I grew up on tales of my birth mother's accomplishments and daring deeds, mainly recounted to me by Micah, who held many fond memories of her. With Mother and Father often away on business, Yelena had been more of a parent to him than anyone else.

Her immersion into the Frey family began with a debt of gratitude. Yelena had saved Mother's life during a targeted raid on a small village that the two happened to be staying in at the time.

The two women were enjoying a meal and some conversation in the lone village pub, the only two travelers passing through when the raid occurred.

The raiders were quick to slay Mother's three guards, clearly having her as the target of their attack.

Despite having just met, Yelena fought through the fray to reach Mother, slaying down all the attackers using spirit magic and shielding her from harm. She was one woman, heavily pregnant with me, yet she took down a dozen raiders on her own.

Mother recognized Yelena's talent and was quick to employ her, a decision that proved wise as several more attempts on Mother's and Micah's lives followed during a turbulent time in the Frey family's past.

The Freys were forever indebted to her, and she became an inseparable part of our household—an extended family member, given her heavy role in Micah's life. The testament to this was that Micah was quick to claim me as a brother when I was born.

Yet, despite her legend, I knew very little about the woman who'd brought me into this world.

Her life was veiled in mystery. Whatever had caused her to disappear, her name became almost a forbidden topic around Mother—even though they'd once been best friends. I once tried asking how or why she left or even if she was alive, but the answers were hazy, either because no one truly knew or because there were deeper secrets at play. Eventually, I stopped asking, accepting that some truths would stay hidden.

Until now, that is.

Azgralos looked down at me expectantly, as if he were holding onto a secret he'd been waiting centuries to share.

This dragon had known my mom. And even if he had his own schemes, I suspected he could provide a version of my mom that no one else had ever told me. Even if my grandmother's lips had loosened a bit, she still didn't reveal anything else about my mom that I didn't already know about her during our chess match.

"Why did my mom come down and talk with you?" I recalled what Azgarlos had mentioned in our first meeting.

Azgralos large eyes twinkled as an amused smile appeared, revealing his sharp teeth.

"I'd imagine she visited to chat for much the same reason you're here," he replied cryptically.

I frowned, annoyed at his evasiveness.

"Did she tell you about the Game that was at play back then?" I inquired instead.

I had gathered from Chase Daylan's and Duncan Genuiver's accounts that a multi-player Game was in progress when I was born.

Azgralos inclined his head. "Indeed, she did."

"What was its setup and objective?" I pressed.

His smile widened, teeth glinting. "Battle Royale meets Capture the Flag. Each Player was tasked with eliminating their rivals' key figures while keeping their own safe."

"And my mom's targets to keep safe were…"

I trailed off, waiting. Given my phoenix eyes, I knew that either my mom or dad were a Player—and given my mom's past was somewhat easier to learn about, I figured I'd tug at the thread of possibility that it was her that was the Player.

"Elizabeth and Micah Frey," he confirmed, and my suspicions solidified.

My mother had been a Player, which meant she was likely still alive somewhere.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I sighed.

Her leaving this world then likely meant returning to whatever realm it was that she was from.

The feeling was complicated. I lacked memories of her. Even her appearance was non-existent, except for a patchwork of details such as her long black hair and the tiny mole beneath her right eye. Still, she was my biological mom. So why had she left me?

Then again, as a Player, perhaps her situation was complicated. Was there even a possibility of her staying behind in this realm with the Game's end? And what about the option of taking me with her to her realm?

I voiced these questions aloud to Azgralos.

Azgralos looked down with a tinge of pity.

"To be honest, I am less knowledgeable about such matters. However, I do know that Yelena initially planned on it," Azgralos said. "She intended to raise you here and take you to her realm when you were older."

I blinked.

Apophis cold form tightened slightly on my shoulder as I processed this insight.

~She'd have had to have broken and manipulated quite a number of realm laws to do so.

His voice slithered into my mind.

"So the snake speaks finally," Azgralos roared, revealing that Apophis had also spoken into the dragon's mind. "Perhaps it would have required the breaking of some rules, but Yelena was never a stickler for rules anyhow."

~Such an attempt would have gone far beyond breaking some rules. She'd have had to erase and rewrite them.

Apophis gazed up at me with his purple eyes, his tongue flickering out.

~Shame I never met her. Master's mother sounds like a fascinating individual indeed.

"Yelena was most certainly fascinating," Azgralos agreed.

I frowned.

I would have liked to have adequately met her as well, when I was old enough to actually remember her, rather than the toddler that I was when she had left.

"Then why? Why did she leave me behind?" I asked blankly.

"HAHHHHH…. she received some guidance that you'd face significant misfortune if she attempted to remain in this realm or take you with her," Azgralos slowly spoke. "Thus, she made the difficult decision to leave you behind. It was for your own good."

I felt my mouth twitch, one corner rising in disgust.

Misfortune?

"Did she perhaps receive this…. so-called guidance from the Misfortune Sisters?" I asked, feeling myself seething in anticipation.

Azgralos's knowing smile said it all. "Indeed."

My fists tightened into two balls so tightly that my short nails plunged into my skin.

The dragon laughed. "That's the same expression Lady Elizabeth has whenever those two are mentioned."

My mind raced, piecing together what I had learned about those Misfortune Sisters from past loops.

I now understood why Fiona said the Misfortune Sisters were a taboo subject around Mother, and moreover, why Fiona couldn't divulge why they were taboo in the first place.

'It's not my place to tell. Especially not to you.'

Fiona's words ran through my mind. The emphasis made sense now—secrets guarded not just for my mother's sake but for reasons far more profound than I'd realized.

When I find those two… and get my hands on them…

My jaw tightened.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

~Say, Master… Rest is as important as practice.

Apophis glanced up through the villa's greenhouse ceiling at the star-studded night sky.

The two of them had left the dragon's lair several hours ago, but the boy wouldn't sleep. Instead, he insisted on getting acquainted with his Chaos Artifact and improving his grasp of Chaos Magic.

"I'll sleep when I'm tired," Luca replied curtly, his fingers flexing over the withered and twisted lily in the potted plant before him. Wisps of dead mana pulled into his fingertips, and the plant shuddered slightly as he drained it.

Apophis let out a soft, hissing sigh.

His own rest was minimal in importance, but Luca—still bound to human limits—seemed oblivious to his fatigue, his golden eyes almost feverish under the low greenhouse light stones.

He's acting too single-minded tonight.

Apophis' purple eyes swept across the potted plants in the row before them. All drained of dead mana, they now appeared like regular, albeit highly malnourished plants.

~Sure, sure. But Master, you are running out of resources. And didn't you say that these plants were your younger brother's? Would he not be displeased with you using them like this?

Luca gave a faint smirk. "Hardly. If anything, Jarvis will be thrilled," Luca replied, motioning with his hands toward the throwing dagger lying on the table before him.

Apophis paused, watching as Luca's dagger shifted color mid-air—from dull gray to shining bronze, then to a strange, checkered pattern. It was like a sleight-of-hand trick, the kind entertainers performed, where an ace of diamonds becomes a two of spades in the blink of an eye. Luca performed similar transformations, but only with real objects and using real magic, not the nonsense seen at carnivals.

It was an elementary sort of Chaos Magic, changing the scenery from one or the other. The change was ultimately aesthetic in nature, but the implementation could be extended to more severe and practical implications.

Apophis deemed this simple Chaos Magic the most appropriate for Luca's level as a budding new Chaos Mage.

"Interesting…" Luca murmured, his brow furrowing. He turned the dagger in his hand, eyes narrowing. "This design…"

~Hmmmm…. What is it, Master?

Apophis leaned over and gazed down from Luca's shoulder at the dagger, wondering what the boy had found of interest. The dagger was an interesting artifact—powerful even, but Apophis didn't see what caught the boy's attention with the latest redesign.

"This is the exact design from Round 2," Luca murmured, his golden eyes unfocused, likely conversing with the System. After a moment, he scanned the surroundings as if seeing them anew. "So… this change in scenery on every loop. This is all Chaos Magic, too?"