“Uh, could you explain that to us?” Max asks. “Why is it way worse?”

“You see, normally after adventurers have been dead for a while they respawn back at the nearest city they attuned to. But looking at Lise’s expression after we told her she was dead…” Hilda starts.

“Back in Alpha I died quite often and obviously I also got resurrected by healers and the like. But this felt very different from how it normally feels like.” My sister starts explaining, the color slowly returning to her face. “Normally, at least I’m somewhat aware of the time that passed when I died. It’s hard to explain, but think of it like you are asleep and you are having a lucid dream wherein you can sense your environment. This time, it was nothing like that, one moment I was feeling I was slipping away, the next I was staring back at you guys holding the bolt in your hands.”

“So aside from canceling any sort of healing effect, it also cancels resurrection?” Carol asks.

“Keep in mind that we also removed the bolt pretty much at the same time Élise died. I don’t want to think about what would happen if we left it in for longer after she perished.”

“And that’s not the only thing that concerns me…” Lise continues. “Rather than concern, I should probably say it terrifies me.”

Hilda looks at my sister. “Which is?”

“What if it affects the real world too… That’s honestly the first thing that came to mind after I regained consciousness. Up until now we’ve taken full advantage of this being, for all intents and purposes, a kind of game world for us. But we also know that some things that happen here also affect our world. The fact that I felt absolutely fuck all during the time I was gone…”

Nikki’s eyes go big and her even pale skin grows paler. “W-wait, are you saying that you could’ve died in our world too.”

My sister nods. “That’s what I fear, yes.”

“You can’t be for real, right?” Nikki takes a couple of steps back and puts her hand over her heart.

“Calm down, Nikki, we don’t know that for sure.” Hilda tries to calm her friend.

“How can I calm down, the love of my life just said it was possible she died.”

Hilda looks at Lise for a reply who is now staring down at the forrest floor. “Okay… I really do understand your concern, and it’s very valid…” She then looks down at the bolt once more. “Ami, could you store this in the vault?”

“What are you planning with that?” Max asks.

“While the prospects of dying are really really scary, we do still have a team of Goddesses who can help us figure out what this actually is. And I’m mainly thinking about a certain purple haired one with great analytical skills.”

“Ah, so you want me to give this to Gamma?” I ask.

“Yes, I think it would be for the best that we do. We might not have encountered this before, but they might have, right? And then we know what the dangers are and we can make further decisions if we know what we are dealing with.”

“Okay…” I take the bolt in my hands and with a quick bout of concentration, it disappears to our vault. “That makes sense to me.”

Suddenly my sister slaps herself and takes a big breath. “Right, yeah, that’s a plan.” She steels herself and stands up from her position against the tree. “So we just keep laying low till we know what it is. And warn the adventurers and soldiers back at camp what’s going on.”

My girlfriend is quick to get to my sister’s side. “Don’t force yourself, Élise, let’s take it slow.”

Lise smiles at her. “Sam, if I take things slow, I’m going to break down again. Let me set my goal to something I can work towards.”

Sam slowly backs off, raising her hands and gives my sister a nod. “Fair enough.”

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“Thanks for the concern though.”

Before we go and head off towards the settlement we left yesterday, Hilda takes me aside for a moment while the rest is occupied with getting ready. “Ami, are you okay?” She whispers into my ear. “You were pretty quiet earlier and you generally wear your emotions on your sleeve… sometimes quite literally. And what happened to your sister… Well, I’d expected a different reaction to be honest.”

“I… I don’t know.” I admit. “My emotions have been off since we saw the encampment… I don’t really know why but seeing that entire thing really shook me to the core.”

“Mhmm. I can understand that. Up until now we’ve not really seen an opposing power that really matches yours. While that’s scary for us to say the least, it also must have quite the effect on you.”

“Yeah…”

Hilda smiles and pats my head. “Could you do me a little favor?”

I nod in return. “Depends on what it is.”

“When we get back to ‘our world’, could you go and give your sister a long, big hug? I think she’ll need that. She’s not going to want to seem too vulnerable around us, but when it’s just you two… that would do her good. Can you promise that to me?”

I give her a lot of enthusiastic nodders. “Of course I will!”

“Thanks.” Hilda smiles again. “But be prepared for some rolling tears.”

I give her a third nod and with that, she once more ruffles her hand through my hair and turns around to join the rest of the group while I do the same.

“Let’s get going, I don’t think those flying bastards are following us anymore, but just to be sure, let’s move.” Hilda calls out to the party, acting like normal, making it seem like our conversation didn’t happen. And it does what she intended to do, to get the group on the move. I might be the most powerful person in this party, but Hilda is clearly an expert at what she does, taking the lead when it needs to be done.

Thus we follow our leader through the forest, further and further away from the danger we escaped from. By the time we arrive back at the settlement, it is early evening. Our stomachs are grumbling because we have skipped lunch and we didn’t have any snacks either. The soldiers and adventurers look surprised to see us, most of their gazes fixed on my sister and her blood soaked armor. No one really approaches us though as we make our way to the village center.

As soon as one of the leadership’s representatives sees us when we arrive at the center, in this case one of the army officers, he immediately runs over to us. He stops and stares at my sister. “What happened?” He asks. “Did you find the enemy base of operations?”

“We found more than what we asked for.” My sister replies.

The soldier looks shocked at the reply. “Is it that bad?”

“I’ll give you a briefing of what happened.” Hilda steps forward once more. “Can you call the others together?”

“Will do, ma’am.”

“Oh, and this is maybe a bit of a selfish request, but could you get us some food as well. We’ve not really eaten yet.”

“Immediately, ma’am.” He salutes us and runs off towards one of the houses near the center.

“Are you sure you want to talk to them alone, Hilda?” Nikki asks.

“Don’t worry about me, just go sit down with some food and relax, I’ll be with you shortly.” She smiles, just in time as the soldiers comes back running out with some of the other representatives right behind him.

A couple of them divert towards us and ask us to come along with them to enjoy a meal in one of the more wealthy houses in the area.

Once we are there my sister talks to the soldier in charge. “Is it okay if I use one of the rooms to get changed first? I wouldn’t want to dirty everything.”

The soldier points to one of the rooms on the side of the main living room and gives my sister a respectful bow.

“Thanks.” My sister gives him a polite smile and heads off to the room to get changed while we get sat down at the long living room table. It seems as though the army confiscated this house as it doesn’t seem very ‘lived in’ anymore. A lot of furniture is left but it’s all rather dusty apart from the tables.

“What happened to the original inhabitants of this home?” Sam asks. She must’ve been thinking the same thing.”

“They fled the village, ma’am.” The soldier replies. “Most of the wealthy inhabitants did when we moved in.”

“So it’s similar to the one town we moved through.” Carol whispers.

“Is it possible to move the rest of the civilians too?” Nikki asks, to which the soldier looks at her rather weirdly.

“Why are you asking?”

“I’m going to be blunt, but this settlement might soon be on the frontlines of a conflict of which the size is hard for us to predict. It’s not going to be pretty if the civilians stay here.”

Probably understanding the gravity of what Nikki is saying, the soldier nods slowly. “We will see what we can do.”

“Ami?” Sam whispers into my ear.

“Mhmm?”

“Do you think we could move those kids and their mom back to our mansion? At least like that they are safe from all this shit…”

“Sam…” I whisper back, really liking the idea she just proposed. “Thank you for being you.”

Sam just smiles and gives me a kiss on the cheek.