----------------------------------------

Nora kept checking her journal at least twice daily, but we received no reply from Clare.

“N could be for novel...” Nora murmured to herself one evening. She scribbled possible words for the NAUGHT acronym in the margins of her journal. At first, I tried to help, but I eventually gave up. Even if we did figure it out, we wouldn’t know if we were right. It was an exercise in futility.

“You shouldn’t have asked to become a god,” I huffed in response. “Now she’s ignoring us.”

“You’re just upset you didn’t think of it yourself.” That wasn’t true. I was already well aware I could never be a god, and that level of responsibility was something I couldn’t possibly handle.

I took comfort in the traveling routine we settled into, often opting for the first watch at night so I could sleep uninterrupted as long as possible. The road was getting more expansive as the days passed, with green plants beginning to erupt from softer soil. We spent a few hours at the first intersecting stream, taking advantage of all it offered, including another bath and a feast of freshwater fish.

“Even lower than last time.” Tetora shook his head disdainfully at the stream, even though it had just filled his belly. “It should flood at this time of year!”

“When’s the last time it rained?” I asked.

“I cannot exactly remember when a good rain fell,” Aleph admitted. “However, I do not think the wastelands ever saw much rain.”

“But this isn’t exactly the wastelands anymore, is it?” Nora asked.

“We’re close to the border of Turri, right?”

“You are well informed,” Aleph praised her.

“Hehe. I memorized the map a long time ago!”

“Turri…” I mumbled sleepily. “Hurry to Turri for catfish curry…” Nora poked her head in front of my face. “What did you just say?”

“Catfish curry,” I yawned.

“What does it taste like?”

I sat up. “Huh? How should I know?”

She narrowed her eyes. “There’s nothing in the story about catfish curry.”

“Are you sure? Maybe you forgot about it.”

Nora looked deeply offended, but I ignored it and continued: “No one has a photographic memory. I’m sure it was practically just a footnote or something. Don’t take it so hard.”

She wouldn’t let it go. Instead, she turned to Aleph and said, “Is that a saying? Hurry to Turri for catfish curry.”

“It is a children’s song,” Aleph murmured as he scratched at his beard. “An old one.”

How did the rest go? “Have no worry, it’s ready in a flurry, catfish curry!” I sang the refrain with a satisfied smile, ending it with the customary two claps. See? I remembered something Nora didn’t!

Now, they were all staring at me. In my defense, I was exhausted, so it took me a minute to figure out what had happened. “Written stories… don’t sing out loud, do they?” I swallowed hard.

They all shook their heads.

My thoughts preoccupied me for the next few days, focused on the melody I had shared. What a useless thing to have stuck in my head, and it didn’t even belong to me!

The border of Turri loomed in the distance, demarcated by a giant wooden fortress shoved haphazardly between two cliffs. The ground on either side of the road was lumpy and choked with thick, thorny weeds that curled in on themselves. I had to stop and unsnag myself several times as we navigated through the threatening foliage.

“It’s like living barbed wire…!” Nora delighted in the vicious plant’s appearance.

“Don’t praise it!” I complained, freeing myself and inspecting my clothes. There were a few tiny holes, but not too noticeable. “It should be ashamed of itself for attacking me!”

“You walked right into it. What were you thinking?” Nora said with a smirk. I knew better than to answer with the truth, so I said nothing and continued down the road. I wondered how she avoided it with her long, dark mage robes. Guess shorter legs mean a shorter stride, so maybe that was her secret.

A little while later, I stepped directly into the armed bushes again. Now, why did I do that? I really must not have been paying attention—longer stride or not.

“Rae!” Tetora barked. “Don’t go that way!”

I tried to back up, but my legs seemed intent on moving forward.

What the!?

“Ignore him. We have to go this way!”

Huh… who are you now?

“I promised my parents I would return once I defeated the Demon King. They’re waiting for me!”

Your parents?! You must be Raelynn! Oh, but they’re this way?

“Yes! We need to hurry! They’ve been waiting for so long!”

I motioned to the others. “Raelynn! She says her parents are this way!”

“Rae…” Aleph said carefully. “I do not believe there are any inhabited areas that way.”

They must have thought I went mad, as I was leaning towards that conclusion myself.

“He’s wrong. The village is just a little farther!”

I sighed. “She’s saying there’s a village just ahead.”

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Why don’t you just talk to them directly?

She ignored my question and started moving my feet for me. She must not have been able to feel my pain because it was as if she was purposefully trampling a path through the thickest part of the razor-sharp vegetation.

“Which way is the church?”

How should I know?

“You can’t feel the pull of its holy amity?”

No?

“Do you even know what I’m talking about?”

No, obviously.

“Close your eyes and think of something that makes you warm and content. That’s how you consciously activate amity.”

I thought about Chester. He was probably snuggled up on my fuzzy pink blanket back home, purring the day away. My hands radiated a soft, white light briefly before fading. What the…

“Perfect. Now, do you feel anything pulling at you?”

Um… Not really.

“Maybe it’s farther than I thought.”

Do you think we could try stepping over the plants?

“Fine. We’ll work together. Just keep thinking happy thoughts. Please, just not that song you’ve been thinking about all day. It gets old after a while.”

Hey, I’m not happy about it either! Wait… you can hear that!? How long have you been listening?

“Since some time yesterday.”

Great…

This had to count as some kind of invasion of privacy. I wonder if a complaint to Eura could help with it.

A few minutes later, I found some flagstones underneath the receding thorny bushes.

“Oh… here it is… no wonder we couldn’t feel it.”

I looked up. It was getting dark now, but I could make out the ruins of several old stone buildings.

“This way. Turn here.”

We turned in unison, and I soon found myself in the middle of a forgotten graveyard that clung to the side of a small hill. Rough stone markers of varying heights were spaced evenly apart under a thick cover of ivy. A path out of the other side of the graveyard wound down into a thickly wooded valley. Curiously enough, the path had a few fresh, awkwardly placed footprints. I didn’t have time to investigate because she pulled me deeper into the graveyard instead.

“Mother! Father!” she called loudly with my voice. “It’s me, Raelina!”

You lied to me!

“No, I didn’t.”

You’re not Raelynn!

“I never said I was.”

But you let me assume you were!

“It was necessary. The best lies you can tell come out of the minds and mouths of others.”

That doesn’t sound like something a hero would say!

“Not out loud anyway, no.”

She started pulling vines off the various gravestones. “Mother! It’s me! Where are you?”

The others had finally caught up to me. Nora was levitating a ball of light a few feet above her hand, once again impressing me with her sudden skills. They huddled briefly and started pulling the weeds off other gravestones.

“These markers are ancient…” Aleph murmured. “Who should we be looking for?”

“Amatus. Dominic and Isa Amatus,” Raelina answered as she took us down another row. I couldn’t do much now except worry that this fallen hero was slightly off. If we’re looking for her parents in an abandoned graveyard, they couldn’t be alive, right?

“They promised to wait for me. But I must tell them to go on without me because our work isn’t done.”

Our work?

“Yes. Our work is to make things right.”

“Over here!” Nora shouted. “I think I found it!”

I ran over to the small gravestone Nora had cleaned. Sure enough, at the top of the marker was carved ‘Amatus.’

“Mother and Father! Please come out!” Raelina urged, guiding my hands to rest upon the gravestone. For just a few moments, a hazy image shimmered before my eyes. I saw a woman with brown hair coiled into a messy bun, kneeling with open arms, ready to embrace us. Beside her, a man with cropped black hair stood with arms folded in satisfaction. Between them, a stone hearth crackled with inviting flames, above which hung a pot of catfish curry, its aromatic scent tantalizing my senses...

“My family... finally welcoming me back home…”

Suddenly, light erupted from my hands, causing the gravestone to emanate a similar glow. From the earth behind the marker, two ethereal, formless figures spiraled upwards, emerging as if summoned by my touch.

“Who dares to once again disturb our restless slumber?!” the first one roared angrily, causing me to stumble backward.

“Dear, if you say restless first, then it’s not slumber at all, right?” The other rebuked in a feminine voice. “So this isn’t really a disturbance.”

“Not now, Isa! I’ve had enough of these loitering drunkards, coming and going whenever they please!”

“Aren’t we technically the ones loitering?” the shade of Isa pondered. “Our time was up long ago, after all.”

“Father!” Raelina shouted, waving my arms. “It’s me!”

“Victoria?” Dominic, I presumed, loomed closer towards us with a featureless face.

“It’s Raelina now, Father!” She crossed my arms with a huff.

“Nonsense! Victoria suits you best! My little Victoria, all grown up and… uh…” the shade paused awkwardly.

“You seem to have changed your face, dear.” Isa supplied. “How did you manage that?”

“It’s a long story, Mother…” Raelina said with a soft sigh.

“I liked the old one better!” Dominic grumbled. “Your eyebrows are way too thin.”

There was no way that was true! I had nothing to pluck them with here!

“Father… You’re being ridiculous! This is the style now, that’s all.”

Dominic puffed out what would have been his chest proudly. “The locals said you killed the Origin of Evil years ago.”

“Yes, that’s right!” we answered with false enthusiasm.

“So where have you been, titan of titans?” Dominic asked. “You didn’t forget about us, did you?”

“Dear…” Isa said in a deceptively quiet tone. “I’m sure the Chosen One has been very busy putting the world back in order.”

“She should still get married and start a family! I want grandchildren!”

“That’s not your choice to make, is it, dear?” Isa turned dark.

“Ah… Of course, you’re right, Isa, my love.” Dominic shriveled up to about half his previous size.

“Mother… Father… I’m sorry you had to wait so long…” I felt a sudden shock of endless sorrow course through me, pushing tears out of my eyes. Raelina wanted to hug them again to feel their warmth and loving touch, but she knew it would be forever impossible.

“Now, now, none of that.” Isa shook her head back and forth. “We’re just glad you’re okay.”

“Yes. I’m fine now,” she lied with my entire being. “It’s because of all the great people I have by my side supporting me. So you can go now with no worries!”

“Are you sure, love?” Isa asked.

“Yes!” I smiled even as more tears poured out of my eyes. “And take Father with you. He’s just worthless without you.” The two shades joined what I could only imagine were hands, and Dominic shouted. “We love you, Victoria!”

“Raelina!” we shouted back defiantly.

The two began to fade, but then Isa re-solidified with a shudder. “Wait. One of your friends was here recently.” She turned to Dominic, who had also stopped dissipating. “What was her name again?”

“Honey, you know I don’t remember much.”

“This is important!”

Dominic’s form quivered. “Did she even say her name? She was so drunk I couldn’t make out most of the words she was saying. She just kept saying Rae-Rae.”

“Perhaps you were too busy appreciating the view.” Isa’s outline was filled with tiny barbs.

“I’m telling you, I just never saw anyone be able to drink so much and still breathe!”

“Vernie? Laverna?” Tetora demanded of the shades as he stepped forward. “Red hair? Big…” Tetora looked at Nora. “Big personality?” He ended his line of questioning somewhat lamely.

Nora shoved him a little. “Just say chest! He doesn’t know the meaning behind that phrase!”

“She has both!” Tetora said defensively.

“That definitely was her then.” Dominic nodded, prudently moving out of Isa’s immediate range.

“You should probably check on her. She’s been hanging out with a dangerous crowd," Isa said, pointing down into the dark woods. A tiny light deep within winked in and out of existence as if to validate her words.

“Anyway… Time for us to move on,” Dominic said in a slightly embarrassed tone.

“Be happy, sweetheart!” Isa waved. “Congratulations on saving the world!”

“We love you, dear.” Dominic also waved.

“I love you too…” Raelina’s last words faded from my mouth as we watched them dissolve into nothing. Then, I fell to my knees and started to cry.

----------------------------------------

Post-Chapter Omake

Nora: So… Speranzans pronounce curry like /ˈkərē/?

Euphridia: Uh. Yeah, I guess. Why?

Nora: Shouldn’t it be more like /karee/? Why an American English pronunciation?

Euphridia: … Then you lose the rhyme!

Nora: But Turri like /ˈtʊrɪ/ doesn’t rhyme with hurry, curry, flurry, or worry…

Euphridia: They’re almost rhymes.

Nora: Which means it doesn’t.

Euphridia: It’s close enough! Singers and songwriters butcher the pronunciation of words all the time!

Nora: So just because others do it... Makes it okay for you to do it, too?

Euphridia: Insufferable!

Nora: >D

----------------------------------------