It did not take me as long to recount the epic tale of the Wastes as I would’ve liked. A small part of me wanted to summon Krahinn for a live demonstration still, but I knew that finicky would not take kindly to being summoned away from reading that . Mom, Mama, and Papa followed excitedly along as I explained what happened. Unfortunately, the three needed to return to working on the new laws involving the sanitation and healthcare for the plague Luna warned about. I sat there watching them comb through the bureaucracy, phrasing, current laws, by laws, and what each of the factions would try to tack on or alter about the law. My eyes were watering from the sheer tedium of just hearing what was required. It’s an unfortunate fact of what my future will entail. Law making seemed so soul crushingly boring. Papa looked at me and began laughing.

“Nil, it is not as bad as it seems. I do understand dreading learning and having to do this, but you will have a moment where why you want to will click. When I was younger I did not like this part at all; sometimes you have to suffer through it until you have the moment where you realize how important this part is.” Papa assured me. I felt a bit embarrassed.

“Sorry.” I apologized. Papa made an odd expression.

“Nil do not apologize for feeling like this part is something you may not like or enjoy. It seems daunting and has a learning curve to you, that is fine. Letting that feeling stop you is not fine. Being a leader requires being brave and courageous, not being fearless. Facing what comes your way no matter what you are feeling is difficult, but it is what leaders need to do.” Papa advised me. His words made me feel this peculiar warmth.

“Thank you, Papa. I get what you are saying.” I replied. I did note his advice.

“Come on Nil, let us try one of the smaller laws.” Mama suggested. This was likely about to be beyond boring, but I needed to get my feet wet sometime.

“Okay.” I agreed as I walked over to the table. Mom pulled one of the smaller stacks of paper and handed it to me. This is small?

I fought the urge to whimper as I began reading the law. I thought Cesar was dry and boring, but he paled in comparison to the paperwork in front of me. This was some of the blandest, densest, and tear-inducing material I have ever read. The law took me about fifteen minutes to read and a few more minutes to grasp what it was after. If I was reading this properly, it was a law wanting to make people not come to work when sick. I reread it a few times to make sure I understood it, but I felt like it was missing something. What was it? Part of my brain was screaming something was obviously wrong with it, yet I couldn’t put my finger on the exact problem.

“How would this work?” I asked, wondering what was bugging me.

“It would mandate that workers with illnesses do not go to work and help spread the sickness they are inflicted with.” Mama explained. I got that part, but her tone sounded a bit off.

“I know that. I mean, if someone is sick, how would they use this law? Would they still get paid?” I clarified. Mama went to answer then stopped.

“They would simply not go into work.” Mom stated before it clicked in my head. That’s the issue with it; there’s no incentive to follow this law. It just stops their pay while they’re sick.

"So they would just miss out on pay?" I verified. The adults all smiled at me.

“Good catch Nil. This is why we review the laws before proposing them.” Papa praised while ruffling my hair.

“How should we fix it?” Mama probed. I get the distinct feeling they chose this one because they knew it needed to be fleshed out more. I did appreciate it though.

How did things work on Earth again? I know sick leave was a thing most companies had, but that wasn’t what I was trying to remember. It was making it so businesses and people would want to follow the law. Being a good person was enough for some, but not everyone. What did they do again? I mulled it over as I tried remembering how they encouraged it. The government offered companies and states incentives for enacting their programs and laws if I recalled. Is this more of a law or a program? What is the difference in Speranza? Might as well start with the idea I was borrowing and see how it worked from there.

“You could offer the businesses and places of work tax breaks or some stipend for giving their employees a certain amount of sick leave to use at the discretion of the employee. You could also make it a baseline benefit for those that work in the government of Speranza.” I suggested. All three of them stared at me like I had sprouted a second head. That concept might be a bit foreign here.

“The Court of Commons was complaining about the surplus from the taxes. We could use it to fund incentives for sick leave and some of our other proposed laws and programs.” Papa stated. Mama and Mom were both still looking at me a bit stunned.

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“What?” I checked. Papa chuckled as he ruffled my hair.

“You came up with an answer none of us were expecting. I am kind of sad I never thought of that.” Papa laughed. Mama and Mom both just sighed as they now began pulling out several stacks.

“I did borrow the idea from somewhere.” I confessed. I was glad it was a helpful suggestion at least.

“It is still your idea to implement it here.” Mom pointed out as she kept grabbing stacks.

“Now Nil, I know you wanted to spend some time with us, but we have a lot of work to do now as someone just gave us a great new way of implementing these. Unfortunately, this would not be a great way to learn and get familiar with the process.” Mama informed me with a bit of sadness in her voice.

“Sorry.” I apologized. I was given a distinct stare from all three of them.

“Do not apologize for having a good idea even if it made work. We just now need to do some editing with that idea in mind.” Mom lectured me in a interesting mix of soft and stern.

“Yes Mom.” I replied as the three of them clearly prepared to redo some of the work.

We each said our goodbyes and I went to wander the castle again. What to do? Everyone was unfortunately busy today. What could I do to pass the time? Luna liked dancing, maybe I could ask Duthane to show me a different dance; all I could barely do was the foxtrot at the moment. I think Luna would like it. Wait, Duthane wasn’t in the castle today. I sighed. Having free time is weird. Was I that used to always doing something? Or having someone nearby? I decided to go to the library and read a bit. I just grabbed a book at random and began reading it. Societal Expectations of the Peerage. This sounded like a book Duthane would want me to read; the book was as boring as the title would have led me to believe. It was something I should read more than likely though, so I powered through the dry text until dinnertime. Dinner was mostly quiet to my dismay as nearly everyone was tired from long days of work. Krahinn did join but was busy reading the to say much. Everyone retired early out of exhaustion or being busy which left me to do some more reading before going to sleep. I guess being alone didn’t really bother me when I wasn’t aware of what I was missing out on. I smiled knowing I had a few friends, a girlfriend, and a loving family this time around. It’s way better than that lifeless abyss I used to have. I laid down, going to sleep. My bed was comfortable as I laid down and began drifting off.

I was comfortably drifting off in my bed before I felt like I was slipping through space as I began looking around and seeing, what was I seeing? The roads were stone, but nothing like the smooth cobblestone roads of Umbra. The buildings were not brick and stone but rather some kind of log cabins with stones mixed in between the wood. Where was I? The buildings were haphazard as they appeared to have been recently rebuilt. I did a few turns, seeing a large field that was half burned to ash with massive gashes in the ground and strewn crags of earth erupting in various directions. Humans, Gigants, Fae, and a few Beastkin were moving through town, all equipped for war with numerous weapons and worn armor. The air here was so tense it was difficult to even breathe. Something in the distance caught the attention of the city as several people on horses rode towards town. Behind them was a massive flag with a raven grasping a skull for the crest. I knew I was dreaming, as no one seemed to acknowledge my existence, but what was I dreaming of? My dreams were never this detailed, nor did my dreams possess this suffocating tension. The riders slowed down as they reached the main road which erupted in rapturous applause. In front was what looked like a female knight who quickly dismounted her horse.

Whoa. She took off her helmet, revealing short platinum blonde hair with piercing, blue steel eyes. Her complexion was fair, giving her the picturesque image of a battle angel. Who is that? I knew I had never seen her before. Her beauty was out of this world, almost ethereal. Next to her a man dismounted, showing he was relatively plain. He had hazel eyes, olive skin, and wavy brown hair, smiling wide as he hugged her. On his shoulder was a raven; something about it was off. It looked like a normal raven, but I knew there was something different about it. Next to the man and woman, a man with silver eyes, red hair, and deep tan skin joined them, smiling and celebrating with them. He looked familiar; very familiar. A horrible sensation was beginning to creep up my spine. Last with the banner a blur of a figure dismounted, joining the others in celebration. That wasn’t blurred, it was like their appearance was erased. Wait. Wait a second. Was that Mahdi? Was the red hair man a younger, less angry version of Mahdi? Who was the white-haired woman? The erased man was the hero more than likely, and on his shoulder was some type of hawk. Did that mean the brown haired man was $^!*$? That would make that raven Hugminn. But why was I seeing this? How was I seeing this?

“Great, this memory.” I heard Krahinn sigh next to me.

“What memory?” I asked Krahinn. As I turned, I saw current Krahinn looking at past Krahinn, where he still had his left hand and horns intact.

“Oh great. I guess our mental bond means if I cast in my sleep and you’re asleep you get to join me.” Krahinn grumbled. So this was a memory of Krahinn?

“Apparently. Can you end the ? Or free me from it?” I inquired. Krahinn laughed at me.

“I can’t control this well when it’s just me. With you in here, not a chance. Apparently, me recollecting old memories reminded me of here.” Krahinn confessed. His face was clearly cringing internally as he looked at the group.

“Where is here? What’s so bad about this memory?” I pressed. Krahinn shifted awkwardly as he debated answering.

“Let me give you a quick breakdown. Welcome to Zaubsaal. You should know the white-haired woman is Ariam, the redhead is Mahdi, the blurred figure is the hero, the osprey is Helsiri, the brown-haired man is Scius, and the raven is my brother, Hugminn.” Krahinn explained. The pain in his face as each word left his mouth was palpable. Zaubsaal? Wasn’t that where everything went horribly wrong?

“Is this the disaster you were referring to? Where everything went to shiza?” I checked. Krahinn let out a deep sigh as his shoulders slump.

“You are about to get to witness the hero show his true colors.” Krahinn lamented. His eyes were locked on his brother, looking so guilty.

“What happened? What did he do?” I inquired. Krahinn just shook his head and sighed again.

“Sit back and watch the memory. You’ll learn soon enough.” Krahinn told me with a wave of his hand.