“Okay, so here’s the plan.” Ethan said sitting in the center of the Safe Zone, with his family.

He had woken up a few hours earlier, a pounding headache. Not remembering a thing, Rebecca had told him what happened but he only apologized and said he had to talk to the entire family before he went into detail.

Ethan called a family meeting. It felt good to have one again after so long. Well, longer for his wife, and kids. For him it had been a few months at most, as days weren’t 24 hours anymore, and he didn’t have a watch to track time. As for his wife and kids, they said it felt closer to a year.

Which worried him.

“First we need to decide something. I don’t want to force anyone’s hand, even if I am pretty sure what we’re going to decide. So…” Ethan trailed off, unsure of how to explain what he had felt, and learned.

[I think it would be best if we shared this part with Soul Connection. From what I can gather from your scattered emotions, I suspect you met someone who shouldn’t be known to the System.]

“Oh, right. I got a new skill. Hold on, let me figure that out, real quick.” Ethan remembered about the upgrade he had received from The Architect.

Joe, how do I teach them the skill? Ethan thought, hoping Joe could assist him.

[I can facilitate the transfer. But you’re going to have to learn how it's done, if there are any further skills able to be taught. In fact you all should.] Said, letting the family know he was talking to Ethan.

Joe instructed Ethan to open his Status screen, and access his lineage screen. It felt odd to Ethan. He had stopped looking at his notifications almost completely since leaving the dungeon. But now that he was with his family, he noticed his lineage was filled, no longer locked due to proximity.

Lineage

[Unnamed]

Due to your strong bond, and the shared will of your family, you have formed a Clan.

As it is currently [unnamed] no benefits can be shared.

“Huh. I guess I should name it…” Ethan sat there thinking to himself. He didn’t really care what it was called, and half tempted to just call it ‘Fuck the System’, or ‘The System is a dick’. But was informed, by Joe, that names were powerful things, and could tie one to a place or ideal. He did not want to be tied to the System, even if it was a petty way to let the System know he hated it.

He thought of several names, but they were far too edgy for him, or his family. ‘Tyrannies End’ was quickly rejected. Mark had said it could be interrupted as Tyranny brought the end of all things. Haley said it sounded like some clan in a game. Rebecca. Just didn’t like it.

He sensed it had to embody something. A concept. Something he, or his family would always seek. But it also had to embody his and Rebecca’s title. The issue was any name he could think about sounded like some doom cult, bringing about the apocalypse. He felt stupid when it finally hit him. He didn’t even consult the family counsel when he realized what it was going to be. Quickly selecting the name he brought up the screen again and reread it.

Lineage

[Until the Bitter End]

Due to your strong bond, and the shared will of your family, you have formed a Clan.

Clans are a complex system, many moving parts, many actors, within, and without.

Discover more features as your name, and your family reach beyond mortal bounds.

Let your Clan name reign supreme.

Fight until the bitter end, against those that seek your family harm.

Leaders:

Patriarch of the End - Ethan Soxe

Mother of New Beginnings - Rebecca Soxe

Members 4/4

Clan Skills - [Familial Bond](Deactivated: Not enough members know the skill)

Ethan was impressed. It was a great top down view of the information he figured he cared about. He could drill down and see that He, along with his family were all members. Haley and Mark had weird annotations next to their names indicating they hadn’t activated the System yet.

“Wait, Haley, Mark, you guys haven’t activated the System yet?” Ethan asked, not fully understanding what was going on. He wanted to catch up, but the memories of his meeting with the True God urged him to focus on that first.

“We can’t.” They said almost in unison.

[Most likely due to the Age of Coming. The point at which all adolescent beings reach level 1. I suspect, if they tried it now, they could. But you should share the skill first.]

Joe instructed Ethan to hold Rebecca’s hand, and push his Mana towards her. From there Joe had asked him to connect a link of sorts from his soul to the Mana at his fingers. He then instructed Rebecca to form a connection from her soul to her fingers. Joe had warned to not try this in any other situation as it bypassed any other skill protecting their souls. But it also created a bridge between the souls, something not constructed by the System. Ethan had asked why they couldn’t just teach each other all of their skills, to which he was reminded that some skills were useless to people with no affinities for them. Just taking up space on the layers of their soul.

Ethan focused on his hand. It had been so long since he beheld his wife, it was almost emotional for him to feel her warmth. As he sat there, he felt the edges of her soul brush up against his palm. It wasn’t warm, it wasn’t cold, it was profound. Electric, without the danger or apprehension that came with electricity. It was amazing. He felt exposed. But he sensed Rebecca felt the same. Anxiety forced him to pull back. There was no way he could let her in. He trusted her, emphatically. But there was still a side he couldn’t share.

[Ethan, do not close yourself off.] Joe warned.

I don’t know if I can. She can’t know how broken I am. She can’t know how close to losing it I am all the time.

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[Ethan.]

Fuck!

Ethan did not know what to do, he had never felt open. So exposed. His mind kept going back to that word. It was Rebecca who broke him from his thoughts.

[If you boys are done talking, might I say something?]

Ethan, afraid to talk, nodded slowly.

[Baby, I know how it feels to feel exposed. This is weird. It feels like all of my secrets will be put on display for you. But I don’t have anything I want to keep from you. So many of my secrets are only secrets because I’ve never had the words to express them.]

Rebecca stared into Ethan’s eyes. He could have sworn there were tears forming, but her smile warmed his heart, calming the lump forming in his throat. Rebecca continued.

[I know how scared you are. I am too. I am scared that you are worse than you let me know. I am scared that everything we have tried has been for nothing. I am scared that when this happens, I am going to see everything. Everything that broke you. Every demon you carry with you. Every nightmare. I am afraid I will finally have all of my own fears confirmed. My own anxieties made real. I worry that the kids and I are a burden on you. I worry that you almost got yourself killed just trying to get to us. You did all of that because of us, and I worry that… maybe… if we weren’t around you’d be happy, happier. And safer.]

Haley, and Mark watched their parents in their private conversation as their mother cried, weakly smiling.

“Never. Think that, I would never think that.” Ethan said as his own eyes swelled with tears.

Releasing his grip on his Mana, he pushed forward. Fully connecting his soul with his wife. For the first time in Rebecca’s life, her anxieties were washed away. She felt so foolish for ever worrying. She knew, without doubt for the first time, how deeply he loved her. How absolutely devoted he was to her, and their family. She felt it, as much as she understood. He would burn the world for her. He would leave a trail of destruction if she only asked.

Ethan was more shocked. He had spent their entire marriage worried that if had ever failed her, disappointed her. Even showing the smallest glimpse of weakness, or open up, he would no longer be the man she loved. No longer the knight in shining armour she saw him as. He had so many different jobs after he’d gotten out, he felt like a failure. He struggled with feeling like a failure to his wife, and children. But he felt all of her love for him. He wasn’t a failure in her eyes. He never was. He never could be. She never saw him in all the ways he had tried to be for her. He could never be anything but the image she had created of him, in her mind.

It was dangerous. And safe. He was her safe space. He was her sword and shield. Her bunker. Her fallout shelter. A nuclear option she found comfort in.

[I love you, Ethan. You could never be anything but the man I fell in love with. I am happy we are so important to you. I am sorry for doubting that.]

[Thank you, for accepting me.]

Joe pulled the Mana from Ethan’s fingers, pulling Rebacca’s to the skill that sat within Ethan’s soul. Rebecca shortly after got the notification the skill had been shared, and then learned.

“I’m not sure I want to learn that skill if it turns you into a puddle of tears.” Haley said, interrupting her parents as they stared into each other's eyes. Eyes filled with love and understanding born anew.

“Haley, you have the worst timing, thank you for inserting yourself into a moment I was having with your father.” Rebecca said as she broke from Ethan, wiping her tears.

[That won’t be necessary Haley. Your mother will handle the transfer for you two.] Joe said before Haley could say anything else. [The method has been shared. Skin to skin is more intimate. They are emotional due to their souls connecting, outside of skills. With the barrier of a skill, it will be less intense. Which is why your mother is the better option.]

It took Rebecca a second to appreciate Joe’s words, she could not imagine the response of her children learning how much their father was hurting. How much pressure he put on himself to succeed for their sake. How selfless he was. It took her just a moment longer to comprehend why she was the better option.

“My Chains! Oh, I get it. They can act as a filter. Oh, and I can teach you both at the same time.” Sending her chains out, waiting for her children to grasp and hold.

Mark and Haley looked at each other. Unsure if they could trust what happened next. Mark was the first to test it. He summoned a simple construct, looking much like a stick, and poked his mother’s Mana chains. Nothing happened.

[That isn’t going to work, Mark, opposing Mana concepts clash. Push, pull, hard, soft, light, dark. Your Mother and Sister have similar concepts. Both light. But one is multifaceted, able to bend, protect, and attack. The other is harder to explain. Yours is hard. As in ridged. Unyielding. Built on rules. Methodology. While as multifaceted, if not more so than your mother’s, your Mana is harder. BUt you’ll have to trust me on this, you won’t be hurt.]

Giving up, they both reached forward. Haley instantly let go, and tentatively reached forward again after Ethan asked her to, she trusted him. Joe was still up for debate for her. Rebecca summoned an additional chain for Ethan. He understood the process now, you had to give a part of yourself to share the skill. He grabbed the chain, and Rebecca sent her soul encased in Mana out her arms and through her chains. Mark’s finer Mana control allowed him to be the first to connect.

Again Rebecca wept. She felt how lonely her son was, how utterly and completely, her baby boy was, alone in the world. She understood him more in that instant than she had any moment before. SHe understood all of the off comments he had always made, but never expanded on. Her heart broke at his sadness. It mirrored Ethan’s in a way.

Haley connected a moment later, and Rebecca burst out laughing.

If Mark had felt alone, and worried, her daughter was a blazing dancing wind of emotion. She felt free, confident and angry. It mirrored her personality to a T. Haley was scared, but she was confident her Dad would explain it all, and make it make sense. She was angry at being bossed around, feeling caged. She wanted to run through the forest, free, she wanted to explore and get lost. She wanted to be alone. She felt a kinship in that within herself.

Ethan kept quiet as he watched all of this, feeling what Rebecca felt, understanding how dangerous something like this could be. He reveled in the closeness of it all, he had thought he had a pretty good idea of where his kids were before. He’d been pretty close with Haley, though they had always been close. Mark was something else entirely. He had thought he was just a shy kid, unable to make friends. A pang of guilt was instantly shot down as he senses Rebecca warn him through her connection.

Not my fault. Got the signal loud and clear, dear.

Releasing the chain Ethan asked Joe to show him how to use the skill. He was feeling emotionally drained already, and had no idea if he could deal with the idea that he had no way of knowing how to use it, or Soul Connect due to being separated for so long, from everyone else. So he asked for help, and got to work trying to figure it out. It took a bit of effort and he finally got it. It was a bit like having a radio skill in his head. He activated the skill, and spoke to his family.

[I got! Everyone hear me?]

–

Ethan ran through what had happened to him, but he wasn’t able to explain what happened after The Architect sent him away. His mind had gone blank, the only thing he remembered was talking to The Architect, then Rebecca, and then going to sleep waking shortly after that.

Speaking through familial bond, they cast their vote.

“Edge.”

“Edge.”

“Edge.”

They all agreed. If the System was in the center of the Endless Plains, they wanted to go in the opposite direction.

“Well, remember if we go that way, it is only around, not through the System. It wasn’t stated, but I am pretty sure we’ll still have to face it. Plus, as soon as you guys step outside of the Safe Zone, we are going to be swarmed by hordes. I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page?” Ethan said, before he cast his vote.

“Ethan. We understand. You know more about this than we do. We’ll follow you, as long as you think it is the best option.” Rebecca said. Her new insight into her husband guided her words. She knew what he was trying to prep them for, even if she couldn’t imagine what it meant.

“Okay, the edge it is. Then the next step is we need to fortify this alcove. I hate to say it, but I think that’ll come down to me. My plan is to absorb the Safe Zone, as soon as I do, we run to the safe space I create, and we hole up taking shifts grinding levels, leveling skills, as soon as we can either thin the herd, or easily fight through we move. In all honesty, I’d prefer to stay here, not just in the alcove, but the plains as long as possible. Even get you guys some professions. From what Joe and I have talked about it sounds like we’ll never get a chance like this again. I think when I have a better grasp on things, we can discuss how far we want to go. For now. We need to check our rewards, check our notifications, and then we can get dinner. It’ll take me some time to find something to eat.” Ethan made sure to let it be known he wasn’t feeling confident. Worry was present on his face, until Rebecca squeezed his hand reassuring him.

“I have supplies.” Mark said, constructing his pack, and pulling it open.

“Mark. That is awesome! I didn’t get my first spatial bag until my profession dungeon, and I had to steal it. Joe calls it a bag of holding shit, though.” Ethan said.

[Pretty sure that is your name for, you were unsure if you’d be sued for calling it a bag of holding, so you said it holds shit…] Joe finally spoke, after letting the family have their meeting.

“Lawyers are ruthless, I wouldn’t be surprised if they showed up with a summons. Oh how cool would that be if you had a lawyer that was a summoner!” Ethan laughed at his own joke. Rebecca of course rolled her eyes, along with Haley. But Mark chuckled as he unpacked the food.

“Dad.” Haley interrupted his laughter, “Can… Can you tell us what happened after the integration? What you did to get to the Training Fields? How you ate Joe?”

Fuuuu not ready for that one.

“Okay. So in all honesty guys, I’ve been dealing with some stuff before all of this.” Ethan said, gesturing around. “Your amazing mother has been helping me through it. Old scars, if you will.”

They sat around listening to Ethan’s story, as he was honest, and truthful about everything.