‘So… let’s sum up…’ Lilyth sighed after we were done laughing at her misery of being turned into a Kitsune and had time to gather our wits and figure out what and who we were now.

It was now dusk and it was getting cold. I was sitting with Lilyth huddled under her greatcoat, Caei was next to us wrapped in her cloak, and Savri sat opposite us with her jacket zipped up. We were still at the beach we ended up at after we were sent to this version of Dwynveia. We decided to stay there until the morning so that we could figure out things in peace as the spot we were at was secluded and surrounded by trees.

Thanks to the memories I got from the other me, I knew we were at the shore of Lake Talicthma, which, confusingly enough was located west of Ror-Bhyk in this version of Dwynveia, whereas I remember people saying it was east of Tyr-Mel in mine. Lilyth suggested that, while the question was mostly academic in nature, it is possible the lakes didn’t change locations but were just named differently. I didn't think that was the case, as I had never heard about a lake near Ror-Bhyk, while the other me was aware of it but it's possible the merchants just didn't mention it. Once again, I cursed my lack of knowledge about the local geography, but as Lilyth pointed out it didn't matter where the lake was in my world.

‘I arrived here four days ago rather than seven,’ Lilyth continued. ‘My other self arrived here in September of 2024 rather than January, meaning I am technically thirty-four now, and I have a whole library of new pop culture references you guys won’t get. In this timeline, I was saved by Nyx rather than Ereshkigal. And my favourite trickster goddess decided it would be more fun for me to be well… this.’

‘She was right,’ Caeileera laughed.

Lilyth’s fox ear twitched in irritation.

‘I can use magic again, so don’t push it, Caei.’

‘Does someone need to be scratched behind her ear?’ It was Sav’s turn to tease her. ‘Maybe you will be less cranky then.’

Lilyth let out a sigh of indignation, the top of her head turned blue for a moment, we could see her ears decrease in size, and she reformed as the elf we knew and loved. Not as much as the kitsune that is. To my dismay, her tail also disappeared.

‘This form sucks as much as my new memories suggest, but still, it is waaay better than standing in my old body was.’

‘So that’s not going to be a problem, then?’ Caei asked, clearly also disappointed that Lilyth was no longer in the fox form. ‘You can walk around in sunlight normally?’

‘Yup. For as much as I am displeased with what Nyx did to me, she made me into a blue slimeling rather than a shadow one. The problem is… I can't use magic when not in kitsune form. But in it, I am more powerful. Not by much, but still.

She changed back to the fox form. Her tail remained ghostly for the most part. We still have not figured out how it worked. Not that we tried all that hard, given we spent most of the time laughing.

And speaking of, Caei snickered after seeing the transformation and Lilyth glared at her.

‘How do you think Nyx will react to this?’ I asked, genuinely concerned. ‘You know… us being different people.

We got another chance after all. No need to immediately anger the gods. This time really through no fault of our own.

‘She already knows,’ Lilyth answered and took off a pendant I didn't know she had from her neck.

It was shaped like a triangle with a line going through it.

‘Nyx gave that to the other me. It lets us communicate. She got a heads-up from Lady Madness. She will visit us at some point in the near future to meet these versions of us, but for now, she wants us to get our bearings, as she’s working on some educational project with Irmen, so she wouldn't have time anyway. At any rate, I ended up in a cave instead of a dungeon this time around. Got to Zel-Vyme where I met the Temple Dragoons, then while on the road again saved Aki from some river goblins and we went towards Ror-Bhyk to look for work. The other Sav was headed there too, as she was wandering around Dwynveia to find a way to get back to the other world, this time after having decided to abandon the Abyss on her own. I guess she was looking for that cave? I remember the same inscription I saw in the tower being there, so it might be worth it to go there at some point. And Caei… you are a member of a Yakuz… a crime syndicate in this timeline.’

‘The Yamaoka Clan, yes. Sent here to investigate some rumours.’

‘That you still need to tell us about.’ Sav said. ‘All that you said is that we should under no circumstances cross the leader of the Tyr-Mel branch, Ren-sama, even though you are unsure why.

‘This is based on the emotional response I have from my other self,’ Caei pointed out. ‘She was absolutely terrified of failing her. And what happens to people who cross the clan… is not pretty. She… I… did some of that.’

She looked on the verge of tears. I got out from under the coat and hugged her.

Is her teasing of Lilyth a means of coping with that? Laugh at the misfortune of others so that you don’t think about your own?

‘It was some other Caeileera,’ Lilyth said firmly. ‘You are not her.’

‘How will I get out though?’ she cried out.

‘We’ll figure it out,’ Lilyth said. ‘It’s never easy to detach yourself from groups like this, but there is always a way.’

‘Won’t they start questioning that I am acting differently?

‘Like I said, we’ll figure it out,’ our girlfriend smiled reassuringly. ‘It’s possible the best solution would be for you to disappear.’

‘Yamaokas have a long reach.’

‘But not infinite. There is another option that I hate to bring up, but it is a possibility. We can all end up on Yamaoka’s payroll. Hear me out. What the past few days taught me is that we need access to allies and resources. We can only achieve so much on our own. I’m not saying we should join them. Fuck, I wish we could figure out a way to avoid that which would resolve Caei’s situation and not result in us being on a kill-on-sight list of a Yakuza, immediately after we managed to get out of the previous bullshit.’

None of us had a counterargument to that. In fact… I let out a heavy sigh.

‘Let’s not forget Inquisitor Asshole and his three toadies. They are still coming after me. So it would not just be the Yamaokas on our trail.’

‘You can try to live a normal life, but there are no guarantees.’ Caei said wryly. ‘So what… I go back to the Yamaokas and act like a person I am not?’

‘It would be unfair of us to impose that on you,’ Lilyth said. ‘And if you say “no” we will respect that.’

I turned to Sav.

‘I know Lilyth made a promise to you, that I think we should all honour. But… this is not your fight. You’ve been with us for a few hours and should feel under no obligation to go into this.’

Lilyth and Caei nodded in agreement.

‘No,’ she shook her head. ‘I am sticking with you three love birds. I have nowhere else to go. You guys really need some adult supervision and well - that foxy idiot over there saved my life.’

She pointed to Lilyth.

‘You guys are all that I have left, so where you go I go. ‘

‘Thanks, Sav,’ Caei sobbed. ‘I appreciate that.’

‘No problem, hon. And believe me… I know what you are going through.’

At that moment, I realised I understood the exchange between Lilyth and Savri from the labyrinth. They were both ripped from their lives and thrown into worlds utterly alien to them. Savri managed to make a life for herself in the other one, and then she ended up back here. Why wouldn't she want to go back there? There was nothing here for her anymore. I too had no reason to go back to the other Dwynveia. The two people I cared about were here with me. The only way I would travel to a different world was if they came along. And would there even be a point to that then?

Led by an impulse I then asked something that would become our… motto in a way.

‘Together till the end?’

‘Together till the end,’ my friends solemnly agreed.

Based on some suggestion implanted by Lady Madness neither Caei nor Sav got immediate access to the full memories of their other selves due to the immense spans of time they covered. In the case of Caei, it was five years and for Savri it was three. I was surprised Lilyth didn't get the same treatment, but she simply shrugged it off:

‘Before I ended up here, my life was happily devoid of notable events. Just a few days from those eight months weren't really skippable. I was more shocked that the Madness even bothered to give me any new memories from Earth, to begin with. I don’t need memories of my daily grind of home-work-home, because for the purposes of me finding my place here, those are utterly meaningless, and the rest are a nice bonus. I am happy I was given those, but it was a bone she didn't need to throw towards me.’

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I also got really lucky. The other me had about the same life as I did. I kinda envied her to some extent because she avoided a certain mistake with a young and dashing guard from a caravan that passed through the village a few months before. That one was really embarrassing and luckily didn't result in any… long-term consequences. ,

What did I ever see in that guy? Yuck!

‘However,’ she continued, ‘my new self was told an interesting thing by Nyx that filled out some blanks I didn't know existed. Remember how I told you the fucking bird offered to send me back home?’

We all nodded.

‘So… it was trying to get me killed.’

‘What?’ Sav asked.

‘Apparently, there are two things that make passing through rifts back and forth difficult. One you don’t have to end up in the same place and time.’

‘This I knew,’ Sav sighed sadly. ‘When I returned here only a few years passed for me. Here… it was three hundred. So I know returning to my friends is a pipe dream. But I have to try, especially after I got that message.’

‘By the gods…’ Caei gasped.

‘Be happy you didn't end up in the past,’ Lilyth said wryly. ‘That's an option too.’

‘But how does that get you killed?’ I asked.

‘The dimension… universe… whatever in which my Earth resides exists in a realm run by an entity called “She Who Is The Void” that hates magic. To the point should anything from here get there… it will disintegrate. Which would probably explain why Terrans can… well… you know.’

‘Oh…’ Caei said. ‘So had you accepted his offer you would just… die?’

‘Yup. So, it’s good I didn't trust that thing.’

So what Ereshkigal told Lilyth really is true. She literally can’t go home.

Some selfish part of me felt joy and relief at the prospect. Now I didn't need to worry about losing her. And I hated myself for it.

‘I wonder, Lilyth…’ I began after we sat in silence for a while. ‘In your memories of me from here… do I have one hand… or both? Because mine are still a bit of a jumble on that front. I see myself fighting the goblins, but sometimes it feels like I have one of them, and sometimes it feels like it’s both.’

‘Both,’ she said almost without hesitation.

I could feel tears welling in my eyes. It just wasn’t fair.

‘Why do you think I didn't receive the body of the… other me. You two got healed. Why wasn’t I?’

Lilyth and Caei didn't know how to answer. They looked ashamed of themselves, which wasn’t my intent. I was mad at the goddess, not them. Sure, I envied them…

‘Perhaps the Madness thought there was nothing to fix, Akster,’ Sav said carefully. ‘I mean… you are still fully functional. I certainly don’t feel any worse due to my missing hand.’

‘Oh… I’m sorry, Sav. That was insensitive of me.’

‘Don’t stress about it. I understand your feelings. It has been what… slightly over two days since you lost your hand? It will likely take you months to get over it. I’m here if you want to talk.’

‘Thank you, Sav.’

To their credit Lilyth and Caei said nothing.

Then again… they both paid a price for their replacement bodies. Despite how adorable fox Lilyth looks, that was another major body modification done to her without her approval. And Caei… dear gods. I think she would gladly lose her wings again if she didn't have to remember… that woman. Ultimately, I don’t know what price I would have to pay. One, I would likely lose my abyssal abilities. Two… would it really be my body then?

The more I followed that line of thought the more I realised that I just wanted my hand back, but not necessarily the body of the other Aki. I liked this body. This was the body my mom gave birth to. This was the body that went through the horrors of the Tower of Trials and the Akh'ret’s Mercy. This was the body I had sex with Lilyth and Caeileera. Why would I want any other one?

‘I wouldn't worry about it too much, Aki,’ Caei said in a sad tone. ‘I think Lilyth is the only one with a new body.’

She lifted her shirt.

‘The other Caeileera had a scar running across her stomach. A remnant of a sword fight. She never learned Life Arcana so it healed naturally leaving a nasty scar.’

Her stomach was completely unblemished. Just like when I saw it earlier today.

‘But your wings…’ Lilyth frowned.

‘I think they might be just for show.’ Caei sighed sadly. ‘The other… me couldn't hide them.’

‘Oh no…’ Lilyth said. ‘I’m so sorry, Caei.’

Was Lady Madness that cruel? To give the poor girl hope and then rip it away?

‘Give it a try,’ Sav said. ‘Lady Madness literally created a separate timeline for us. I don’t think giving you new wings even compares in difficulty to that.

So it came as a pleasant surprise to us when Caei discovered that she could once again fly.

I’ve never seen her so happy before.

When she landed her face went blank for a bit and she reached into her satchel and pulled out a sheet of paper.

She scanned it and passed it over to me. It read:

“It’s not healthy for flesh and blood beings to switch their bodies, so consider this a favour from me. Also tell your friends: I may not always give you the full truth, but I will never lie to you. And Aki: I never give people false hope.”

I passed the sheet along. I was creeped out by the direct address. How did she know what I would think? And now I had confirmation that it really was unfair that…

Oh. It is not a gift. It is a favour. She wouldn't use that phrase if she didn't intend to call it in one day. Yeah. I’m good.

I wondered if Caei realised that too, but I would ask her about it later. I didn't want to ruin the one happy thing that happened to her since meeting with Zekuthran.

‘I love how she excluded me in the first sentence,’ Lilyth sighed. ‘It had already happened to me once, that I know of, so might as well do it again?’

I was initially confused, but then I realised what she was talking about. I only knew Lilyth the slime. But she was a human once.

‘Then again it confirms what I was suspecting. I don’t have any internal organs.’

‘We knew that, why…’ Caei started and then trailed off.

‘You don’t have a brain, do you?’ Sav confirmed. ‘And not just in the “You are an absolute moron” kind of way.’

I thought it was the heart… not the brain.

‘Yup. So that means my memory must work differently than yours, fleshbags.’

She chuckled.

‘Watch it with the bigotry,’ I said, feigning indignation. ‘If you want this fleshbag to ever sleep with you again.’

‘Duly noted, my Dark Lady,’ Lilyth responded with a curt nod of her head.

‘So it is safer to move your memories then?’ Sav asked.

‘Probably.’

‘So what do we do now?’ Sav asked after we mulled our situation over for a while.

‘Up to Caei,’ Lilyth said and I agreed.

She hung her head.

‘Will you guys hate me if I say we should have nothing to do with the Yamaoka clan?’ she asked sadly.

‘No,’ we said in unison.

‘We would never force you to do something that would cost you your soul,’ Lilyth added in a reassuring tone.

‘Why then did you bring up the option of us joining them?’ she asked in an accusatory tone.

‘Because it was an option,’ Lilyth calmly responded. ‘If you wanted to stay with them and we didn't bring up that we were okay with it to some extent, we would be having this exact conversation too. Welcome to the world of impossible choices, honey.’

Savri smiled sadly.

‘I don’t envy you,’ she sighed. ‘I agree with Lilyth. That option should have been on the table, as distasteful as it may be.’

Caei nodded.

‘Then let’s just… go our own way.

‘It is decided then,’ I said, with finality in my voice.

‘Thank you, guys,’ Caeileera started sobbing from relief.

I wanted to comfort her but she shook me off. Instead, she picked up the mask she had lying on the sand next to her and got up. She walked up to the treeline and grabbed a rock. Then, with both items, she went to the edge of the water, asking Lilyth to join her. I decided to follow them. I realised what Caei was doing and wanted to be with her.

She lay the mask on the sand and smashed it to pieces with the stone. Then, Lilyth cast the [Gust of Wind] spell and the remnants of Caei’s old life once again ended up in the water.

There was a lot of significance to the gesture, as it not only reaffirmed her breaking off all ties with the Pale Badlands. Caei also told us that the other her kept wearing the mask at all times while with the Yamaokas. So it was a huge part of her identity with them.

‘Even in bed?’ I asked when she first brought it up.

‘What makes you think I…’ Caei started but trailed off seeing the looks we gave her with Lilyth.

She sighed and continued.

‘Lady Madness was gracious enough to spare me the exact details, but I am fairly certain I never took it off. That much I remember.’

‘I have no idea how the men could get it on with you wearing that mask,’ Savri laughed. ‘Like… instant turn-off.’

‘You don’t see it from behind,’ Lilyth answered. ‘Also having been a man all I can say is - it doesn’t take much to get us going.’

‘Can we stop discussing the other me’s sex life please?’ Caei asked, seriously embarrassed.

‘What can I say, babe,’ Lilyth said with a smirk. ‘Payback is a bitch.’

Caei groaned.

‘So given how there are four of us, how do we handle watches?’ I asked when it got dark. ‘‘Two hours each?’

‘No need,’ Sav said. ‘I know a warding spell that will wake us if anything large enough crosses the perimeter. I wouldn't normally rely on it, but given how we are in a reasonably civilised area it should be fine?’

‘I think all of us could use a full night of sleep,’ Caeileera agreed.

‘I know we have distinct memories of it’ Caei began, when the three of us were snuggled together later that night, ‘But the world where the three of us were just strangers feels… so unreal.’

The memories we had “implanted” were strictly separate from our own. They felt like a separate pocket you had to reach into to retrieve them. They felt… fainter too, but they were still our memories so as I mentioned to my friends it was sometimes hard to differentiate between them. Like I had two distinct sets of memories about meeting Lilyth. One in the Tower and one in the forest. I knew the first set was what happened to me, but both of them were true. So I knew exactly how Caei felt, we all did. I think Lady Madness did her best to ensure we wouldn't go insane, but… it would still take a while to get used to it.

‘Don’t worry, Caei,’ Lilyth, who this time was between the two of us, said and pressed the Sanguine close to her chest. ‘We are here and are not going anywhere. Your other life is a bad dream that will fade away into nothing.’

‘I hate the other me so much,’ she sobbed.

‘I know, babe,’ Lilyth cooed. ‘I know.

I rolled over to my side to hug them both and, soon, we all drifted off to sleep.