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“Your destination is right up there,” their driver said, beginning to slow the sandskimmer. “You can walk from the outpost to whichever village you’re looking for—”

“No, keep going. Marisbog is the furthest village and I want to be right in the middle of it.”

“Sandskimmers aren’t made to travel that close to buildings,” the driver protested. “I can’t guarantee—”

“Are you trying to make a spectacle?” Raina asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s easier to downplay pure chaos than to escalate from normalcy. If I act all standard-visit-y, then it’ll be one gasp of shocked revelation after another. If I fly into the middle of town shouting about how incredibly powerful I am, people will see anything else as an improvement.”

Raina pulled the collar of her robe up over her face until only her eyes were visible. “Why am I traveling with you, again?”

“For fun!”

“Is that what this is?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, it’ll all make sense soon enough.”

“I’m afraid I can’t drive any closer.”

“Then get out of the way, I’ll do it.”

The driver’s eyes bulged. “Ahh, no, I’m the only one authorized to operate this vehicle, if I let a civilian—”

“Then drive us into the middle of town.”

“Do you have to terrorize the poor man?”

“Not if he’d just do his job.”

“My job is to transport people across the desert! Not into the middle of a village. There are houses. There could be people. I’m not going to recklessly endanger—”

“Then I can easily relieve you of the responsibility.” Jair had Maelstrom out before either of the others could react. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. I’ll bring the skimmer along back once our visit is over.”

The man backed away from the steering panel with his hands raised. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know! I don’t have to do anything, ever, so you’re lucky I’m in a good mood today.”

A quick stab of Darkflame and the man disappeared, leaving the sandskimmer to drift. Jair ran over to the controls and expertly shifted the lift and yaw to bring them around in a wide sweeping curve toward the village.

Raina bit her lip. “I’m not sure if I should be laughing or horrified.”

“Yes.” Jair pointed to one of the short balance wings at the rear of the vessel. “Grab that and lift it about halfway. It’ll resist, so be ready.”

Raina’s bemusement turned to fear as the village’s outermost buildings loomed nearer. With a quiet yelp, she ran to the fin and did as instructed. It slipped out of her hand the first time Jair tried to execute the hop-jigging maneuver to straighten them out from their curve, but the second time she held it steady and they were able to correct course right on time.

The first buildings, a pair of storage houses beside the sand-dock, whipped past with barely a handspan to separate them from the side of the ship.

Jair laughed aloud and pushed the skimmer to speed up, wind ruffling his hair and throwing dust into their faces.

“This is insane!” Raina shrieked, but she was laughing too. “I can’t believe we’re—”

“Let go now!”

She jumped back as though it’d burned her, and Jair executed a much sharper hop in the other direction as they reached the center of town.

The sandskimmer dipped sharply, one side dragged on the stone of the road, and it lost all momentum. With a dull thud, it settled just short of the general store.

“Hmm,” Jair mused. “We seem to be making a minor spectacle.”

“I didn’t think you’d be concerned with that.”

Jair grinned. “I prefer to be a much larger spectacle.” He tossed Maelstrom into the air at head-height, activated Bladewalk, and flipped himself up to stand atop it. “People of Marisbog Village! I, Jair Welburne, have returned!”

Maelstrom flared brilliant silver with flickering black flames dancing at the edges.

He reached down for Raina with one hand. “Care to join me?”

She gestured around helplessly. “I can’t jump that high.”

Maelstrom drifted lower, until it was closer to waist-high, and Raina took his hand and hopped up.

“What’s the purpose of this?” she muttered, smiling and waving to the people peering out their windows at the duo as though she were on a parade.

“Trying to see if you’re easily embarrassed. The answer is, yes, but it doesn’t stop you.”

Raina put a hand to her cheek with a grimace. “Cheater. Also, ‘easily’? This is not even remotely standard behavior.”

Jair raised his voice again. “Does anyone know if Zaen and Kyami are at home?”

“They’re out fishing,” shouted one older man, throwing his window open to glare at them. “You’re gonna leave your boat there?”

“Of course not.” Jair gave Maelstrom a quick nudge to send them floating toward the back docks. “I’ll be taking it with me when I go.”

Raina kept smiling fixedly, but there was a hint of discomfort in her eyes as she glanced around at the sparse houses. “This is really your village?”

“Not any more. It’s where I lived before I went to the Mageblade Institute, but it hasn’t been ‘mine’ in a long time.”

“And I thought the academy was underwhelming…”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Not what you expected?”

She shrugged and her smile cleared. “I’ve heard people live like this, I just never actually knew what it looked like. It’s surprising, that’s all.”

“Surely your fancy schools have drawings?”

“Of course I know what it looks like, but it’s different to stand in the middle of it.”

Jair waved cheekily to the glaring old man before Maelstrom’s drifting moved them out of his sight. “Be sure to let them know I’m here. I’ll be at the house.”

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“Lil! I’m hooome!”

Jair’s family home was a two-story building, like most in Marisbog.

"Jair!" Lilin frowned down at him over the upstairs railing, worry tinting her voice. "What are you doing here? Something go wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. Wanted to introduce you to Raina."

"Oho, the mysterious girlfriend," Lilin singsonged. Her expression shifted to excitement in an instant. She vaulted the railing and landed halfway down the stairs, then bounded down the rest of the way two steps at a time. "Hello hello."

"Hello," Raina said with a courteous nod of her head. "I am Raina Serin. Pleasure to meet you."

"Lilin Welburne, nice to finally meet you too. This guy won't shut up about you." She elbowed Jair in the side with a grin. "Makes you sound like a hero from the stories."

"Indeed?" Raina raised an eyebrow at Jair. "A storybook hero, am I?"

"Of course. Why would we be anything else?"

"I half expected a proper goddess," Lilin continued, "though I can’t say I'm disappointed." She ran her eyes over Raina's face, her hair, the simple robe in quality fabric, then back at Jair. "I see she's finally managed to convince you to upgrade your wardrobe too. I thought you were never going to change.”

"I have indeed changed my standard attire," Jair admitted. "And I'm a full mageblade now, so it's a reasonable time to swap out my old robes for something more combat-ready."

"It'll take more than a set of nice robes to make you combat ready," Lilin laughed. "Last time you were here, you couldn't even out-wrestle a sandfish. Has that Academy gone and made you weaker?"

"Any physical weakness I have experienced is the result of my own negligence and not external factors. I have taken steps to rectify the deficiency, and will be able to both hold my own in a fight and out-wrestle sandfish in the near future. I'm also a certified sandshark-rider now, if you're interested in verifying my credentials for desert survival."

"We don't get many of those around here, things are too loosely packed for them to be comfortable, but you know that." She narrowed her eyes at him, grinning. "But, okay." She lowered her voice to whisper. "I won’t poke holes in your story in front of your friend."

“All that means is that she'll get a ride in a sandshark with me before you do," Jair answered mildly. "Unless you want to come with us."

Lilin's eyes widened. "That's abrupt." Then she frowned. “With you where?"

"I'm setting out on my Reforging Quest, and your brother has agreed to accompany me.”

"Oh, I'm sure you don't want me along."

"Actually, I would love to have you along."

"Why?" Lilin frowned in confusion. "This some kind of ploy?"

"We are fully capable of providing for ourselves and for you. There will be no obligation on your part, and you don't have to worry about us overreaching or running out of resources."

"I wouldn't want to be taking advantage of your friend," Lilin said, eyes darting back and forth between Jair and Raina. "This is sudden."

"Yes. Because I know if I give you too long to think about it, you'll end up talking to Mother, and she will convince you that your entire destiny is to be here and take care of her."

Lilin frowned at the casualness of Jair's tone. "Your mother too, Jai."

"You know there was more than one reason I left."

Now it was Raina's turn to look back and forth between them. "What am I missing?"

"Nothing," Lilin said hastily. "My brother is somewhat separatist, is all."

"I identified an environment in which I would not thrive, and took steps to distance myself from it." The words came out calm, free of any of the emotion that once would've colored them. He would protect his family, make sure they were safe, and take steps to prevent their assassination, but his parents had lost his respect a long time ago.

"So you want me to disappear,” Lilin said quietly. “Like you did."

"I told you I was going to leave."

"And I told you I wasn't coming."

"I was hoping you’d reconsider, given that the situation has changed. It would no longer be a couple of penniless nobodies with no support. I can personally ensure we are never helpless or without resources again. I don't want to see anything happen to you, Lil."

"Why would anything happen to me? You said it yourself, I'm not going anywhere.”

"We don't have to decide this right now," Raina said. "This is something that’s going to require thought. We're in no rush, take your time and think it over. We’ll be visiting a lot of different places, some of which will be dangerous. I can guarantee your brother’s capable of protecting us no matter where we go. He's not exaggerating about his skills. He killed a dragon to protect me, and a matriarch at that. If he can do that, I don't think there's anything left that can challenge him."

“Dragon?” Lilin stared at Jair like she'd never seen him before. "Dragon! Dragon?"

Jair laughed. "Yes. Dragon. She was being a nuisance, so I got rid of her."

Lilin stared speechless.

"I should probably warn you, he's not going to be anything like the person you knew. Any preconceptions you might've had, disregard them. Jair has changed in more ways than just getting a class."

Lilin slowly nodded. “You're right, there is something different about him." Then she shook herself. "You’re a guest. Come in, we shouldn’t be standing in the entryway. Let me get you something to drink."

Jair raided the cabinets and put together a simple casserole for their dinner. It was an old recipe, one he knew by heart. Rather tedious by now, but effective at providing necessary nutrition in an inoffensive way.

At one point it had been his favorite thing to eat, but repetition wears away at natural preference. He’d tried countless variations throughout the years, until he’d thoroughly exhausted the potential of the dish and flipped back around to its original default.

Lilin and Raina spent almost the entire time he was preparing it talking in the other room, and he left them to it. Seeing his sister again had stirred up a lot of half-forgotten memories—not all of it good—and the methodical preparation with the distant background hum of their voices to remind him he wasn’t alone made it easier to sort through his thoughts.

He’d considered Lilin his best friend for years, before he understood that friendship was something deeper than mutual necessity and obligation.

She was the only one he’d told about his application to the Mageblade Institute before getting his acceptance letter.

He'd been wanting to get her out of their dead-end family ecosystem since before he got himself out. He'd offered to take her with him to Astralla City with the last of his savings, back when he first was accepted to the Mageblade Institute.

Lilin had declined at that time, and every time since. But this was the first time he’d brought Raina with him. Until now it’d never been viable as an option, so of course he hadn't.

Lilin was prideful and stubborn, dedicated to an ideal that Jair wasn't sure existed. She thought their family could be improved, healed from within.

Perhaps it could be, but not by him. His presence only ever exacerbated things, never calmed them. Before he became a time looper and gradually disconnected himself from everyone he used to know, he had tried to keep everyone happy.

When he first started looping, once he’d accepted he needed something more to successfully save Raina, he'd tackled his sister next. With time at his mercy, he tried everything he could think of to resolve the perpetual tension within their household.

He chose a side and played it through to the end. He chose a different side and saw that through.

But time and again, he was forcefully reminded that promises to change were empty words. And Jair was not the right person to see those words fulfilled. He didn't think Lilin was the right person either, though she stayed and tried as long as she lived.

Sometime in the next two years—a different time depending on what he did, but always inevitably—she disappeared.

All his investigations, and he never found any reason for it. At least Ryenzo was a clear and specific threat. Overwhelmingly powerful, sure, but that was something that could be fought. An absolute unknown?

She didn't have a secret relationship going on, not a reliable one at least. Various flings with local boys didn't count, since depending on how he maneuvered the situation she could be in any number of relationships or not at all. None of them ever got to the ‘run away and disappear with me’ level regardless of whether Jair interfered or not.

It wasn't a kidnapping or assassination as far as he could ascertain. It happened even in timelines where Jair did nothing to arouse any attention whatsoever, just as reliably as when he became a public figure and had half the noble factions coming after him.

He’d questioned her a hundred times to no avail.

Whatever it was, it wasn't something she was aware of. Sometimes he could delay the disappearance for months, though what exact actions of his made that change were hard to track. Even if he kept her in sight at all times, she would eventually disappear in the night without a trace.

He could only hope Raina's presence would be enough to change that.

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