Ceres looked at the now completed homunculus; a rather young-looking Kyrion stood before her. His expression was dark, while his hair was darker than pitch.

“Welcome to the living Cyrion.”

“Nope. That will not be my name.” The child said with a hysterical tone that slowly darkened.

“You would go agaist your creator?”

“Of course. The name sucks. I want to be called either Hades, or Anubis.”

“Aether, good to see you again.” Ceres rolled her eyes.

“I’d argue but that name sounds decent.”

“Again. What do you mean by that?”

“Well, mother, or is it sister? I don’t know who you used as a base but nevertheless. I was the being that temporarily filled a shard of his soul.”

“So you’re aware of who and what you are. What is your mission?” Cordelia eyed the newborn humanoid.

“Kill the Beast Blood emperor.”

“Wrong. Your first mission is to sur…” Cordelia started.

A young man with dirty blond hair and a blue-haired man in a suit appeared in the room. “Your current mission is to infiltrate the Beast Blood Empire’s team. Someone with your physical characteristics has gone missing, and we need things to run smoothly. If it gets out that they’ve died, then things can get complicated. They have seen the bottom half of your face while your hair and upper half have been hidden. Along with your actual physical appearance.”

“Who is he mimicking?”

“One of Krion’s shards. She fought using an enchanted staff that does most of the work. Her real powers were kept hidden. Even from her teammates.”

“Great. I was just about to release him from all obligations.” Cordelia sighed

“You can still do that. He’ll come willingly as it’s a chance to fight.”

“Don’t think I care about fighting.”

Gamodren pulled out a reawakening token. “He’ll come if he wants me to give you this.”

“Not likely,” Cordelia and Aether said in unison.

Cordelia hadn’t been hurt in the slightest. She recognized the item and looked at Charles.

Charles shrugged, “Didn’t get it from me.”

“Why do you have that?”

“Reasons. Fine then, Aether, Marigold is at the tournament, and she misses you.”

Aether shot upwards, hearing that name, and immediately ran to Kyrion’s room to steal some nice clothes. Mostly from Jr. as he had all the good stuff in his size, although he would steal some equipment from Curella as she hoarded lots of valuable baubles.

“Charles. Should I explain? Or do you want to do it?” Gamodren asked.

“I’ll keep it brief. Kyrion managed to purchase this and more with resources he shouldn’t have access to from someone who shouldn’t have let him do it.”

“So he no longer needs to win the tournament.” Cordelia said.

“Now he wants to win the tournament. It’s a matter of pride now.” Gamodren added.

“You’ve known my son for five years. I don’t care much for pride, and I doubt someone as timid, meticulous, and tricky as you could make an overly prideful man out of my son.”

“I mean. It wasn’t easy. But I did manage to teach him misdirection.”

Charles nodded. “Had I not known your son’s penchant for mischief and the fact that he was alive. I would have thought Rion wasn’t Kyrion at all.”

“Rion… Did he just remove the Ky aspect of his name and claim to be a different person? He’s going to get caught.”

“You’d think that.” Gamodren said as he unfurled a promotional poster for Drisil Academy.

On it, an orange-haired man about three inches shorter than the last time she saw Kyrion stood in the center of a meeting room surrounded by unconscious figures covered in burns. A few had bones that were dislocated or broken. Flames flowed off his body and covered everything. Vermillion eyes looked dead center as though staring the person who drew this in the eye. The aesthetic reminded Cordellia of a predator sizing up prey and finding it lacking. Had Cordelia not suspected it was her son due to context, she may have thought he was someone else.

“Who is that?” Ceres looked into the eyes in the image. “Doesn’t matter. We need a fire user to round out Kyrion’s other elements. I’ll convince him to join the harem.”

“It seems Cecil got to him first. Making him the figurehead helped.”

Ceres seemed confused and decided to look at the door where Aether reappeared. His appearance had changed slightly as he had a scar going down his left cheek. Vanta’s black robes pooled behind him like inky water. The top half of a human skull decorated his shoulders with pauldrons. Various magical rings covered every one of his fingers, each with an enchantment that let him manipulate an affinity. Around his forehead was a headband that allowed him to stockpile excess mana in that area for silent and instant casting of dangerous spells. Rings of black eyeshadow covered his eyes and eyelids, making him look like a real edgy necromancer.

“I doubt Jr had all that in his closet.” Gamodren stated.

“Of course not. But Curella’s room had some decent stuff left over from the ritual. The rings were easy to craft with what you all have lying about. Also there’s this.” Aether revealed a necklace that allowed him to pull items from other dimensions, so long as he knew the exact coordinates of the items in question.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“I’m going to borrow a weapon that Kyrion shouldn’t know I had crafted in his domain and store it here.”

“I wouldn’t put my hand in that place unless I wanted to lose it.” Gamodren said helpfully.

“Fine then.” Aether pulled the necklace off and adjusted it. “I can now close all dimensional portals and limit teleportation. I’ll ask for my weapon like a good younger brother.” Aether grumbled.

“How did you enchant rings so quickly?” Cordelia scowled.

“While I am the equivalent of a practitioner in power. My skill and technique in mana manipulation are quite high and I have at least a millennia of my own memories besides. Based on prior observations few can hope to beat me in battle if my goal is to win.”

A white-haired kid pulled at Aether’s robe and spoke for the first time. “You’re going to be fighting a losing battle with your attitude. So please don’t change, the quicker we’re eliminated the quicker I get to play as much as I want. Fighting for sport is boring.”

“Uh. Gamodren? Who or what is that?” Corellia looked at the child’s familiar features.

“My ride.” Gamodren sighed.

“Everyone calls me White Fox. And I’m kind of a necromancer with a twist.” The boy said while holding both hands behind his back.

“What are you hiding?” Cordelia asked with a squint.

“Holding?” The boy sighed, raised both hands above his head, and spun around slowly. He then jumped three times as a bag of nuts fell out from his robes and clattered.

“Does this happen often enough for you to have a maneuver down pat?”

“Hmm? Yes, I’ve been told that I have kleptomaniac tendencies. Those aren’t my nuts either and I don’t remember picking them up.”

“Right, well Gamodren.Keep your kid in check.”

Gamodren looked to Charles, who looked to White Fox. The boy then moved to hide behind Ceres, only for an arm to hoist him over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“I’ll be on my best behavior while here from now on, granny. I won’t even try to steal your zombies. Although they do need some training.”

“I’m not your granny.”

“Well that Siggy guy offered to adopt me. But I think you’ve had kids, and I already had parents. No need to replace either if I’m a grandson.”

“Is this true, and if so, when did it happen?” Cordelia asked.

“During a time loop. Neither should remember yet this brat does. He’s a curious creature, isn’t he.” Charles informed her.

“Do you want to go spy on Kyrion with us? We should all watch him fight?” White Fox asked curiously.

“If I go, people will know I’m alive,” Cordelia stated.

“Does it matter? The country that called for your execution is a shell of its former self and the reason you went into hiding in the first place was for your experiments. Had we decided to go the genocide route in retaliation…”

“Then you’d both have been forced to leave for displaying power above the limit set by Imala.”

“We’ve done that multiple times. It’s just the most recent that your father was willing to fully commit to leaving as staying was aging him rapidly. Even then it was after he saw the concentration of mana Kyrion was working with. Most people are taught that affinities are shaped by the soul of the person willing them. That spirits take the form of someone’s desire and grow from cores and training. That is a lie the weak teach to contain those who could become strong with said knowledge. Affinities are formed by intent and spirits are a manifestation of our affinities and psyche. The higher quality the mana the more potential for mastery you have, the more mana you have the more your intent will manifest as magic. Usually someone like Kyrion would have one spirit that was exceptionally versatile while disturbingly powerful, instead various spirits had taken portions of his core and slotted into his natural affinities.”

“What did my dad see?”

“While Asela gained power quickly. Kyrion was working to condense a higher tier of mana than most ranking experts he’d fought in his youth and yet rage never clouded his character. Not outside of mischief, I mean. Kyrion could get mad, yes, but his magic tended to shy away from harming people and animals. Until he went through the forest trials and for the first times in his life, he had to kill summoning. His intent, and flooded the forest with power and awakened a guardian. It protected him while he was there and his emotions powered it. When Kyrion was having his core sealed, his intent to push the person harming him away and keep them there overruled his desire for blood. Your father believed that his kind grandson would be the trailblazer the world needed and got out of the way. The fool always saw the best in family, nothing is more cruel than a child’s innocence.”

“So you didn’t.” Cordelia’s expression turned cold.

“Kyrion was a wildcard that could become a terror beyond me if he decided that humanity needed purging. I saw what he nearly did to Asela when his grief over a rodent overtook his senses. She would have died of heatstroke, had I not been on your side of the kingdom.”

“I don’t remember that.” Aether said.

“You entered Kyrion when he woke up after that incident. What I’m saying is, I had a rival of your father test him. What we got was a kind soul who would rather heal than harm. But could harm when the need arose and would sacrifice himself if need be.”

“So you were puppeting the whole encounter?”

“Meh, when two rankers in the top five are involved in a plot against each other, it’s easy to figure out. Why do you think there were so few casualties among civilians? Among those that did die were infiltrators and traitors to Imala. The golemancer was someone Maldain was teaching. Apparently his style of combat has some similarities.”

“They tried to kidnap one of your students.”

“Leon was a friend to the Invan royal family. So long as he was nearby she couldn’t have been harmed. That also needed to come out eventually. As you didn’t give her time to speak with your student before you got up and left.”

“I was in a hurry. I had to foil a replacement plot my mother had set into motion.”

“And you brought someone who’s presence messes with scrying while they couldn’t be detected.” Charles shook his head.

“And he performed nicely. Honestly I was a bit worried when Tiffany’s father would break her betroval after meeting him.”

“Not many eight-year-olds can do what My son could do with his core sealed, it seems.”

“No, they wouldn’t be capable of medical treatment or carry people four times his weight with ease.”

White fox had seemed to have returned after a while, but no one was present save Charles, who had noticed he had left.

“Where did you go?” Charles asked with a stoic expression.

“I was bored. And those zombies didn’t know how to make cookies. They do now.” White Fox was holding a plate of freshly baked, skull-shaped chocolate chip cookies. Only chocolate chips shouldn’t exist here. The tools to make them in that uniform shape were beyond what even the most chefs could. He’d have to have been quite a while to have baked cookies.

“Why do they smell so good but look so unappetizing.”

“Skeletons aren’t ones for fine detail and artistic taste in cookie making.”

Charles shot the boy with a look that could melt an ice cap.

White fox took a bite out of a skull, wincing as he burned his mouth but still managed to swallow it. “What? Not like I’m going to alter the world too much by revealing these a day early in a secluded area.”

“A day. Early. What did you do?”

“Me? I made cookies. Did you get to the part where Kyrion joined Drisil and spent years mastering the craft of healing and all that? I’m sure we all know where this goes. Kyrion kills a dragon and ends up in the realm of the lost, where he fights and trains, gaining a level of power beyond what should be possible for a practitioner before getting lost in another world for a little bit before figuring out how to get back. Then he gets back, stuff happens, and boom.” White Fox smushed a cookie before eating it.

“You jumped a bit too far ahead kid.” Charles sighed.

“Huh, that’s not what the cat said.” White Fox finished his first cookie and was moving on to the second.

“Why didn’’t we leave him in the city?” Gamodren asked Charles.

“Because he’s our ride. I can’t teleport, and spending a day and a half running my time is a bit annoying. It might seem instant to you, but running across the continent is still running across the continent.”

“Fair enough. Aether, Cordelia, Ceres, are you all ready?”

The three nodded, unsure what to make of what was just said.

White fox waved a chocolate-covered hand around and opened a portal that linked them from the waste of Limguard to the Elven Capital half the continent away.