“Who knew ordering so much would take so little time?” Both of us sat at the computer, having gone through ordering various items. In addition to Ghost’s art supplies and the water tanks, we had managed to order a lot. Coordinating with Deven and Kate, we made a huge list of what we wanted to bring.

Ammo and guns were off the table, getting them in Australia would take far too long. Heavy machinery had also been taken off the list, since we had a weight limit to abide by we couldn’t take a lot. Instead, we focused on day-to-day items.

Apart from the clothing that could fill a small room, we had gotten three deep freezers, with a forth being used to learn the blueprint, third expensive refrigerators and two of us had gotten thousands of dollars worth of food, ranging from meat, fruit and vegetables, non perishables, bread and even several boxes of snacks. We also got thousands of different types of seeds, chemicals that could make gunpowder for Melody, ovens, microwaves, bulk amounts of shampoo and conditioner, body wash and more hygiene products. We also had loads of electric wiring, pvc piping and more for Damien. Steven ‘purchased’ three solar powered generators from Rodney as well, so we would have a way to power the various freezers and fridges. Of course, I also learnt the blueprint.

In addition, we had found out, thanks to Steven, that there is another recipe for gunpowder, commonly known as 'Smokeless Powder' which uses nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. According to him, its use in more modern automatic firearms meant less damage than black powder that Melody could make. We decided to buy enough to make both recipes since Melody would still benefit from the Job Points and the black powder would still be put to use.

We had originally wanted to coordinate with the others who had returned, but we didn’t know how to reach any of them, including Damien. With the help of Kate’s father, we were able to use an industrial sized scale to ensure we met the two tonne mark including the container it had to be in. It had been far harder to fulfil the two tonne mark than we thought, especially between the three of us, but we persisted and eventually reached the limit. Eight tonnes of various items would give us a huge amount of relief upon return to our world.

“So the only problem you will face is actually having the materials to make anything over there.” Mum laughed as we told her that we’d finished. We had thought about taking materials of various types to build with, but compared to the day-to-day items we decided against it. We could find materials in that world but not what we had bought, at least on this scale.

Looking at the timer which showed one day and ten hours, I felt my heart sink as I looked at mum.

“Oh don’t look at me like that, Ruby Piper! We’ll see each other in no time once you beat up the bad guys.” Seeing her happy smile turned my mood around as I smiled back.

“We’ll beat them up in no time.” Laughing, the five of us, including Tim, spent the day running around to various shops and cafes. The day escaped us as the last day approached. Only twelve hours remained as we lounged around, not really talking as the reality of our return weighed on all of us. With three hours left, we drove to the location of a warehouse that Steven had rented out so we could store everything we had purchased. We had made sure the freezers kept everything frozen that needed to be and upon arriving packed everything up. We met up with Kate and Rodney and looking at the four huge trailers stuffed with things, we turned to our parents.

Mum stuffed a handbag into my hands with a smile. “Don’t open it till you’re back, okay? Same goes for yours, Rebecca.” Handing her a handbag while saying so, Mum looked us up and down and chuckled. “It’s like we’re sending our girls on a b-big trip. I-I *hic* can’t believe you’re a-already leaving.” Seeing her breakdown into tears, I ran up and hugged her.

“We’ll be back before you know it, mum.”

“I know, I know baby girl. Just be safe, okay? Just knowing that you all are alive and well brings me so much happiness. Don’t worry about us, okay? Just focus on what you need to do, we’ll be here cheering you all on.” Pulling away from mum as I wiped the tears from my face, I accepted her kiss on my forehead before moving towards my trailer. We have three minutes left and seeing Kate and Rebecca separate from Rodney, Steven and Tim, they too grabbed the trailer. Deven held Diana close while holding his trailer and smiling towards mum. I saw the countdown with less than thirty seconds left.

“We’ll meet again, mum. Like you said, we’ll beat up the baddies and be back in no time!”

“I know dear. We’ll have a big wedding for you four when you get back, you hear me? A big celebration!”

[Countdown finished, teleporting you back to the Prime World.]

As my vision turned white, I focused on imprinting my mum's figure into my mind, searing it there. She stood there strongly, smiling and waving to us, as if simply waving us off for school, except she’s crying, not bothering to stop the tears. My vision goes completely white and in the next second I see we have returned to Alpha.

“Holy fuck!”

Turning my head, I saw Ghost on his arse, Melody right next to him, both pale looking at us. Looking around, I saw my huge trailer behind me and everyone else standing around.

Wiping the tears from my face, I steadied my breathing before steeling myself. We had to conquer whatever threat the System wanted us to and once we did we'd see everyone again. Resolving my feelings, I open my eyes and let go of the trailer before signalling for everyone to come over.

Looking towards Jupiter, Dawn and Silver, it seemed like they too had brought a lot of things over, though it paled in comparison to what we had it still is a lot of different stuff. Looking towards Jupiter, I saw an unfamiliar girl about the age of twenty with her arm around his neck, gazing at us all with a bit of amazement.

Before I could say anything, her eyes rolled up as she passed out with Jupiter supporting her. “Diana!” Turning the Sheep, I saw that she too had passed out. Walking over to Diana, I placed my hand on Sheep’s shoulder.

“It’s fine, the System said this would happen, remember?”

“I know, sorry I lost my cool for a moment.” Standing while supporting her, he glanced towards the unknown girl Jupiter had in his arms. “Jupiter, we’ll put them in the campervan’s bed.”

Jupiter nodded and both carried the girls to the campervans. Once they returned, I gathered everyone and looked around.

“Right, I know we’re all fairly high on emotions, but we need to unpack everything and set up various freezers and fridges. We’ve brought along fairly high tech generators powered by solar energy that store enough power for the night. Once we’ve unpacked everything and squeezed it where we can, we’ll meet up and discuss our next plans. Let’s get this world over and done with and return home, got it?”

Everyone nods and we all start unpacking everything. Ghost and Melody weren’t idle, they went around to everyone and made sure they were okay before helping with the great unpacking. Like us, the other four had focused entirely on day-to-day items except for Silver. He had somehow gotten two tonnes worth of building materials, like nails, steel beams and much more. Aerith had an excited look on her face when looking at it.

After spending nearly an entire day unpacking everything and storing it correctly, we rested for a few hours before we regrouped.

“Alright, now we’ve returned, we need to discuss what to do next. I know everyone is a bit emotional but we have to push on. Ghost, Melody, what happened while we were away?”

“Other than absolutely nothing? Nothing. We got rewards based on our Jobs, I’ll introduce you to mine later.” Ghost winks while Melody shook her head and slapped his shoulder.

“We’re also dating…if that’s a thing in this world.” Raising an eyebrow to the two, they both shrugged as if to say it wasn’t a big deal. “I got a full on alchemy set up as my reward, plus three blueprints! I can make stronger healing potions, mana potions and an explosive compound that when thrown explodes.”

“Dear God, don't mix it with your healing draughts.” Aerith shuddered as I pursed my lips trying not to laugh.

“So, about our trip to the world. Aerith, Winter, Sheep and I met up there and…” Telling everyone about what we had done and gotten, they looked amazed.

“I experienced the advanced blueprints too!” Turning to Jupiter, he looked towards the campervan. “My sister is the one who came with me. She and I spent all of our time going around to various smelting factories and I managed to pick up a few advanced blueprints for various smelted ingots, though its not really possible to replicate in this world, it still unlocked the quest for me.”

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“How did it go with your sister? I mean, it’s a huge decision for her to come with us.”

Jupiter sighs and scratches his nose. “We’ve always been inseparable like that. I didn’t need to say anything, the moment she laid her eyes on me she knew it was me instantly. It’s strange, when I spoke with her about it, she told me she’d known I was alive, but it felt like I was very far away. The moment she saw me, she told me she had no doubts it had been me. I didn’t even say anything, she just walked up and said ‘It’s been a long time, Michael’.”

“You’re twins, right?” Winter asked while we listened.

“Yes. I wonder if it’s different for us because I have magic? Maybe that made something happen since we’re twins?”

“Well it’s said in our world that twins share a unique bond, so maybe?” Dawn spoke while we shrugged. Time would tell and looking around, everyone seemed to have steeled themselves more.

“Okay, so we all need to figure out our next steps. We’ve brought a lot over from our world and yes it’ll last a few months, but we can’t rely on it. I can at the very least build a welder, water filtration system, lumber sawmill, wood cutter and possibly the water tanks.”

“I think we should focus on base building.” Aerith raised her hand before explaining. “We have a lot which means we should settle here, especially because of the water supply.”

“Finding other people is also vital, we should focus on exploring. We need to also find supplies.” Dawn spoke while looking around.

Turning to Dawn, Sheep spoke. “My concern is fuel. We need to check the town and see if anything remains from the fire. When we checked only a portion remained, so hopefully a few petrol stations are standing.”

“In that case, we will divide into four teams. Aerith, Lemon and Jupiter, you guys will work on getting those houses finished. Winter and I will work on machinery to help you guys out. Ghost and Dawn, I want you two to focus on setting up the farm, work with Aerith and Lemon for the piping or wiring. Sheep, Silver and Melody, you three will head to the town, check for dangers and start looting whatever remains.

“We’ll focus on bunkering down and building up. Once we’ve confirmed the status of fuel and if we can acquire more, we will look towards exploring further up the road. Surely there are more towns or cities nearby, I’m eager to find people too, we need more manpower if we were to build a base here.”

“Should we start right away?” Aerith looks at me with her hand raised.

“No, take a day to recuperate and get your mind back into this world. I want your team to then focus on planning out the buildings and layout of the base. I’ll talk to you later about the finer details.”

With those words, everyone parted ways. Seeing Ghost and Melody walk away while holding hands, I had to admit that them becoming a couple had been well outside my expectations.

“Do you think she feeds him those healing draughts?”

“Please, don’t mention healing draughts. The very thought makes me sick.” Walking with Rebecca, we jumped onto one of the old buildings and looking at the bags mum had given us, we opened them. Inside is a tablet, a note, envelope and a very familiar ring box. Taking out the tablet with shaking hands, I powered it on to find it was not a tablet but a digital picture frame. Images of us in our new bodies appeared, spending time with mum, Steven and Tim. It took me a moment to realise that mum had someone follow us, taking pictures whenever we went out.

Feeling the tears coming on once more as the pictures kept strolling by, I couldn’t help but smile. Placing the picture frame down gently, I picked up the folded note.

Dear Ruby,

By the time you’re reading this, you’ll be back in that weird world. The first week that the two of you were here, I completely thought I’d finally lost my mind and hallucinated you two, but over time the truth came out. You two really are alive, trapped in a different world with different bodies, I couldn’t deny it nor did I want to.

When you died, I had given up hope. I very nearly killed myself many times, but those around me that I met because of you, even if you didn’t know about them, pulled me back each and every time. And now knowing that you’re safe and sound, albeit in a pickle, it means the world to me. Don’t mind me dear, I have wonderful friends like Steven and Rodney here, we’ll support each other, no matter what!

We’ll cheer you all on. Even if we can’t see or talk to each other, I know that you’ll lead everyone there back home. Though I couldn’t get you two married this time, when you return to us you better prepare for one hell of a wedding, you have Steven and I planning one hell of an event for the two of you!

Know that I’ll always love you, Ruby. Forever and ever, your Dad and I will always watch over you.

Love, Your Proud Mother.

“Mum…” Feeling Rebecca hug me, we both cried in each other's arms, both having received a letter from our parents. After a while, I pulled out the envelope and found it to be copies of the love letters dad had written to mum, a memento that she had given me to remember him too. Carefully putting it aside, I took out the ring box. I already knew what this was, and hoping it I found the custom ring I had made for Rebecca, a lovely white and black band with a small crystal designed on a certain crystal from our favourite game.

Looking at Rebecca, I saw she had a similar ring box, with a similar ring in it. These were the rings we had bought, intended to be given to each other on our wedding day. Our parents would’ve carried them for us. Without a word, we put the rings back, we both understood why mum had put them in.

“A promise. A promise to return and have them give these rings to them.”

“Mm…I miss them already.” We both sat there, looking over Alpha from a distance, not talking much and allowing our feelings to settle.

The hairs on the back of my neck raised suddenly, my stomach tightening as I quickly realised this feeling. I’m being watched. Without moving suddenly, I lightly squeezed Winter’s hand as she returned it.

“You feel it too?”

“Yes. It’s not friendly.”

“Nor hostile. Shit, what a horrible position to be in.” Quickly figuring out the direction we were being watched from, I shouted out to the person passing by. “Dawn!”

Dawn looks up at us, tilting her head in confusion.

“Go find Sheep, tell him we’re being watched. I need my sniper and a hand radio. Do as he says, tell him the one watching isn’t friendly nor is it hostile.”

At first Dawn seemed puzzled before realisation dawned on her face and with a wordless nod, she casually turned around and slowly walked away. Commending her for not sprinting, I paid careful attention to this feeling. It’s far from us, either we were scoped or they were using binoculars to look at us. I saw Sheep approaching us moments later, carrying my sniper in one hand with his slung around his back.

“Can you two come down safely?”

“As long as we don’t give it away that we know, yes. Slowly, Bek.”

“I know.”

I stood slowly and stretched as Winter did the same before picking up the bag. Winter gives me a light hug and jumps off the building. Jumping down myself, I felt the feeling disappear as I handed my bag to Winter and took my sniper and the hand radio.

“Dawn is telling everyone now to casually arm themselves. Once you find the person, fire a warning shot if they are armed, if not fire a ‘we’re here and we know you’re there’ shot.”

“So a warning shot?”

“It’s the feeling that counts, right?” Sheep gives me a wink before him and Winter casually walks away. Crocheting, I slowly crept to the corner of the building before raising myself up onto the roof, keeping myself low. The ledge of the building gave me cover and peeking out, I scoped and looked towards where I had felt the feeling.

It took a moment before I found them. A man and woman, both laying down with binoculars, looking around towards us, as if trying to find people. I watched as one of them raised a hand radio and spoke into it. As they put it away, I stopped peeking and used Hawkeye towards the road. In the very distance, nearly two kilometres away, I saw six cars, no one outside of them, but they suddenly started to roll forward.

“Shit.”

“Shepherd, six cars approximately two kilometres from us, they just started rolling towards us.”

“Got it. We’re moving now, can you do anything about the watcher?”

“It’s a pair, they’re unarmed. It’s likely they’re approaching with peaceful intentions, but I don't want to take chances.”

“Acknowledged, I’m the same. We’re sending a team into the grass once you’ve fired a shot. Don’t kill them.”

Aiming my scope back at the pair, they had stopped looking through the binoculars and just laid there, as if waiting for pick up. Steadying my breathing, I fired a round a few metres in front of them. The bullet hits, sending dirt up as the pair scrambled to their feet.

“They’re not watching, go!”

The female quickly pulls out her radio and speaks into it as the male looks around with his binoculars. Turning my eyes to the road, I saw the cars still creeping up, now within about half a kilometre from the base.

“Mid, we’re set up at a hundred metres from the base. Stop the convoy around there.”

Watching as the cars crept closer, they got within a hundred metres as I fired on the first car, a bullet right through the engine. The cars instantly stopped, as six people emerged from the long grass on either side. Lemon, Winter and Aerith on one with Ghost, Melody and Jupiter on the other. They held their guns or spells up, ready to engage.

“Out! Get out with your hands up! Our sniper will shoot if you dare have a weapon! Don’t make me repeat myself!” Hearing Winter’s voice, I watched as the car doors all opened and about fifteen people emerged. Dawn led the pair who had been watching towards the others.

“Move away from the cars! On your knees, hands interlocked behind your head!” Once again yelling out, Winter motioned for the crowd to move and kneel.

“Mid, come down. It’s time for a chat with our new friends.”

Standing, I saw a few in the group turn to look at me as I held my sniper and rolled my shoulders. With a jump, I landed on the ground before walking towards this large group that had appeared.