Darkness.
Suffocating darkness.
I could hear nothing.
See nothing.
Taste.. Something.
Feel..? Earthy. Grainy. In my mouth.
Going further down my mouth!
I’m sinking!
I’m slipping!
I—
I burst my head out of the sand, taking giant gulps of air. My mouth was still full of the stuff, and I swallowed some, coughing and then heaving and then swallowing. I conjured some water in my hand and gargled my throat.
Through the mess, my vision had cleared and…
Zenith and Aisha were also both in the sand. Face down, the only thing you could see from Aisha was her butt sticking out.
I rushed over to her immediately, my legs feeling like they were made of lava, slowly flowing down and into the sand with every movement.
I clamped my arms around her and pulled, and the rest of her body came out. But there was no response. I turned her around, her face and clothes full of sand. Her eyes had thankfully remained closed, but there were clumps on her eyelids, her eyebrows, in her nose and in her mouth.
..She wasn't breathing!!!
"No, don't do this to me Aisha!" I checked for a pulse. Still there!!
Immediately I lay her down and started CPR on her.
Chest compressions! Chest compressions!! If her ribs bruise, I'll just heal that!
I went, on and on, no response. Nononononono—
Suddenly, she gasped! And then choked, her eyes trying to open up, but there was too much sand in her face.
First things first, I turned her around and started the Heimlich manouvre, and she started coughing and sneezing violently, mucous flying everywhere.
I cleared her face with water so she could see.
"Agh! Hachooo! Alti—n—Blegh! Kuho!!—Al—Alt—"
"Stop! Don't try to talk! Just get it all out!" I held her hands, keeping them from clawing at her throat.
Her coughing just didn't stop, and her heart just kept beating faster and faster.
"Just keep going! Don't worry, your sister's here! You're gonna be alright! You're going to be just fine, okay?!"
She. Just. Kept. Coughing.
Eventually, her voice started going hoarse. And she vomited.
The coughing spell lessened in intensity, and I took the opportunity to release her hands and make her a cup of water using earth and water magic.
I could feel myself being scraped dry by that simple motion. The teleportation sucked all my mana away, and I had just used four different spells in a row right after waking up. If I wasn't careful, I would pass out.
She took the cup and dove her head in, sipping with all her strength. I filled it for her before she started coughing again.
Sand and water came out in equal measure.
"Mmm…mmm.." I could hear Zenith's voice from behind me and looked back. Thankfully her head hadn't gone under, but she was still submerged into the sand. I finally had a bit of an opportunity to look around, even as Aisha still let out small coughs.
We were in the desert. It had become evening already, the temperature was noticeably dropping.
The only places I knew that resembled a desert in this world were some areas on the Demon Continent or the Begaritto Continent.
Either way, not ideal. Far from ideal.
"Aisha, are you alright?" I asked, clearing some more sand from her face and clothes.
"I-" she didn't get much more out than that. I didn't notice before, but she was crying. I couldn't tell whether that was from the coughing or the situation. Either way I hugged her before standing up and helping Zenith.
"Alti… Aisha…" She was coming to, slowly. I walked over and pulled her out of the sand too, to which she yelped. "Alti!! What-"
"We've been teleported. To where I don't know." I slapped her clothes clean of all the sand that I could find on her and returned to Aisha's side, checking for burns and scrapes. "You're the adventurer, kaa-san. What should we be doing first?"
"I- Alti, to where no-? No. You'll- you'll have to give me a minute."
I gave her a minute. There weren’t any monsters out in the open right now, (that I could see anyway) so it should be safe to remain here.
“Alright. Umm. The first thing to do would be to find a source of shelter.”
“I can create an Earth Fortress?” I offered, dusting away any sand I could still see on Aisha, who hadn’t spoken yet. Still recovering her throat from the attack.
“That might do in a pinch, but it’s too obvious. Monsters and bandits would find it curious and go investigate.” She had her hand underneath her chin, in a thinking pose.
“So, find civilization? We’re in a desert, so there’s not much natural protection here.”
“Right. But which way to go..?”
Walking around randomly isn’t going to help anyone. The nearest town or village could be dozens of kilometers out. Not a good situation to be in. Maybe making ourselves obvious and noticeable so others can find us instead isn’t—no. Monsters and bandits are clearly worse in that regard.
But I’ll need to make a fire at night to keep us warm regardless….
Zenith spoke up. “Alti. Can you use magic to see the way forward somehow?”
I thought about it. I could make a pillar of Earth that stretches into the sky? Or launch myself into the air with Wind magic, like Rudeus did in Shirone. But..
“The Metastasis Event took our mana as fuel. I don’t have much left. But it's not a bad idea.”
She stared for a bit, but nodded. “For now, it’s pointless to just aimlessly wander, so setting up camp here with magic is our best option. We’ll move in the morning and evening, when the sun’s not as bad. We’ll have a higher chance of encountering monsters that way, but traveling with Aisha...”
I looked over at her. She had somewhat calmed down now, for a given measure of calm. Her eyes swiveled around, looking for anything that wasn’t hot sand.
“Thankfully we have clothes that cover most of our body. No hats for the sun, but moving during the less harsh times of the day will help with that. For now, I’m just going to wait until my mana comes back.”
It was an awkward solution, just sitting around waiting. I had Aisha close to me at my side, an arm over her shoulders while Zentih took the opposite spot, doing the same. Aisha was uncharacteristically quiet, just sniffing every now and then while we watched the sun go down.
"Yeah I'll have to risk it after all. I won't be able to see much with no light." Even if I expected there to be a whole lot less light pollution, seeing with the sun out was better.
I stood up, but Aisha stopped me, grabbing my arm. "Mu-"
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. Just to see if I can't find a place to go."
I carefully peeled my arm away, and she let go eventually, holding onto Zenith instead. Then, I took a few steps from both of them and raised a platform of Earth below me and let it soar.
I went up and up, higher than I was really comfortable with. I wasn't exactly afraid of heights, but on a different Continent in the middle of nowhere, taking any risk upped the fear factor by quite a bit.
I took myself up. A 100 meters. 200 meters. Higher. 300 meters, before I felt the strain on my mana.
Slowly turning so as not to fall I looked around.
There was nothing. Nothing for miles and miles.
Except, there was a hill-like structure to the east. It might be a mountain range or something. Whatever it was, it wasn't sand, so definitely an option.
I slowly let myself down. Going down was a lot harder than going up. Carefully demolishing my foothold while making sure I didn't fall off also cost me a lot of mana. I was puffing my breaths by the time I came down.
"I feel dizzy."
"Alti, did you find anything?" Zenith asked.
"Sort of. There's what looks like rocks and hills to the east, that way." I pointed over to where I found it. "Nothing else though."
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
"Alright. Tomorrow, we'll start heading that way then."
I lay there for a bit, catching my breath, hoping I would have enough to start to make an Earth Fortress as well for the night. I would have to hurry up. The temperature was dropping, quick.
“Kaa-...Kaa-san…” Aisha muttered. Almost whispered.
I froze.
NononononononononononononononononononononononononONONONO!!
She wasn’t with us! When we jumped! She could be anywhere! What have I done?! Oh God. What do I do now?! Where—
"Alti." Zenith suddenly started, startling me out of shock.
"...Y—Yes?" I had to keep composed. We were in the middle of nowhere, a desert. I had to focus.
"You knew… this would happen?" Ah, we're having this conversation. Could I have this conversation? I don’t know if I could…
I.. have to do it anyway. She’s owed some answers at this point.
"I knew we would get teleported." I said, ripping off the world’s nastiest bandaid.
"Then why didn't you say anything?" I knew she was barely keeping it together. Her voice was quiet. The same way it was when Lilia was pregnant.
I didn't have an actual answer to that. "I was a coward." Was the best I could come up with.
"You were scared? Of what?" Her tone shifted, from scolding and angry to considerate, and sad.
"Of- of being rejected. I thought that if I knew things I shouldn't, I would become an outcast."
"Why would you think that?"
"Because I knew what would happen! And I wasn't selfless enough to change the flow of things. I thought something would happen that would be outside of my control, outside of my predictions. Something I couldn't plan around."
"What do you mean?" She was thoroughly confused now.
"I knew everything, kaa-san! About how Rudi would start learning magic. How Roxy would come and teach him. I didn't change anything, just inserted myself so I could learn too."
I went on, interrupting her before she could speak. "I knew about Lilia too, and what would happen afterwards. And I didn't say anything." This probably wasn't a conversation I should be having with Aisha literally right next to me, but she needed to know.
The depth and gravity of my sin.
I went on. "I was scared that if I did anything, maybe Aisha wouldn't have been born." Zenith’s grip on Aisha relaxed some. "I would know which outcome you would prefer, kaa-san, so by saying nothing I took the decision out of your hands."
Zenith was shaking at this point, and had let go of Aisha. She sat down in front of me instead, not touching either of us. She didn't say anything for a long time.
The last remains of the sun was going down. Aisha started shivering through the cold. We didn't have any firewood to keep a fire burning however.
"...These last few weeks. You've been looking at me."
"I know."
"They were sad looks. Nervous ones. More than once I gave you a hug, because I was worried about you."
"I know."
"I used to wonder what made you so anxious. You started isolating yourself in the house, giving as much of your attention as you could to Norn and Aisha. I thought that it had to do with them, but. When you gathered everyone up, you took my hand first. You let go of Aisha, but you never let go of me."
"I'm sorry. Did it hurt?" My grip has definitely gotten stronger, with all the swordsman training.
"It did. Your hand was like a vice, and then just now, it clicked as to why."
I stayed silent.
"Something happens to me, when I teleport right? Something worse than the rest."
"...Yes."
"Can I ask what?"
I breathed first. I had to stay centered. I had to.
"You get stuck inside a labyrinth. A teleport labyrinth that no one's gotten even close to clearing. You're stuck inside the crystal at the end."
"..And then? Do I ever get out?"
"You do. Years and years later, tou-san and Rudi assembled your old adventuring party, minus Ghislaine, and with Roxy. They get you out, but. But tou-san…"
"...I see."
"But that's not everything. When you finally come to, you lost your ability to speak. For the first few months you don't even react to much, you're barely functional! Finally after being brought back you get some self awareness back, but you won't ever regain your speech! The world around you will feel like a dream. Like it's not even re—"
"Okay! Alti! I understand, just please-" I’m not done!
"No you don't understand! I see it all! What everyone's fate is!! Everyone!! I have to live with the knowledge that just by my presence I'm dooming people to die!!! Sylphy might not get teleported to where she previously was! She alone prevented the death of so many people! Just because I existed, she might have died already, teleported right in the middle of the ocean!!"
It was silent after that.
"..You saved my life." She muttered, as if in rebellion.
"And what of Lilia?"
"What?" Finally, Aisha spoke, looking up at me with worried eyes.
"Initially, Aisha and Lilia were to be teleported to Shirone kingdom. They would ask for assistance from Roxy at the royal palace. But she would have left already, searching for our family. The prince there takes them both in as his own maid staff to lure Roxy back. He's not… very kind, but eventually Rudeus comes in search of Lilia. With the help of his party, both of them were saved and escorted to Milishion. But now—"
"We don't know where Lilia is." She went alone. It's possible she was sent back to a similar spot, but at the same time….
"No, we don't." Aisha held on to me, and then from a sob, to a sniff, she started crying in earnest.
Just crying. Loudly, without reserve in the way only a child could. She clung onto me, snot getting all over my chain mail.
I let her. She went on for a while. Me and Zenith didn't make eye contact the whole time.
Eventually, she relented. And then fell asleep.
"I'll make the Earth Fortress now."
I did so, even as I started getting dizzy while making it.
I made a roof with four sides, having it be fairly spacious to fit three people. One side had a door and an opening for smoke to come through. Zenith started gathering deadwood from the bushes nearby and within a moment she bunched them up in the center of the Fortress.
She started chanting, and a fire came out of her palms and into the gathered wood.
..I somehow forgot Zenith could do magic too.
"Kaa-san. How much magic do you know?"
"Aaah.. besides my healing and detoxification magic I only know water and fire up to the elementary level. For survival."
Right. Both fire and water are pretty much essentials on the road after all.
"Could you use it in a fight"
"Mmm. I haven't done so in quite a bit. Not since Talhand joined our party. Thirteen years ago maybe?"
Well hot dang.
"Talhand could use fire and water magic?"
"You didn't know that?" She asked, surprised.
"I'm not omniscient. I only know a general line of what happens. Of one future, which already changed just by us being here."
"Oh.."
"Yeah. If I could future sight our way out of this place, I would have already done so."
We were quiet again.
I had lain Aisha up as comfortable as I could get her, which meant next to me again. I tried to close my eyes.
"I forgot. We never really told you kids about our adventuring days, huh." She had sat down as well, trying to find purchase on a stone floor and not succeeding. I'm not Rudeus, I couldn't really fine tune anything to be comfortable. And Earth magic was far from my specialty anyway.
"No, not really. Though from what I know, they're not exactly for children's ears are they?"
She turned a little red. "Well, your dad did give me plenty of warnings looking back at it…" oh Zenith. I really do feel bad for you in that sense. Knowing Paul (and Rudeus, like father like son) he would probably have found a way to get a third wife somehow. I wonder if their relationship would have survived that.
Another period of silence. Seems that was the theme for tonight. "Can you tell me? About the future that you saw? What happens to everyone else? Where are they?" She asked. I knew what she was really asking.
"...Paul and Norn should be fine. They're together. Eventually they'll go to Milishion and with what's left of the Boreas family go to Milishion to ask for help from your family, the Latreia’s." She winced at that. "That situation goes about as well as you expect. But they offer funding, and so Paul starts a search party. He doesn't find you, or Lilia, or Aisha. He devolves into a drinker and a hollow man." I could see it on her face. The hurt, the pain. The questions she has that she refrains herself from asking.
"Rudi's teleported to the Magic Continent. The far end, in the Biegoya region. He teleported along with the ojou-sama he was tutoring. They get saved and then helped by a Supard named Rujierd. Don't worry!" I held up my hands in a placating gesture. Next to me, Aisha stirred a little. "He's friendly. A good person, great even. In the past he helped defeat Demon God Laplace you know?" I can't tell if that meant anything to her, but moving on. "They have some bumps in the road. The magic Continent is pretty dangerous after all, but he learned the language thanks to Roxy, so they make it through okay. He eventually arrives in Millis and meets tou-san." She smiled, finally getting an answer to that question. "That meeting goes a little rough at first. Rudi doesn't know we've been teleported as well, and they have a bit of a fight over it. They make up though. It's fine, really! Anyways, from that point on Rudi parts ways with tou-san and Norn and starts looking for Aisha and Lilia, then drops off Eris and searches for you."
"That's quite a tale. But it's not quite finished is it?"
"No. But for relevancy's sake he does okay. He never finds you, but Roxy does, along with Talhand and Elinalise."
"It's weird hearing those names come out of your mouth."
"Is there anything else you wanted to know?"
"...Aisha and Norn. What happens to them after?"
"Well, they live in Milishion for a bit. And get education there from your mother. Not a fun time, or so I heard." Zenith grimaced. "Eventually though, tou-san and Lilia have to head over to the Begaritto Continent to rescue you, so they send them over to where Rudi lives in Magic City Sharia."
"All the way over in Ranoa? That's far."
"Yeah. He went to the Magic University there to… uhhh… fix an issue of his after he learned from Elinalise that tou-san would be coming for you instead."
She looked confused, but went with it. Which was really this whole conversation, but hey. Kind of comes with the territory. "Norn there joins the student council, but Aisha would rather stay at home, playing the live-in maid."
And then actually become the live-in maid, which, if she still wants to do that, more power to her, but I wanted her to broaden her horizons first before deciding. You know, not be brainwashed by Lilia's conditioning and all.
"And… what of Lilia? I can't imagine her diving into a dungeon with her injury anytime soon."
"She doesn't. She helps along the way, but she doesn't actually go in. When they all get back to Sharia she takes care of you, and any children Rudi gets."
"Oh! Children!!" Zenith perked up, all gloom now forgotten. I should have predicted that when I mentioned it. "Please tell me more!! How many grandkids do I get? For that matter, who does Rudi get married to?!"
Uuuuhhh. Does Zenith want to know how bad Rudeus gets? Mmmm. "He marries Sylphy. Their kids, a boy and a girl, are named Lucy and Sieghart." Yeah. That's safe. Safe to say. Super safe. Incredibly safe.
"Oh Sylphy? Of course of course! You could have seen that one from a mile away!" She shook her head, hands on her hips as if she confirmed some divine truth about the universe. A little like Rudeus does sometimes. Is that where he gets it from?
"Well I'm not so sure that will happen. Sylphy could be anywhere now after all."
"Oh.." And I had to go and ruin the mood. "What about you then? Do you get married? You didn't mention yourself in any of these stories." That's because I don't exist.
"Well. I can't see my own future." As opposed to Hitogami.
Speaking of Hitogami, he didn't come to me in my dreams. That's certainly weird. Maybe because he's in Rudeus' right now? Could I be expecting him to ruin my life tomorrow then?
"What's wrong? You looked really sad just now."
I can't exactly say don't worry about it, but revealing Hitogami, or even saying his name out loud, is a terrible, terrible idea through any circumstance.
"It's nothing. If I can't see myself, that just means I get to decide what I wanna do right? No obligations or anything."
"Ah like that. Yeah, whatever you wanna do Alti, I'll support you! I won't be like my own mother, dictating everything about my life for me!"
"Thanks, kaa-san. I'll remember that. For now, I just want to get out of this desert and head to Milishion first."
"Then that's our objective! Survive, and head to Milishion!!"