars knew she had been willing to put up with Olivier being a bitch largely because he was beautiful. Helped that he was smart and kind—not that she had often seen that part of him, in that first decade of knowing him—and just so fucking good in bed.

⸂You think about sex a lot,⸃ Conrad noted after she had bid a final goodbye to Boundary and Villy, the latter promising to give Emile a goodnight kiss for her, the both of them promising to stay safe.

⸂I like sex,⸃ Emilia replied, sinking a little further into his arms. They were comfortable, at least, but the residual aches in her body weren’t getting any better being bounced around like this. ⸂Do you?⸃

Conrad, in a very uncharacteristic move, hesitated. Perhaps he was from one of those Free Colonies that didn’t talk about sex? Except, usually, they also made nudity into something shameful and embarrassing for both parties. She’d been naked in front of the man, and he hadn’t given a single shit, so probably not a culture thing.

Whatever it was, Emilia didn’t get a chance to find out—not today, anyways. Instead, Conrad’s eyes seemed to lose focus, the words falling out of him like a long-lost childhood story—which perhaps it was. A story of childhood, meant to scare children off from using their cores to create friends from the universe itself.