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Volume 1: Epilogue 1

Epilogue 1:

When we emerged back out of the ruin that I had entered with Papa Davis what seemed like a lifetime ago, it was as the blazing sun over the Great Divide was setting over the far dunes of the desert, far to the West. The sky was burning in a thousand different hews of evening, down to the dusky blacks of night, and the desert itself was a riot of evening colours. The sand in the shadow of the ruins was cool under my bare feet, and I fell to my knees, practically weeping to run my hands through its velvet textures. I don't think I had ever been so glad to see sand and open sky in my life. Mia fell down beside me and just lay there on her back for a while, staring into the sky and breathing deep lungfuls of air, scouring the scents of the desert wind, and everything it told you about the world around us. Boone collapsed against me and just bathed in the heat, his eyes closed and his entire body turning to liquid as he relaxed utterly into the forgiving embrace of the cool sand.

“We made it. We’re alive,” I choked on the last word and had to fight back the tears. I wrapped my sister and my furry brother in my arms as best I can with one bound in bandages and pieces of wood to keep it straight until we could get it healed, and just breathed in their company and their presence against my bare skin.

Before we had ascended the final flight, I had dismissed all of the changes the dungeon had brought, apart from Boone, who we three decided together that we would claim had been unlocked in the Trials as one of my Talents. When I had dismissed the claws, the cloak had receded from my arms and left me with a sleeveless poncho, almost, of enchanted tiger skin that I could wrap around me and hide my nudity with. My clothing had been reduced to tattered rags by first my hooves, and then my Avatar state transformation. We hadn't even been able to recover enough to cover my dignity. I could have wrapped myself in the last of the treated bandages from the arena, but they were stiff with dried poultice and I hadn't wanted to even think about chaffing when climbing a million stairs.

We had discussed one other thing as we climbed - what to do about my past, as there was little doubt my very intelligent parents wouldn’t poke holes in whatever story we tried to concoct. Eventually, we came to the decision that I would tell them, but not tonight. I begged to have just one more night with them when I was just Arcadia - their youngest daughter, and not Arcadia, the half remembered reincarnated soul from another world.

Truth is I dreaded facing them with that truth more than I had dreaded facing any horror of the Trials. My last life family, they had taken me being different very badly. I didn't remember them, but for certain I remembered that.

“I'm telling you, something has changed. That creature tells us that Arcadia is in a Dungeon - a dungeon! We argued, then she is gone, the time is different, Mia is missing, and the sands have changed Whatever happened, we don't remember it.” A Clarion call voice called across the silent sands, and my heart froze, and broke, and twisted and swelled all at once and the held back tears pushed against my eyes with a painful force.

“It had a fox head, and was more powerful than I have ever encountered, could it have been Mischief?” Another voice that made my heart swell and freeze all at once. My father, his taciturn, practical matter coming through as he stood as the calm cliff to my mother's wild tides of emotion.

“The gods have not been seen by people in thousands of years, and you think the first time people see them it is as an unknown apparition telling us it kidnapped my daughter? Mischief may tell his stories and his tricks, but he is never that cruel. Besides, look at your notifications - they are mentioned by name, our daughters and this ‘Kintsuji’. We need to help them - who knows how long we have been standing here? The sand was above my boots!”

“Breathe, my firebug, please. Just breathe. We had a plan to get to them - shouting about possibilities is a waste of effort. We must act - most likely, Mia is with her. Nothing else at this point makes sense.” Papa Davis, the mediator of our family, spoke up, and I could almost see him adjusting his glasses and his robes as he thought through the implications. The conversation may have only taken moments, but to Mia, Boone, and I, the words were like a balm to our souls. Like a security blanket draped around our shoulders, the world felt safer just for having those voices nearby again. I gripped my sisters’ hand and we locked eyes, the same longing in each as we forced ourselves to our knees.

“Mama!” I cried, my lungs screaming with the longing I forced into the word, and I heard the argument cease. I heard the shocked exclamations, the sound of three pairs of boots pounding on the sand, and there she was - the hair, the ears, the tail, the robe, my mother came running at a sprint, yet when she saw us, she didn't slow down, she didn't even question Boone, she sped up, my fathers’ a step behind, my father even overtaking as his higher Body Attribute sped his panicked steps. The tears finally burst from their confinement and ran down my face in wave of salt and pure relief as my family saw us, and the sand held no obstacle to them as they reached us in a blink, and then I was in their arms. The five of us, and Boone, even if he was outside our immediate circle, were reunited at last, and the wailing, the tears, and the healing, began in earnest. Including literally. My Papa spared no expense and used his rarest and most powerful healing items to heal my arm and Mias’ shoulder, and both of us were swaddled in powerful healing poultices that he kept for only the direst of emergencies. It would be a fortune to replace them, but if Mia and I wanted to keep the use of our arms, he said it was the only way he had. A High Priest of one of the healing focused religions may be able to do more to repair them better, but that was expensive and rare - and very few of those lived in the between lands of the Great Divide.

That night the whole family had fallen asleep in the family room, having never even made it to the bedroom/workroom. None of us wanted to be away from another for even the moments it would take to set up a bed or, or close up the workshops that had been open for days, ink and paint gone dry, tea cups with mould floating in them, and so we had fallen asleep on scattered cushions in each others’ arms.

The fact that we had classes had come up as soon as they had seen Mias’ eyes and ears, and Boone, and our new scars. There had been very few questions, that first night. My parents didn't care about the specifics in the reality of having their kids back. No, they would come later, when calmer minds prevailed, and we told our stories in earnest. My mother saw Mias’ discomfort with her new appearance and simply folded her into her lap, Foxkin to Foxkin, and whispered words of comfort until Mia fell asleep, curled up in her lap.

When we did begin to tell our story, it was under the shade of fabric canopy, and around a table of sweet treats and simple foods - honey cakes and Baklava, olives and flat breads, and spices meat parcels that resembled Foul Medamas from my first world, but with the lamb replaced with local equivalents.

The questions started with the global announcements, and worked their way backwards, Mostly. First I introduced Boone, who at first made my parents uncomfortable, though I noticed shared looks and tiny grins shared between them. Mia explained her ears, and her specific race change, and her fears over it and the description on her soul card. As a Foxkin herself, Mariella, my mother, was overjoyed to have another in the family, even if she was a Firefox-kin dedicated to Mischief, and Mia was an Umbra Foxkin taken by Kintsuji as a champion. She told her the soul card could only tell you generalities. People in the Divide would treat you by how you acted, not how you looked, and if anyone did give her trouble? My parents were no slouch in a fight.

With our story, though, my parents couldn't help but dig in to the details that stood out. As archaeologists, the Fifth age had always been something of the distant past, the Champions of the gods a series of tales and parables who may have been real, but were more than likely exaggerated. To have two newly announced Champions before them broke so many of the academic theories my parents ascribed to that watching their world view collapse and reform was almost funny, if it hadn't been their daughters that it had happened to, and the scars, both physical and mental, were all too real. They had been amazed, yes, but also horrified.

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We explained the Constellations and the classes we had received, and we're told that unique classes were exceptionally rare. My parents were amazed by the strength of what we had gained, and the levels we had managed in such a short time. We showed what powers we could - our physical transformation powers were met with astonishment, with how rare they apparently were in the world. Not unique, no, but in a global population where only 10% had classes, and of those, the majority were built along predictable paths, the amount with physical transformations in the world was likely less than a thousand people in total.

I couldn't show my Avatar state. It felt like the receptacle would take a long time to fill until my Mind Attribute was stronger. At the moment it was like a trickle of water trying to fill a barrel - it would fill eventually, but sitting and watching it wouldn't help.

My parents then promised to teach us everything they knew about classes, before we were old enough to sign on to a guild academy or as adventurers in our own rite - even with powerful unlocked classes, we were still legally children, and would be for a few years yet. They promised to train us to be ready for whatever came next, now that the churches and the guilds would allow it.

When it was done, they had tried to enter the temple themselves, if only to confirm its existence, but were blocked by a solid field of energy and a message on their Soul Cards that they found just as fascinating as anything else:

The Trials here within may only be attempted by those without power themselves, who come to seek the favour of the gods. A soul may only be reforged once, and those already on their journey to the heavens will find nothing for themselves here.

When every trick they had access to here was exhausted, my family made the decision to leave a sign and a marker, and return to Eto to report the find to the Adventurers Guild. Mia and I both had some worry about us openly reporting in what happened, as the global announcements would mean literally everyone knew our names, and there would always be those who would seek to take advantage of those who had found fortune. They understood our fear, but equally, they had a sworn duty to report the findings, and it was potentially a world changing event. The ripples this temple could potentially set loose in the world were too massive to ignore, and they had a responsibility to help where they could - that was the core of being an adventurer archaeologist after all.

So we packed up, and decided to spend one more night here, before heading off in the morning. When Mia was asleep, though, and my parents were sat around the low table with glasses of the potent drink they preferred, I finally plucked up my courage, and with Boone by my side, I entered the room and sat myself at the table, to their questioning looks. “ Is there something wrong, Sprout? I would have thought you'd be fast asleep by now.”

I sighed, and sat Boone in my lap, hugging the now considerably larger fox to my chest, both to comfort me, and to offer some separation between me and what I was about to talk about. “There's more to the story,” I said at last, my words cracking with my nervousness and my damaged throat - even my Papa didn't have a way to fix it, but he had sworn he would get me in front of a specialist to see if anything could be done - but I rallied and continued. “Something I should have told you before, but…I was scared: Still am. But it gives a lot of context to why Kintsuji wanted me, and why this all happened.”

My parents put down their drinks and focused all of their attention on me, Papa even pulled out a notepad. “If it is something uncomfortable, sprout, you don't have to tell us if you are not ready.” My father told me, laying a hand on top of mine and squeezing gently, the contact like a lifeline. “We’re here for you, regardless, and whatever it is, we’ll listen. But you must not think yourself responsible for the actions of beings far more powerful than you. This Kintsuji is an unknown, and unknowable creature. This could have all been random chance.” They were giving me a way out. The beautiful people who had become my entire world since I had been born into their company had given me a way to fob off this conversation if I wanted to. I smiled at them and fought back tears. Boone sent love and support down our connection, letting me know if I wanted to stop here, I could. But it was time. They needed to know, and I'd need to face the consequences. I shook my head, and quietly, began with a question:

“What do you think happens, when we die?” The obvious answer, and the one they had always told me, was - nobody really knew. This world, despite having gods, didn't have a clear idea of an afterlife. The most common concept was that our souls were returned to essence and we became part of the cycle of magic that kept the world running. But to forestall them saying that same thing now, I started speaking before they could answer. “I should have told you this years ago, you deserved to know, but…you loved me, and I loved you, and our life was such a happy one, I didn't want to ruin it, and every day I didn't speak up it got harder. I have…memories, from before. From another life in another place. I remember how I died, and what happened after. I know what should have happened, but for whatever reason, that didn't happen to my soul. Instead, I got lost. Possibly for a very long time - until Kintsuji found me and offered to help me live a new life - in return for helping her here, on Axis.” My parents shared shocked glances, and my Papa, tellingly, put away his notebook. “My soul entered your daughters’ body, and whatever had been my life before ended, but…I still remember it. I…I feel I have been lying to you for years and I need you to know that it was only because I loved this. I loved you. I loved being your daughter. You have been the best parents I could have ever hoped for, and I never wanted this to end.” The tears had started very quickly, and now poured down my face to be buried in Boones’ soft fur, and my words came in between thick, wet sobs. By the end, I couldn't even look at them, and was cuddled so close into Boone that my words were muffled by his body.

There was a long, terrifying moment of silence at the table, and I started putting together plans of where I would go, where I would run to, when they drove me out. Then I felt a slender pair of arms encircle me, and pull me into a tight hug, as my mothers’ scent filled my nostrils. I twisted my head to raise bleary eyes at her, and she just smiled, that same, beautiful, warm smile that she always did. “What?” I asked dumbly, as she tightened her hug.

“Thank you,” she said, warmly, letting go of the hug to wipe my eyes and my nose, and cup my hands in her face. “Thank you for finally trusting us with your secret. We always knew there was something special about you, my beautiful daughter. We knew you would tell us when you were ready.”

My brain short circuited, and I looked at all three of my parents, flabbergasted, as they stared at me with love, affection, and amusement. “You knew!?”

My father started chuckling, before it turned into a full roaring laugh, and he heaved himself to his feet, picked Boone and me up in a single bundle, and hugged us to his chest.

“You are very bad at pretending. And your friend was always very good at hiding, but never perfect.” Boones’ eyes bugged out at that.

“You knew about me too!?” That made the three adults at the table laugh, as well, though it was a kindly sound, without mockery or judgement.

“Well, of course - your ability to remain unseen is very good, but we have been raising our Perception for years. Sometimes you weren't as careful as you could be. Now, admittedly, our first thoughts were you were a spirit or demon haunting Arcadia, but when we had a few priests look into it, it was determined that you were helpful - or at least benign. Plus, you two were soulbound.” He put us down and knelt so he was at eye level with the fox. “Thank you, Boone, for always being there for my daughter. While as long as you were holding your secrets, we could not say it, we have always been very glad to have you in this family. You even saved my life once, as I recall, and I would not wish you anything but to be part of this family in truth.”

“Arcadia,” My Papa said, sitting down next to me and putting a hand on my head, so that he could tuck me close to his body and put his chin on my head. “You are our child, and whatever circumstances brought you into our life, that will never change. We love you, just as much as we love Mia. We will always be your parents, as long as you want and need us to be. And if you ever want to talk to us about this other life you lived, we will be happy to listen. To be honest, I am fascinated to hear anything you have to tell me.”

I cried. No longer the tears of fear and pain, but the tears of relief and joy. They were my family. They loved me. I still had my home and my heart was so full.

We talked for hours into the night, and when morning came, the whole family packed up, harnesses the Mutocks, and left the seventh age ruins that had changed so much of our lives in the space of just a few days. We didn't know what the future might bring, but for Mia, Boone, and I, we would face it moving forwards, with our eyes open. Always; Anytime; Together.